by Aj Harmon
First Class Menu
by AJ Harmon
http://www.firstclassnovels.com
First eBook Edition, June 2013
Copyright 2013 by ABCs Legacy, LLC
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without written permission from the author.
Lindsey Dardin is at the height of her career; Executive Chef at two of Manhattan’s finest dining establishments at the young age of thirty-five. Though her professional life is on fire, love has eluded her since a short-lived marriage in her early twenties.
David Lathem loves his job as curator for the Atherton Gallery, and with his live-in girl, Freckles the cat, he seems content. But, when he meets Lindsey, he finally realizes his life is sorely lacking.
Lindsey offers David cooking lessons and they spend weeks in the kitchen getting to know each other. She is falling head over heels in love with him, but he is too blind to see what’s right in front of him. Can he figure out what he wants in time?
First Class Menu is the sixth book in the ‘First Class’ contemporary romance series.
More Top Rated Romance Novels by AJ Harmon:
First Class to New York (Book 1)
First Class to Portland (Book 2)
First Class Justice (Book 3)
First Class Voyage (Book 4)
First Class Hero (Book 5)
First Class Rescue (Book 7) Coming in Summer 2013
What readers are saying about the ‘First Class’ novels:
“I think the First Class Novels would make fantastic films.” Victoria, Facebook Fan Page
“I’m loving this journey with the Lathem family. I like the fact that whilst you get a glimpse at all of the family members and are given a bit of the background for each character, A J Harmon has not forgotten the two main characters who started the series, Matt (who I fell in love with-move over Christian Grey!!) and Janie and we see more of how there lives have changed as well!!” cj on Amazon UK
“Absolutely love this series, can't wait for the next one.” SaraLou on Amazon UK
“Have read all 4 of the books and will defiantly read all 8 cannot wait for the next one, have really enjoyed following the lives of the Latham clan.” C Crook on Amazon UK
“I so enjoyed this author and this series. I highly recommend buying all four as you will be looking for the next one so after finishing the previous one I can't wait for the next series!” Kerry on Amazon
Dedication
For me, food has featured prominently in many happy memories. When I was a young girl, my father and I would cook together; one week he would be the chef and I was his assistant, and the following week we would switch and I got to be the chef and he was my assistant. They are memories I treasure.
I’m pretty sure that my love of cooking started in my childhood home with my dad and I see my son following the same path. So to my dad I say thank you. I love you forever.
Table of Contents
Chapter:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
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10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
Epilogue
About the Author
1.
David Lathem sat with his brothers, Tim and Ben, and raised his glass in a toast to his younger brother Paul and his new bride Nic. The wedding reception was in full swing. The toasts were now coming to a close and it was finally time to eat!
The buffet spread was impressive. David’s mother, Maureen, had selected the menu and the guests could not complain. There was something for everyone; meats of every kind, roasted vegetables, silky mashed potatoes, salads, cheeses, fruit and seafood. And that was all on the first table. David was starving so he grabbed a plate and was one of the first to sample the smorgasbord of mouth-watering, stick-to-your-ribs food.
“This reminds me of the cruise last year,” David said to his baby brother, Tim. “I miss eating like this.”
Tim chuckled. “How can you not even make toast?”
David shrugged. “I’m useless!” He’d cleaned his plate and was off for seconds. This time he headed to the second table. He loaded up on shrimp cocktail and little boiled potatoes topped with caviar and crème fraiche. He hit the bread basket too, taking both a croissant and a wheat roll and two small pats of butter.
As Maureen walked by her son, she tapped him on the shoulder.
“Leave some for the other guests, please?” she shook her head.
“This is the only cooked meal I’ve had this week,” he whined.
“Whose fault is that?” Maureen replied. “You know you can come for dinner any time you want.”
“I know mom, but it just seems a bit pathetic.”
“And this isn’t pathetic?” Maureen chuckled. “David you can’t gorge yourself tonight to tie you over ‘til the next hot meal you stumble upon.”
Maureen returned to her husband, Peter, and David sat back in his chair, partaking of the soft buttery bread roll. He would have to wait to have a piece of the wedding cake. He figured it would probably be rude to go and get a slice when Paul and Nic hadn’t cut it yet, although the thought made him chuckle. Paul would kill me, he thought to himself. And he could too. Paul had been a Navy Seal for eleven years before changing careers just a few months ago. But he could still snap David like a twig. And gouging out a chunk of the wedding cake might just give him cause.
A member of the wait staff came by and removed his plate, so David headed back to find something sweet to cap off the meal he’d devoured. As he stood at one of the two dessert tables, he picked up something that looked like a miniature cream pie. He took a bite and tilted his head to the side as he tried to decide what was in the sweet concoction.
“It’s a mini pumpkin cheesecake.”
David turned in the direction of the voice and saw a woman dressed in a white chef’s jacket smiling at him.
“Ah,” he nodded. “I do taste the pumpkin now that you’ve said it.”
The chef inspected the serving table in front of her, moving a platter to the left just a few inches and moving the serving tongs from the platter to a small plate off to the side.
“Did you make all of this?” David asked.
“I supervised the staff that made all of this,” she smiled. “Almost the same thing.”
“I just need to marry a woman that can cook like this,” he sighed as he took another mini cheesecake from the platter.
“Why?” the chef asked him. “Just make it yourself.”
“My skills are limited to pouring cereal into a bowl and adding milk. And sometimes I even do that wrong.”
She laughed. “You can’t possibly screw up cereal.”
“Oh but I can! I’m skilled.”
The chef shook her head and continued her inspection of the table.
“I’m David. Lathem.”
“Related to the groom?”
“Big brother.”
“That’s nice. They are a lovely couple,” she said nodding in the bride and groom’s direction. “I’m Lindsey.”
“Nice to meet you Lindsey,” David said as he took a chocolate éclair from the table.
“Why don’t I get you a plate?” she grinned.
*****
Paul and his bride stood in front of the wedding cake with a huge knife in their hands as the photographer snapped away.
“How many pictures do they need?” exclaimed Ben. “Seriously!”
Davi
d turned to his brother and grinned. “You know one day you’ll be standing there doing the same thing.”
“Unlikely. Since I broke up with Jill last year I can count on one hand the number of actual dates I’ve been on. I don’t see matrimony in the near future.”
David grinned. “There’ll be someone out there who will snatch you up.”
Ben laughed. “Who are you?”
“I dunno. It’s kind of nice to think that Paul has found someone he wants to spend the rest of his life with. Don’t you ever think about it?”
Ben shook his head. “Nope!”
David frowned. Maybe it was just the wedding. Maybe it was seeing how happy his little brother Paul was. Maybe he realized that the longest relationship he’d had with a female was with his cat, Freckles, and even then he hadn’t sought her out; she adopted him, refusing to leave the fire escape outside his bedroom window. They’d been together for three years now and were very happy.
The wedding guests cheered as Nic and Paul sliced the bottom tier of the cake and sweetly fed each other a small piece. Then they kissed each other and David saw, once again, how madly in love they were.
Lindsey stood behind one of her chefs and supervised the cutting and delivering of the cake to all the guests. David made his way over to the cake and stood behind her.
“So do you do any of the cooking or just the supervising?” David asked.
She turned to look at him with a very suspicious expression on her face.
“That wasn’t meant to be rude or anything,” David explained. “I assumed you were a chef, but…”
Lindsey’s expression relaxed. “Yes,” she nodded. “I am the executive chef for two of Aaron’s restaurants.”
Aaron was one of Mark’s best friends in high school. Mark, David’s older brother, and Aaron had remained friends and he had catered all four of the Lathem brothers’ weddings. Now he owned several restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn, had won a James Beard award, and had even gone up against an Iron Chef on Food Network and won.
“That’s impressive,” David smiled.
“I think so,” Lindsey grinned.
“So you could make all of this,” David waved his arm around the buffet tables, “but you let others do it.”
“Well, I actually don’t do wedding cakes,” she whispered. “But don’t tell anyone ‘cuz I’d hate it to get out that I’m not perfect,” she chuckled.
“Your secret is safe with me.”
“If you were serious about wanting to learn how to cook though, there are classes at the community college. They have great instructors that come in and do eight or twelve week courses. And they are worth the money.”
“I can’t even boil water,” David shook his head.
“Well there are different levels. You could start with ‘An Introduction to Cooking’ and work your way up. You don’t have to start with chateaubriand,” she said.
“What’s that?”
Lindsey laughed. “Check into it.”
*****
Paul and Nic Lathem hugged and kissed their family goodbye as they left the hotel. They were headed to the airport and then off to Grand Bahama Island and Matt and Janie’s vacation home. Matt had purchased it just last summer and had offered the newlyweds as much time as they wanted for their honeymoon, and Paul and Nic were thrilled to be headed to white sand, turquoise water and luxury for two weeks as they were waited on hand and foot by the caretakers that lived on the property year round.
David and his brother Ben clapped as they left the hotel in the black limousine and slowly the guests began to leave too. David wandered back to the buffet table as the food was being cleared by the waiters and waitresses. Katy, David’s sister-in-law, had made arrangements for all the leftover food to be delivered to the women’s shelter she volunteered at for a few hours a week. Everything was being wrapped up and loaded into boxes in the kitchen.
As the last of the food was taken from the salon, Lindsey appeared with a large brown paper bag.
“Here,” she grinned as she handed the bag to David.
“What’s this?”
“Dinner for the next couple of nights.”
David chuckled. “Thanks!”
“And here, take this too.”
He took the card Lindsey offered him. It was her business card, with all her work contact information listed in elegant font on the linen cardstock. On the backside was the name of a community college in Brooklyn and “Tuesday – 6pm” hand-written on it.
“It’s when I teach my cooking class. Sign up.” She turned and headed back to the kitchen.
David smiled. I think I might just do that.
2.
Three months later, the Lathems were gathered together for their weekly Sunday dinner. As Maureen and Janie, David’s mother and his sister-in-law, carried dessert to the dining room, the rest of the family was being entertained by Isabelle, David’s one year old niece. She had recently begun walking and she was having a grand old time trying to run around the table.
As Janie set the massive cheesecake down, Maureen took the large knife in her hand and began slicing the decadent dessert for all to partake. Paul looked at Nic and nodded.
“We have an announcement,” he began.
All eyes whipped to Paul and his wife and Mark, David’s older brother, chuckled.
“Okay,” said Mark. “What’s the announcement? Although most of us have already guessed in the last three seconds.”
Nic grinned and looked at Paul. “We’re going to have a baby,” she exclaimed.
The room erupted into cheers and clapping and all the brothers hugged Nic and told Paul how manly he was. Janie and Katy squealed with delight and Maureen had to wipe the tears from her eyes.
“Another grandbaby,” she cried. “Could I be any happier?”
David was thrilled for his little brother. Paul and Nic really were adorable together. For a big tough Navy Seal, he had turned into the most doting husband David had ever seen. Well, next to Matt of course.
Dessert was finally passed around the table and David sunk his teeth into the creamy cheesecake, closing his eyes and enjoying every morsel. He was going to have to ask his mom for the leftovers.
*****
As David took the elevator up to his apartment, he held the Tupperware containers that held the leftovers from Sunday dinner. His brother Tim had laughed at him for asking for them, although his mother would’ve given the food to him without any prompting.
“You’ve lost weight,” she’d noticed earlier in the day. “You’ve got to eat David,” she’d pleaded.
He unlocked his door and entered into his apartment, Freckles immediately seeking his undivided attention. David put the Tupperware in the fridge and picked up his cat. She purred loudly as she snuggled into his chest.
The answering machine held one message. It was from Audrey, the owner of the art gallery where he worked. She would meet him in the morning to go over plans for expanding into the newly purchased space adjacent to the gallery. David would now have twice the space to fill with local art, a project he was anxious to begin. He already had some local artists in mind he’d like to showcase and the additional square footage would give him an opportunity to show work that may have been skipped otherwise.
David opened a can of Fancy Feast for Freckles and left her to her gourmet dinner. He changed out of his suit and tie and settled in the spare bedroom, his mini art studio. The image of Paul and Nic from dinner was itching to be put on paper, so he pulled out a clean sheet and his charcoal and began drawing their faces, hoping to capture the joy in their expressions as they announced her pregnancy to the family.
This was the way it always was. There would be an image seared into his brain until he could get it out using one of his favored mediums. He had started with pencil and then moved to charcoal. Sometimes he painted with oils, but charcoal was his favorite. He could draw for hours and hours and the time passed like minutes.
It wasn’t unt
il he could barely see what he was doing that he realized it was after seven o’clock. The sun was setting and his light had gone for the day. That was the reason he had selected this room as his studio. It was actually the master bedroom, but the light was so perfect he crammed his bed into the smaller room. He only slept in there, but in his studio he created. He wiped his hands on a towel and looked at his creation. He believed he had captured the feel of the moment. He was pleased with his work and decided to take it to a frame shop he worked with extensively because of the gallery. He would give it to Paul and Nic. They should have it. He wanted them to have it.
*****
“I cannot wait to see what you fill it with,” exclaimed Audrey Atherton as she all but danced around the newly cleared building.
The Atherton Gallery had been on West 24th Street forever. The Atherton family were well known and well respected in the art world as having collected some of the finest pieces of art for their private collection. The Gallery had been opened in the early twentieth century and had been instrumental in launching the careers of many local artists. David had been thrilled with the opportunity of continuing that tradition when he was hired as curator over three years ago. He and Audrey had known each other since their days at NYU. She had loved art but didn’t have the skill to become an artist. She had sat and watched David draw for hours on weekends. They’d had a small thing, but it was over as quickly as it had started. They were better as friends and had remained so for the last seventeen years. When she had married into the Atherton family four years ago, one of the first ideas she’d had was to bring David in as curator for the gallery. It had taken her a little while to convince her father-in-law, as David had no experience in that capacity. But she had been persistent and had finally won the battle and her father-in-law was quickly singing his praises after David had discovered two artists that had made the gallery a lot of money in his first six months as curator. His keen eye and intuition had continued to serve him well. Audrey was only too willing to give him control of filling the additional ten thousand square feet.
