She frowned. “What? That your grandmother would see your wife working? She already knew I had a job, Cal. It wouldn’t have been a surprise.”

“No. I didn’t want you involved with her. Exposed to her.”

Penny knew he and Gloria had never been close, but she had a hard time believing that was the reason.

“I grew up with two sisters, and the three of us had to share a bathroom,” she said. “I know how to play well with others.”

“I didn’t want to risk it. I didn’t want to risk you. It was never about you doing the job.”

She didn’t actually believe him, but as he’d mentioned, what was the point in fighting about it now? He’d come back, begging her to work for him and she’d agreed.

“Whatever,” she said with a shrug. “I’ll accept you as the temporary GM. Just don’t get in my way.”

“Not my style.”

“It is interesting,” she told him. “I distinctly remember you once telling me hell would freeze over before we would ever work together.”

“You’re taking that out of context. We were married at the time. A restaurant is too small for a married couple to coexist in.”

“You sure made a lot of pronouncements back then. How many of them were accurate?”

She expected him to be annoyed that she’d dared to question him. Instead he grinned. “I figure about sixty percent.”

“You’re being generous.”

“That’s because of the subject matter.”

“Yourself?”

The grin broadened. “Who else?”

“Men,” she grumbled, shrugging out of her coat and dropping it onto the counter. She was careful to keep her back to him so he wouldn’t see her smile.

She could see that Cal still had the ability to make her want to chop him up into matchstick-size pieces, but he’d never been boring.

“We’re not married now,” she said. “I’m sure we’ll do fine together, as long as you remember where your authority ends.” She turned to him and pointed at the entrance to the kitchen. “This is my world. Don’t even think about stepping into it and taking charge.”