When his father dies, Nick Roussos inherits the Skylark, a beloved Long Beach diner he cannot cook in and can barely afford to keep open, plus a grief that will not let him change the rooms his father left behind.
A developer is watching the property, the lease is nearly up, and the diner may not last beyond summer.
Then Dante Villanueva appears in the kitchen: the gifted, relentlessly bright chef Nick’s father hired in secret and quietly granted a fifteen-percent stake.
Dante already has a job waiting in the city and no wish to replace the man Nick lost, yet he is now the partner Nick cannot send away.
Saving the Skylark means altering everything Nick promised himself he would never touch, and wanting the stubborn sunshine chef sharing that cramped kitchen.
Dante’s departure is already arranged, time on the diner is slipping, and fear still pulls the cruelest words out of Nick.
