by Jan Moran
Johnny and Lance were nearly ready to open their new restaurant. They gathered their kitchen staff, servers, and hosts to say a few words.
“Thank you all for being part of our launch team,” Johnny said, straightening the new sage green and purple print bow-tie Fianna had made for him. He’d supplied colorful bow-ties to all the servers to wear, too.
Lance stood next to him in a new white chef’s jacket with the words Lance Martel, Executive Chef and Bow-Tie embroidered on the front.
Johnny slung his arm across Lance’s shoulder. “This is the best partner I could’ve asked for, and we want to thank each of you for being part of our dream.”
Everyone started clapping, while small glasses of champagne were passed around to toast to their success.
Johnny went on. “And special appreciation to Maude Magillicutty and her husband Patrick for sharing our vision and allowing us to realize this dream. Whenever they come in, always give them the best table in the house.”
More cheers rang out. “Finally, to our girlfriends, Scarlett and Verena, for putting up with our absences while we worked to bring Bow-Tie to fruition. And to Scarlett, without whose help the patio would be bare.”
Johnny kissed Scarlett, and Lance pecked Verena, amid catcalls from the staff.
Scarlett saw Isabel with the rest of the kitchen team, looking so proud and happy, too.
Scarlett and Johnny had dashed around this morning, renting furniture and gathering accessories when his designer hadn’t delivered the furnishing for the patio.
“And now, places everyone. It’s show time!” Johnny walked to the front and cued the jazz musicians.
He and Lance made a big show of unlocking the door and cutting the ribbon they’d draped across the entryway earlier. Maude had tipped the paparazzi, so flashbulbs popped and people cheered. Within moments the excited crowd filtered in, exclaiming over the unique interior.
“Hey, chica, we did it!” Johnny exclaimed, lifting Scarlett off her feet in triumphant celebration. His face was flushed with excitement. She thought she’d never seen him look more handsome. The golden flecks in his dark eyes glittered and the dimple in his cheek winked as he grinned. He’d slicked his black hair back in a 1920s style, and it curled around his collar.
Scarlett hugged his neck. She was so happy for him, and she just knew a fabulous evening lay ahead.
“If you’re hungry, you’d better eat now,” Johnny said. “Isabel’s empanadas are going to be a big hit. They might not last long.” He flagged a server, who scooped up a few for Scarlett.
She bit into one. “Mmm, these are even better than I recalled.”
“Lance tweaked the recipe and added more spices.” Johnny signaled the bartender, who sent a sparkling water with lime for Scarlett.
“Johnny, my good man!”
Johnny turned around. A large group of his regular customers from the Beverly Hills Hotel had arrived. The men shook his hand and slapped him on the back, while the women double kissed his cheeks in the European fashion.
He’s in his element, Scarlett thought as Johnny was whisked into the middle of the group. She wiggled her fingers in a wave, realizing it was going to be like this all evening. She was fine with that. It was his dream, his business, and at the end of the night, he was hers. She blew him a kiss across the crowd, and he turned his palms up in a helpless manner.
“Go have fun,” Scarlett called to him across the cheerful throng. She cut through the growing mob and returned to the kitchen, where Lance was leading his kitchen team like a general. He’s in his element, too.
She saw Verena watching him, and the two woman traded smiles. They were both so proud of their men.
Isabel glanced up from her post, and Scarlett lifted her chin in acknowledgement. Her mother wore kitchen whites with her grey hair in a bun. She looked radiant and happy with her new colleagues.
Food orders were coming out of the kitchen now, and Scarlett recognized adaptations of a few meals they’d had in Spain, though the menu included other global fusion dishes, too.
She walked through the dining room, eavesdropping to learn what people thought of their meals and greeting friends who’d come in. The impressions were overwhelmingly positive.
As Scarlett was looking for Johnny, Fianna stopped her and touched her arm. “Look who just walked in,” Fianna said.
Scarlett turned.
Carla stood in the entryway, her annoying laughter jangling across the crowd. She wore a sultry black dress cut low on her bosom and slit high on her thigh.
Fianna whistled. “Wow, she’s sure on the prowl. Better lock up Johnny.”
Scarlett huffed and turned away. “This is not a competition. Johnny and I have a great relationship.” Still, she couldn’t help but be on her guard.
Fianna moved on and Scarlett made her way to the patio. When the furniture Johnny had ordered hadn’t arrived, they had thrown the patio together that morning with furniture from a rental agency and decorations from Pier 1.
The crowd was buzzing out here, too, with couples and friends relaxing around the fire pits, talking and laughing, and nibbling small tapas plates from the menu.
Scarlett glanced around and was pleased to recognize someone she knew.
“Scarlett, what a success this is.” Outside her office, Zelda looked more relaxed.
“Thanks for coming,” Scarlett said.
“Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
Scarlett spied Johnny across the patio and waved. Fortunately, Carla was nowhere in sight.
“What a handsome young man your Johnny is.”
Scarlett sat down with her and they chatted for a while. She really admired Zelda, and had from the first time she’d taken a class from her in law school.
Presently, Zelda leaned in and lowered her voice. “By the way, I have great news for you. Before I left the office I received another settlement offer from the lawyer representing Marsh & Gold. I won’t tell you what it is now, but I think you’ll like it. Call me tomorrow and come by.”
“I sure will.” Scarlett blew out a breath of relief and thanked Zelda. This was the best news she’d heard in a long, long time.
After what she’d experienced at the law firm, and then in the lawsuit she’d brought against them, she was often near exhaustion. Only Johnny, her mother, her friends, and now her desire to build her own practice, had kept her going through it all.
Feeling lighter, Scarlett moved on, alternatively stopping to speak to Dahlia and Elena, as well as Olga, Penelope and Joanie. Everyone was in great spirits and loved Bow-Tie. They all promised to bring their friends, too.
Scarlett stopped to say hello to Dahlia’s glamorous grandmother, Camille, who was there with Verena’s equally elegant grandmother, Mia. They were well-known in the beauty industry and no strangers to the pages of Fashion News Daily. Camille had founded the perfumery Dahlia ran today, and Mia had created the serum Verena built Skinsense around.
With them were Verena’s teenaged twin sisters, Anika and Bella, who were growing up to look like Verena, with her porcelain skin and fair blond hair. “Are you the next generation of skincare entrepreneurs?” Scarlett asked them.
The girls laughed. Bella said, “I’d rather work in fashion with Fianna.”
“Already planning your career? Good for you. Maybe you’ll be my next clients,” Scarlett said, but she was only half-kidding.
The jazz group took a break, and the noise level receded. Scarlett was walking back into the restaurant when she heard a familiar voice coming from the side of the cottage just off the patio. She started to pop her head around the corner and say hello to Johnny when she heard a second voice.
Scarlett froze, hardly daring to believe who it was.
Carla.
She clenched her fists.
“I waited all day,” Carla said, on the verge of wailing.
“I don’t believe you,” Johnny said. “I called and you were nowhere to be found.”
Carla was sn
iffling. “I swear I waited all day for you. But you didn’t even call me. I thought this meant a lot to you. I was only doing it for you.”
Doing what? Scarlett wondered. She leaned closer.
Johnny was clearly angry. “You should have told me sooner. Then I could have done something about it. You don’t understand. This is my baby, Carla.”
Scarlett couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Baby?
Carla was crying now. “I only wanted to do this for you.”
“It’s not like this is something that could be returned like a new dress.” Johnny’s voice was hushed, yet harsh. “You’re unbelievable.”
“I can make it right, just give me another chance.”
“Carla, it’s done.”
Scarlett stepped around the corner.
Johnny looked up with a guilty expression on his face. “Scarlett, I didn’t see you. How long have you been there?”
She folded her arms. “Long enough.”
Carla sniffled again, and ran a finger under her eyes. “I need a handkerchief, Johnny. My makeup—”
Johnny cut her off. “There are tissues in the bathroom. Run along, Carla. I need to talk to Scarlett.”
Scarlett pursed her lips. “You sure do. A baby?” She didn’t know whether to be angry at or feel sorry for Carla.
“What?” Johnny scratched his head.
“Oh, don’t act dumb with me. I overheard everything.”
Johnny spread is hands. “Carla ordered the patio furniture for me. That’s why it didn’t arrive in time.”
“That’s not the conversation I just heard.”
“Look, I don’t know what you think you heard, but I’m telling you the truth.”
Scarlett jabbed her finger in the air. “You never told me you were working with Carla. You said a decorator had ordered the furniture.”
Johnny looked sheepish. “It was Carla.”
Scarlett stared at him. “I don’t know what to believe. But I know what I heard.”
“That was a coincidence. I was calling the restaurant my baby.”
“Nice try. There is no such thing as a coincidence.” Scarlet whipped around. She couldn’t believe such a wonderful evening—and her relationship with Johnny—was ending like this.
Her mother was right. Carla had snagged her next man, the old-fashioned way.
Struggling to maintain her composure, she stormed from the restaurant to her car, her heels clicking the pavement like firecrackers.
Johnny raced after her into the parking lot behind the restaurant. “Please stop, chica. You don’t understand.”
“I understand more than you know. I watched my father treat my mother that way for years. She was a fool for putting up with that, and his drinking, but she loved him.” Scarlett choked at the memory. She cleared her throat, forcing herself to push on through her pain. “I’m not going to make the same mistake. If the lies start now, they will only get worse later. Adiós, Johnny.”
She swung into her car, tossed her purse onto the seat, and screeched away. In her rearview mirror she could see Johnny standing there, still pleading for her to return.
Scarlett was devastated over what she’d heard. How could he? She wiped tears from her eyes as she drove, and when she arrived at her townhouse, she fell fully clothed into bed.
It was times like this when a margarita would taste so good, but she wouldn’t squander her sobriety on the likes of Johnny Silva. She was stronger than that.
21
SCARLETT HADN’T SLEPT well after she’d returned home from the party at Bow-Tie. She’d finally rolled out of bed at five in the morning, peeled off the beautiful dress Fianna had given her, and sat in her empty living room, staring at the walls.
What a devastating end to a nearly life-long relationship. This was exactly what she’d feared would happen when she began dating Johnny. Not only had she lost the love of her life, but she’d also lost her best friend, as well as cherished memories linked to her brother Franco.
But Johnny was a womanizer, and that’s all there was to it.
When sunlight streamed onto the bare walls, Scarlett rose to her feet with a heavy heart. She showered and dressed, and then met Zelda at her office, anxious to her what she had to say.
“What a grand party that was last night,” Zelda said. “The food, the décor, the people. Johnny and Lance are destined for success.”
“I’m sure they’re glad you came.” Scarlett quickly changed the subject. “Tell me about the latest offer.”
“It’s not often I get a solid seven-figure settlement offer in a case like this,” Zelda said, leaning back in her chair. “But you earned every penny of it—the hard way. I’m sorry you had to go through what you did, Scarlett. You might have been killed, not once or twice, but three times.”
That much was true. In the garage, at the Ritz, and in the deposition. Scarlett sat in Zelda’s office, hardly believing the sum they’d offered. Never had she imagined such a large settlement. But it had not come without a price.
Lucan, Fleur, and two top partners at Marsh & Gold had been indicted for insider trading based on findings by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The scandal had made headlines in the Wall Street Journal. All of which meant she was virtually unemployable at any major law firm now. It was a classic case of guilt by association. At least she’d decided to hang out her shingle for her own law practice.
“I’ll miss you, Zelda, but I’m relieved it’s over,” Scarlett said, though she would still have to testify at the upcoming SEC trial.
David had been given immunity for his part in exchange for his testimony. After the trial, he and his fiancé planned to go to Africa with the Peace Corps. David wasn’t a bad guy; he’d simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Just as she’d been.
“And that’s not all,” Zelda said, adjusting her stylish reading glasses. “Marsh & Gold is transferring female partners from New York to Los Angeles.”
“That’s good. Then we effected change in the west coast office culture.” Scarlett was pleased her former female colleagues would have a better working environment and opportunities for advancement. It was too late for her, but not for them.
“What are your plans now?” Zelda asked.
“I’m going to continue building my practice in the beauty and fashion industry. And maybe take a vacation.” She’d always dreamed of taking her mother to Spain. Would Isabel break away from the restaurant now? If not, she could plan a local spa trip.
Zelda got up and walked with her to the door. “You’re still a young woman. Invest these settlement funds well, and you’ll be set for life. Then you can do whatever you please.”
Scarlett thought about that. The first thing she’d do would be to write Fianna a check for her new clothes.
Knowing she had that sum of money coming in felt great, but it was also a little frightening. Overnight she would go from watching pennies to investing seven figures. She’d have to find professional guidance for that.
She could also establish a retirement fund for Isabel and one for herself. And when her babies came along—if they ever came along—she could choose to spend time with them.
Until she’d seen Johnny with Carla last night, she’d thought Johnny was the man she was going to spend her life with. Now, she was still seething as his lame excuse rang in her ears. She was having serious second thoughts.
It seemed Carla had won the competition after all. And Scarlett certainly wasn’t getting any younger.
Maybe it’s time to move on.
The luxury coach wound through arid mountains studded with natural desert plants that were one stiff breeze away from being rambling tumbleweeds.
With the restaurant a success, Isabel hadn’t wanted to leave Bow-Tie for an extended trip to Spain, but Scarlett managed to talk her into a week at a spa to celebrate the conclusion of the lawsuit and her financial settlement. Rancho La Puerta was in Tecate, Mexico, just three miles south of the border between the U.S. and
Mexico.
Scarlett was working through her breakup with Johnny, so it would be a bittersweet celebration for her.
Early Saturday morning she and her mother had driven from Los Angeles to San Diego and left the car at a long-term parking lot at the airport, where they met spa representatives and fellow spa-goers.
As the bus whisked them away for the hour drive to the secluded spa and wellness resort, a party atmosphere prevailed. But instead of toasting the holiday with alcoholic drinks, guests clinked bottles of water, and passed around bags of homemade organic granola.
Isabel made friends quickly, and when other guests asked what she did, she told everyone about her new career cooking at Bow-Tie, which was quickly becoming the hottest restaurant in town. Her empanadas were the most popular appetizer. Lance had hated to part with her, even for a short trip.
However, as proud as Scarlett was of her mother, that was the last subject she wanted to hear about.
But that didn’t stop Isabel from talking about it. “What happened with Johnny, nena? I thought everything was fine between you two until the evening of the grand opening.”
Scarlett settled back in the plush seat and crossed her arms. “He made his decision, Mamá.”
“What decision?”
“I overhead him talking to Carla at the party. He said something about a baby. You were right. She trapped him the old-fashioned way, just like her last husband.” Scarlett took a swig of water. “I hope they’ll be very happy. As far as I’m concerned, they deserve each other.”
Isabel frowned. “Oh, nena, I don’t think that’s the case at all. He misses you. All he does is mope around the restaurant when he thinks no one is watching.”
“He’s probably regretting his involvement with Carla,” Scarlett said with sarcasm. “I sure would.”
“Hmm, I see.” Isabel grew quiet.
When they arrived at the border crossing, they disembarked.
Isabel’s mobile phone rang. She looked at it and frowned. “I’d better take this before we cross into Mexico,” she said to Scarlett. “It might be hard to get service there.”
