At the River’s Edge The Chesapeake Diaries Read Online Free Page B

few of the large trees that could give shade to outside diners, most of what grew there was haphazard and unsightly.
    “What are you thinking?” Jesse asked.
    “I’m thinking how cool this place could be if it was all cleaned up.” She turned and pointed toward the jungle that grew around them. “Clear away all that stuff and you have a great space here. You could see all the way down to the river. A patio would be perfect out here for alfresco dining. And if that fence was replaced with something that was less of an eyesore, over there I could …”
    “Don’t.” Jesse covered his face with his hands and begged, “Don’t go there, Soph.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because this place is a mess on the outside and it’s probably even worse inside. Because you’d have to spend a fortune to make it look like anything.” He paused. “Do you have a fortune I don’t know about?”
    “I have some savings and some equity in my condo, but nope. No fortune.”
    “There you go, then. Look, it’s okay to dream, but some dreams shouldn’t be acted on. This is one of them. It wouldn’t be practical, sis. You know nothing about running a restaurant. And your experience cooking on the grill at Shelby’s aside, you’re really not a cook, and let’s face it, that alone isn’t enough to run a restaurant. If you want a change in your professional life, come to work with me.” He took her arm and guided her through the brush to the front of the building. “I need another attorney in the office now that Uncle Mike has retired for good. I’d actually thought about calling you, but I was under the impression that you were happy where you were, doing what you were doing. If you’re serious about makinga big-time change in your life, why not move down here and help me out?”
    “Jess, you couldn’t possibly have enough work for both of us.”
    “Are you kidding? There’s more than enough. Ask Brooke how many nights and weekends I’ve had to work these past few months just to keep up with my own cases while I’m taking over Uncle Mike’s.”
    “I don’t know, Jess …”
    “Just think it over.” He glanced at his watch again. “Right now, I have to pick up Logan. He has basketball today and I’m one of the coaches.”
    “Can I tag along? I’d love to see my soon-to-be nephew.”
    “I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you, too. And you know the boy loves an audience.”
    Sophie got into Jesse’s car and snapped on her seat belt with some reluctance. She’d have loved to explore the property a little more, would have loved to test the lock on that back door to see if she could get a look inside. She was only half listening to Jesse as he pulled away from the building and headed to Brooke’s family farm, where she and Logan lived in a house on the property. Sophie’s imagination went into overdrive. If all that ground to the left of the front of the building was part of that parcel, she could have a garden. Flowers for the tables and herbs and vegetables for the dishes she could serve. Contrary to her brother’s opinion, she
was
an accomplished cook. Granted, she’d never cooked full-time for a living, but her summers at Shelby’s had taught her a thing or two.
    She shook her head in an attempt to dispel the pictureof that square stone building dressed up with window boxes spilling over with petunias and verbena, and fresh paint on the door, on both sides of which she’d plant hollyhocks and Shasta daisies and Knock Out roses.
    She must be mad to even consider it.
    Well, she’d be mad to consider it with the limited knowledge she had about the property, but she knew where to go to get the information she needed. Jesse wouldn’t like it, but really, would it hurt to ask?
    After a cheery reunion with her soon-to-be nephew and two long periods watching seven- and eight-year-olds play their version of hoops, Sophie wandered over to the bench where Jesse and the three other coaches were trying to send the