by Lynn Cahoon
“Let’s just get through today.” Angie put a hand on his shoulder. “We’re doing everything we can for Hope. There’s no use borrowing trouble from tomorrow.”
He smiled at her. “My grandmother always used to say that when I’d go off on one of my tirades about the world and how unfair it was. She always knew how to calm me. I find you have the same effect on my mood, Angie Turner. Thank you for your steadiness.”
“Neither one of us is going to be steady if we don’t get these soups done. And we can’t cook if we’re hungry. Why don’t I make us some sandwiches with the leftover spareribs we have from Saturday night? I’ll get these together and then we can sit and talk about the class. I’ll call Felicia and have her come down to eat too.”
Food. It was the ultimate comfort. For the nerves they felt doing their first class. And also for the fear they were holding on to for Hope’s future. They worked side by side in the quietness, each lost in their own thoughts. When she was ready to plate, he surprised her by handing her a salad to add to the dish.
“Broccoli, apples, and cabbage. Sprinkled with a few nuts and some feta.” He handed her a bottle of vinaigrette. “Toss it with this just before you plate. I’ll go see if Felica is out in the dining room.”
Angie was always shocked at the way Estebe knew just what to add to a dish to make it pop. He’d taken several of her recipes that she’d thought were perfect, and with one small change, made them better. The guy had a spotty work record because of his temper, but his skills in the kitchen were unmatched. She was blessed that they worked so well together. She plated the food and walked two out to the table. Then she went and got the silverware and the last plate. The only thing missing when Felicia and Estebe came back into the kitchen was the drinks. “Water? Or something else?”
“Water for me. I’m off the coffee.” Estebe moved toward the small fridge. “I’ll get them. Felicia? Angie?”
“Water will be perfect.” Felicia fell into a chair. “Taylor and I were working until late last night at the donation center.”
“I thought you just did that?” Angie asked as she sat down.
“It seems like that’s all we ever do now. If we’re not helping to serve meals, we’re sorting clothes. Seriously, I like his dedication, but I’d like a real date at least one night a week. I feel like I have two jobs.” Felicia rubbed her shoulder. “I told him I couldn’t see him until Sunday, as the restaurant needed me. Hopefully my lie won’t turn out to be the truth. I’m dying for a long, hot bath tonight.”
“I’ll back up your story.” Angie took a bite of the sandwich. The meat was so tender and flavorful, she almost groaned. She hadn’t realized how hungry she really was.
“You should tell him the truth. A woman like you shouldn’t be used as a workhorse, she should be courted. He should be taking you out, dancing, movies, long walks.” Estebe waved his sandwich to make his point. “You should not be sorting used clothing for others.”
“Why, Estebe, I didn’t know you were a romantic.” Felicia smiled at him and Angie could see the red flush on his neck. She set her own sandwich down and leaned back in her chair. “You’re right, of course. I should tell him the truth. But at first, I really didn’t mind. And I don’t mind now, but why does it have to be a work session every time we see each other? I’d settle for a walk on the greenbelt talking about the falling leaves or last week’s football games.”
“I’ve never seen you not put your needs first in a relationship. You know you have to put on your own oxygen mask. So why aren’t you doing that with Taylor?” Angie watched her pick at the salad.
“You’re both right. I should. The guy is just so good. I wanted to prove that I was worthy.” Felicia laughed and put up her hands. “Before you go all intervention on me, I get it. I am worthy. I’m good enough. And by God, people like me.”
“Amen, sister.” Angie held up a hand and the women high-fived.
Estebe stared at them. “I do not understand. Of course people like you, Felicia. You’re a nice person.”
“Sorry, it’s a joke. But thank you for the vote of confidence. I’m going to call Taylor and tell him I’m not available for manual labor anymore. And the next time we go out, we need to actually go out.” Felicia brightened at the thought. “If he breaks up with me, I get my life back.”
The three ate in silence for a few minutes. Then Felicia glanced at her watch. “We’re going to have guests in less than two hours. I take it you want them here, in the kitchen?”
“We’ll move this table and a second long one from the dining room here.” Angie pointed to an area in front of the expediting station. “Then I’ll work off the table in front. If we keep doing these, we’ll need to add an island here that we can also expedite off, but for today, this will be okay.”
They talked about the setup for the class for a few minutes with Estebe adding or adjusting the plan. When he excused himself to take a break, Felicia watched him leave. “He’s really good at this.”
“I’ve decided he’s like seasoning. He makes everything better.” Angie took the plates off the table. “I’ll keep getting things prepped. You and Estebe set up the guest tables.”
“Works for me.” Felicia paused and leaned against the table. “You didn’t come looking for me last night, did you? I thought I saw your car leaving the parking lot as I was coming back from Taylor’s.”
“No, I wasn’t looking for you. Barb called me into town for a wild goose chase.” Angie told Felicia about the phone call and how when she arrived, the girl had already left. “Then Evan tapped me on the shoulder and I talked to him for a while. Mostly I was trying to avoid the cowboy.”
“Wait, who’s Evan? And who’s the cowboy?” Felicia looked totally confused.
Angie told her about meeting Evan out at the hiking trail, then finding him at the Red Eye when Barb had called her into town. “Weird thing is, I can’t get him to pop on the faculty register for the university he claims to work for. Oh, and the cowboy, well, he just wanted to dance. I had to turn him down.”
“Man, Ian goes out of town and not one but two guys hit on you. That boy better make his way back home before you get all gooey eyed over someone else.”
Angie shook her head. “That’s not going to happen. Besides, Ian is arriving sometime this afternoon. The sheriff is picking him up—probably because asking his girlfriend after disappearing for a week might just be a tad bit uncomfortable. For him.”
“And with that uncomfortable image, it’s time to get ready for our first County Seat class. Good luck, guys.” Felicia left the kitchen for the dining room.
“I better follow her or she’ll try to drag that table all by herself. She’s a tad bit stubborn.” Estebe smiled at the door that still shook after she’d pushed her way through to the dining room.
“I heard that.” Felicia’s cry came from the dining room.
Angie shooed him away with her hands. No need to poke the bear any more than it had already been poked. She glanced at the list of recipes they’d planned to demo and started setting up the mise en place for the first dish. Then she went back into the storage to grab bowls. This first class would be more of a demonstration of the dishes, then the participants would be eating the results. She had to think through a way that she could have unexperienced cooks working the line without getting in each other’s way. Today’s game plan was for her to demo a soup, then she and Felicia would serve the food, and Estebe would demo the bread to go with the soup. Five rounds of this, and then the participants would go home with a recipe booklet with all the dishes they’d demoed that day. She hoped the class would bring in more bookings at the restaurant. But at least they’d be able to pay the utilities and the remodel loan one more month based on the profits of this one class.
With the setup complete, Angie joined Estebe, who had returned to cooking after helping Felicia set up tables. She took a minute t
o let the smells of baking bread and the variety of winter soups fill her, making her mind flit from one memory to another. She started setting up for the next soup.
“This is nice. Cooking together.” Estebe didn’t look up. “This feels like home.”
And because she agreed, she paused for a minute, looking around the kitchen that had so recently become that center stage for her crew. Her family. She met Estebe’s gaze. “Exactly.”
It was during the first tasting that Angie pinpointed Tanya Livingston. Barb had described her perfectly. The woman seemed to run the group of women around her. What Tanya said, went.
And when a woman sitting next to her spilled a drop of soup on Tanya’s pantsuit, Angie got a full taste of the woman’s rage.
“You idiot. Do you realize how much this outfit cost?” Tanya had gone from sunny socialite to screaming witch in less time than it took for the drop of soup to fall on her sleeve. The woman next to her paled.
“I’m so sorry.” She grabbed a napkin and tried to wipe the offending spot clean.
Tanya jerked away. “The damage is done. I’ll send a bill to your house. You better hope my cleaner can get out the stain, or you’re going to be dead to me.”
Chapter 12
Angie stepped between the two women. She took Tanya’s hand and led her away from the table, motioning Felicia to come and deal with the other woman, whose breath was starting to hitch into what Angie assumed would be uncontrollable sobs. “Let’s go get some club soda on that spot. There’s nothing that a little TLC won’t fix.”
“That woman is a menace. I’ve talked to the social chairman several times about her. She just needs to be kicked out.” Tanya leaned closer to Angie. “If her husband wasn’t a dean over at the university, she would have never been allowed to join. The things that man has to put up with. I swear, he’s always complaining about how inadequate the woman is.”
Angie had to bite her tongue to keep from telling Tanya what she really felt. As she grabbed a bottle of club soda off the bar with a white linen towel, she kept her back to the woman so she wouldn’t be able to read the disgust on her face. “Some people are just clumsy. You say her husband works for the college? Wasn’t that awful about the professor who was killed last week?”
“Daniel’s death is a real tragedy to the school and the community.” Now Tanya teared up.
Interesting. Angie put the club soda on the towel and started to dab at the almost undetectable area where the splash had occurred. “I know. And from what I hear, he was dating some of the college girls. I might be old fashioned, but seriously, he had to be old enough to be their fathers. Eww.”
“Daniel was not dating any of those tramps. And if they say differently, they just want the attention.” Tanya pointed toward the bar. “Would you be a dear and pour me a shot of Jameson. I like a more mature Scotch whiskey, but it looks like you’re only stocking the cheap stuff.”
Yeah, not like the Red Eye, where you liked to drink with your friend. Angie kept that tidbit of information to herself. No use poking the bear before you find the honey pot. “Sure. Sorry about the brands, my partner handles all the bar ordering. We probably could get something in here if you’re going to be a customer. Do you and your husband like to dine out?”
Angie saw the flinch on the woman’s face before it went back to its frozen state. “We’ve been considering coming by. He also works at the college, so there’s a lot of social engagements we’re committed to just because of his job.” She threw down the shot like a professional and then considered the glass. “Anyway, Daniel didn’t deserve to die, no matter what they’re saying about him.”
“You sound like you knew him.” Angie’s eyes widened in fake shock. She leaned closer. “Don’t tell me you were having a thing with the guy. I mean, I saw the picture they had in the paper. That man was fine. I wouldn’t blame you for going after some of that.”
“Daniel and I were friends.”
Angie could see the whiskey loosening the edges of Tanya’s hard-angled face. She poured another shot. She’d make sure one of the club drove this woman home, but right now, she wanted some answers. “That’s the way the best romances happen. Friends to lovers. Tell me more.”
Tanya drank the second shot just as fast. “He was a lovely man. That English accent that used to come out when he’d been drinking, well, it just turned me on. Of course, my husband, well, he wouldn’t understand. The man’s a pig in the sack. But Daniel was so gentle and caring.” She turned her eyes on Angie. “We made love. It wasn’t sex. Then he broke it off a couple of weeks ago. I tried to reason with him, but he was done with me.”
Angie watched as Tanya rubbed at imaginary lines in her face as she stared at herself in the mirror. “Do you know what it’s like to lose this beauty? It gives you so much power when you’re young, then it steals it away from you.”
“Why did Daniel break up with you?”
She glanced at Angie. “Of course you don’t. You’re cute in a unkempt way.”
“Daniel? Why did he break up with you?” Angie decided she could hate the woman later. “Did he find someone younger?”
“No!” Tanya slammed her fist down on the bar. “He loved me. He said there were people looking for him and it wasn’t safe. He didn’t want me in danger. He said he’d deal with the issue and then we could be together. All he needed was a little bit of money.”
Angie felt sick. The woman had been taken as a fool and she was still in love with the guy. “So you gave him money? How much?”
“Not a lot. I had some from my inheritance. Fifty thousand.” She wiped her tears. “I guess I should contact my lawyer and see if he can get the money back. Certainly he couldn’t have spent that much in three days.”
“You just gave him the money?”
“The transfer went through the Friday before his death.” Tanya pulled out her phone. “I need to call my lawyer. I’ll be back in for the demo in a few minutes.”
Angie had been dismissed. She considered trying to listen in on the conversation with the attorney, but she figured she’d gotten as much information as she could from Tanya. Man, the woman was toxic. Why anyone would want to be in a social club with her didn’t make any sense to Angie. Popularity at any cost. She’d thought that mind-set had died when they’d left high school. Apparently not.
Heads turned when she came back into the kitchen. The unfortunate woman who had spilled on Tanya had been moved to a different table and a new person sat by the empty seat. Eyes wide, the violator jumped up. “Oh, no, is Tanya all right? I didn’t burn her or something, did I?”
Angie glanced at Felicia, who rolled her eyes. “No. Tanya’s fine. She’s making a personal call and will be right back in. Let’s continue the demonstration. Estebe, do you want to explain the history behind sheepherder’s bread?”
Felicia came to stand by her and they moved to the edge of the kitchen, still watching the group.
“You wouldn’t believe how scared they all are of this Tanya chick. She’s not in my yoga group, but everyone is frightened to death of getting on her bad side.” Felicia shuddered. “I had visions of the mean girls from back when I was in school.”
“I know, right?” Angie crossed her arms and watched the group watch Estebe. The women were starting to relax, which was a good thing. “Tanya admitted to the affair with Daniel. And she gave him a lot of money just before his death. That’s who she’s calling, her lawyer, to try to get it back.”
“A lot of money?”
Angie nodded. “Fifty thousand. Now why did a culinary school professor in a small town like Boise need that kind of money? Maybe he was buying a house? But that doesn’t make sense. He wasn’t on permanently with the college. Why invest in a house?”
“This guy just gets weirder and weirder the more we know about him.”
The door opened and Tanya made her entrance. Apologizing t
o Estebe for interrupting, she flounced to her chair and smiled at the woman who sat next to her. Apparently the call had gone her way.
“We need to keep an eye out for that one.” Angie nodded at Tanya. “There’s something she’s not telling us about her relationship with Daniel.”
“She is married. Maybe she’s afraid he’ll divorce her?” Felicia studied Tanya, who kept checking her phone. “What, does she think the lawyer’s going to call right back with the good news?”
“She’s looking for some type of message.” Angie went back behind the stoves and started prepping for their last soup. Keeping a class entertained for two hours was hard. She didn’t know yet if she liked this new venture. Estebe seemed to thrive in the role of teacher and had the ladies eating out of his hands.
Somehow she got through the rest of the class, and as Felicia moved the group away, Angie sank into a chair with a bottle of water.
“You’re tired?” Estebe sat next to her. “I could cook for another three hours.”
“You’re good at it. The women like you. I think I’m going to turn all the classes over to you. I can play sous chef or we can bring in Nancy or Matt.”
Estebe shook his head. “You are good too at this teaching thing. I think these women just liked me because I am a man.”
“Yeah, I got that too.” Angie grinned. “But I’m serious about you taking on a more leadership role in these. I don’t have as much fun as you do in presenting.”
“We’ll talk. Right now, I need to clean the kitchen. And you need to go home. You look beat.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “I think our first venture into the cooking class world was a success. Even though that one woman had a chip on her shoulder.”
“You could see that too?” Angie always wondered what a man saw of a beautiful woman’s actions. Tanya seemed to think she had all the power.
“She was not nice to that other woman. That makes her less, at least in my book. People should be nice to others. Like you and Felicia. You are both nice. Nice is good.” He stood and looked around the kitchen. “I’ll put the soup and extra bread in the freezer. Felicia can take it to her man, and that way they don’t have to cook for the others.”
