The Wedding Gift Page 5

  “Like hot sauce in quiche. Which worked.”

  “—and they…” She sighed and admitted, “No one wanted to eat it. My family tried so hard to help me fit in. They stopped speaking Spanish when I was around. They even made sure I took what they thought was typical American food to school—yellow processed cheese in plastic wrappers on white bread with Oreos for dessert. I don’t know how many full plates of weird food I cooked and threw away before I figured out that if I wanted to fit in, I had to stop trying things other people didn’t like.”

  She was shocked when Andrew’s expression turning rueful. “My family are doctors and lawyers. People with real jobs. Trust me, I know what it’s like to not fit in.” Unfortunately, before she could ask any questions, Phillipe came by their table to find out, “How’d you like your meal?”

  “It was one of the best I’ve ever had,” she replied.

  And not just because of the food. The company had been pretty nice, too.

  Surprisingly nice.

  Still, Julie realized after Phillipe hugged them both again and then hurried back to the stove, all good things had to come to an end. “Rose is going to be wondering where I’ve gone, especially considering I need to put a menu together by four o’clock.” She shook her head as she gestured at the busy kitchen. “Although, frankly, I’m starting to wonder why I bother when nothing I cook can possibly come up to this standard.”

  “You aren’t giving yourself enough credit,” Andrew said as he pushed his chair back and then, like a true gentleman, helped her with hers. “Will you promise me one thing before I take you back to the Rose Chalet?”

  “That depends on what it is.”

  “Still so cautious, aren’t you?”

  “Around you?” She raised an eyebrow. “Definitely.”

  His mouth curved into a grin at her sassy response. “Promise me that for this afternoon you won’t be cautious. You’ve got good instincts, Julie. I have a feeling if you follow them, you’ll do really, really well.”

  Chapter Seven

  Rose was waiting for Julie when Andrew walked in with her.

  “Oh, Andrew, it’s nice to see you again.” Rose was clearly surprised to see the two of them together outside of the Chalet. “Have you and Julie had some time to work on revising your brother’s menu?”

  Andrew nodded. “We just finished conducting some research with a chef friend of mine. I hope you don’t mind me stealing her away for an hour?”

  What was it about him that made things go so easily, Julie wondered? In any case, she was glad when Rose smiled rather than immediately firing her for coming back so late from the grocery store.

  “No, it’s no problem,” Rose said. “I hope there isn’t any more research to do today, however. Julie has some other clients to cook for, and they’ll be arriving soon.”

  By way of an answer, Julie lifted her bags of groceries. “I have all the ingredients, so everything should go great.”

  It helped that she was starting to actually believe it. If she had been feeling inspired in the morning, after eating lunch at The Glass Square, Julie’s head was fairly bursting with ideas.

  Yesterday on set with Andrew, she’d seen what she could do if she only trusted her palate enough. Today, she was determined that Rose’s new customers would have a wedding menu the likes of which the world had never seen before.

  “I’ve got to get back to the studio, anyway,” he told them. “The producers loved the idea of local chefs cooking alongside me so much that they now want me to do that as a regular thing.”

  He made no direct mention of Julie, but even so she tensed, waiting for Rose to pick up on their connection. Maybe she should have mentioned her impromptu appearance on his show, but there hadn’t really been time to talk to Rose about it since then, had there?

  Fortunately, Rose replied, “That sounds like fun,” in a distracted way. “Sorry, I’ve got to run. There are so many things to get ready.” She actually broke into a bit of a jog in her heels as she headed back inside.

  Julie turned to Andrew. “Thank you for a really lovely lunch.”

  “It was my pleasure,” Andrew said, and her breath actually hitched when he stared into her eyes. “I’m looking forward to seeing you again. Very soon.”

  This time Julie’s breath simply stopped altogether. Finally, when Andrew had driven away and she remembered how to breathe again, she turned for the kitchen and saw Rose talking something over with RJ.

  Whatever the gardener said had her boss laughing out loud for a moment. Rose quickly recovered her composure, however, then hurried off to start making phone calls. The Rose Chalet’s proprietor never seemed to slow down.

  Julie worked to follow her lead as she started writing out the menu and preparing the dishes taking shape in her head. The details weren’t quite all there yet, almost as if they were half-remembered tastes of something, rather than the carefully laid out processes Julie normally stuck with.

  She knew it would be far safer to do something tried-and-true. Except that was what she’d tried with Andrew yesterday, and look at how that had turned out.

  Besides, the thought of doing things that way today suddenly felt restrictive.

  Instead, she tasted and smelled the dishes as she worked on them. Piece by piece, the menu came together. A first course of squid, served with papaya segments. For the main course, traditional meats presented sushi style, relatively rare and backed by delicately flavored rice wrapped in greens. It was just a small change, but one that seemed to make a huge difference. As for the dessert, she would flambé pancakes at the table, dripping with a mixed berry and savory ice cream filling. It would undoubtedly make a statement at a wedding.

  It was a lot of work, all the usual slicing, blending and preparing, slow-cooking meat and freezing desserts, plus the extra time needed to work out how it should all go together. So when Rose put her head around the kitchen door to announce that their new clients, the soon-to-be O’Neils, had arrived, Julie was hurriedly putting the finishing touches to her handwritten menu.

  “Something smells good,” Rose said. “Will it all be ready on time?”

  Julie nodded. She would nail this presentation today even if it killed her. “I’ll have the three courses out in a few minutes. As Andrew suggested yesterday, it’s better if I get them all out together.”

  “Okay, if you think you can do it seamlessly.”

  That, of course, was the big downside to suggesting that she present things all at once. She had to plate up the first course even while the trio of sushi-style meats needed carving and the ice cream had to come out of the freezer. Julie could have done with as many arms as the squid at the heart of her first course.

  Somehow, though, she did it. She headed into the dining room with the plates carefully balanced, determined not to let the slightest slip ruin her perfect presentation.

  This was going to be good. Better than good. This sample menu was going to be the one that convinced Rose she needed Julie permanently. Julie was certain of it.

  Until she caught sight of the couple waiting in the dining room. Both were a little older than Julie had expected, and everything about them, from the cut of the future groom’s suit to the neutral shade of the bride-to-be’s lipstick, combined to create an impression that was conservative, even staid.

  What had she done?

  Sure, Julie had followed her heart, but looking at the O’Neils sent butterflies somersaulting in her stomach.

  It was her childhood all over again, but with the added worry this time of losing a job she really needed.

  No, she counseled herself, she needed to be positive. She would remember what Andrew had said: Promise me that for this afternoon you won’t be cautious. You’ve got good instincts, Julie. For the first time in a very long time, she was going to be confident about her food, darn it.

  Still, that was easier said than done when the groom, whom Rose introduced as Stephen, fixed Julie with the expression of someone determined not t
o be impressed by anything, while the bride, Rebecca, seemed to look at the food coming out with hawk-like suspicion.

  “This is Julie, our chef,” Rose said. “I’m sure you’ll just love what she has come up with. She has assured me that it is going to be something special.”

  “It had better be,” Stephen said. “For the money I’m paying—”

  “Oh, hush now,” Rebecca interrupted. “We all know how much you’re paying. You tell us every few minutes. I just want everything to be perfect.”

  “Then maybe I should show you what I have in mind?” Julie said, putting the plates down on the table. She took out her menu and handed it to the couple, who pored over it for a few seconds. Their expressions soon told Julie everything she needed to know, and her heart hit her shoes with a messy splat.

  “Does this say squid?” Stephen asked.

  “We don’t like squid,” Rebecca chimed in. “And what’s this about the main course being done sushi style? We don’t want raw meat.”

  “Actually, if I could explain why I—”

  “I don’t see why you have to do all this fancy stuff at all,” Stephen said, standing. “This is a wedding, not an excuse for you to try some crazy experiment.” He turned to Rose. “Really, Ms. Martin, this was not what I expected from The Rose Chalet. If this is the best you can do, we will have to think about going elsewhere.”

  “I’m sure if you only try it—” Julie began, but the man fixed her with a stare.

  “Try that? Why would I? Why would anyone? Rebecca and I know what we like, and that most definitely isn’t it. Come on, Rebecca, we’re leaving.”

  For several seconds after Rose showed them out, all Julie could do was stand there. She stared at the uneaten food. All that work. Yet it hadn’t been worth anything. All it was going to achieve was getting her fired.

  Why had she let Andrew Kyle persuade her that doing something like this would be okay?

  Rose came back after a minute or two, and she didn’t shout, but she clearly wasn’t happy. She sat down at the table with the abandoned food, across from Julie.

  “Julie, you told me that you were coming up with something great, not something that would have the clients threatening to take their business elsewhere.”

  “If they’d only tried the food, they might have loved it,” Julie protested.

  Julie had to give Rose some credit when she at least picked up a fork and tasted each dish.

  “I can see you put a lot of work into these, Julie, but did you ever stop to think about whether they were right for the clients? I know Mr. Kyle said the food wasn’t exciting enough yesterday, but now you’ve taken it too far in the other direction. And now I’m going to have to try very hard to convince them to be customers.”

  “I’m sorry,” Julie said again, because it seemed to be the only thing to say.

  “I know you are,” Rose said. It wasn’t unkind. She sighed. “I took you on because your aunt said you would be the right replacement. I would hate for you to prove me wrong.”

  She left it at that, and Julie threw away the remainder of the food before washing up and heading back to her aunt’s house. Aunt Evie wasn’t back home yet, which meant she could storm around the house without having to answer the inevitable questions about what was wrong. Julie wasn’t in the mood for people trying to comfort her.

  So when the doorbell rang after she’d finally settled on the couch to stew over her biggest failure to date, she hauled herself off the couch, stalked over to the door, and threw it open.

  Andrew Kyle stood there, trademark smile in place, looking like he hadn’t a care in the world.

  “What are you doing here?” Julie demanded.

  “You weren’t at the Rose Chalet, so I had to track you down.”

  “How did you even do that?”

  “Sandy is a fine detective when she wants to be.” He finally seemed to notice her expression. “So, how did your food tasting go?”

  Julie took a step back from sheer shock. First, that he’d come to see her so soon after they’d just had lunch together. Second, that he’d remembered about her tasting.

  And, finally, at how angry she was.

  “How did it go?” Julie repeated. “How did it go? They hated what I did. ”

  “Whoa! What happened?”

  Julie glared at him. “They wouldn’t even taste my food before threatening to take their business elsewhere and storming out. That’s what happened. And Rose is furious with me now. She was nice about it, but she didn’t pull her punches. I don’t think she’ll be keeping me on much longer.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I listened to you, that’s why!” Julie couldn’t help raising her voice. How could Andrew not understand something so simple? “I followed my instincts, took risks…all those things you like so much. And what happened? It all went wrong. Rose even said it. It’s not the right cooking for what I do.”

  Andrew shook his head. “Then do something else. Whose dreams do you want to follow? Yours or Rose’s?”

  “That’s easy for you to say,” Julie scoffed.

  “You have so much talent, and you’re wasting it!” Andrew shot back, his own annoyance showing through.

  “Like you know anything about my life!”

  “I’m trying to know a lot more about your life, but you won’t even take that risk, will you?”

  “What are you talking about? Why would you be trying to—”

  Andrew kissed her, cutting off her question as his lips met hers full on. The kiss was passionate, full of heat...and yet shockingly sweet all at the same time.

  Before she let herself think about how wrong it was, Julie kissed him back, exploring his mouth with hers, losing herself in the moment. As their kiss went on and on, she ignored the warning bells in her head as long as she could.

  Finally, though, the voice of reason made its way through: What was she doing kissing Andrew Kyle as if she needed air from his lungs to breathe?

  Julie made herself pull back. It had been, Julie had to admit, a great kiss. Like the man himself, the kiss had been confident and to the point, but just a little gentler than she had imagined.

  And wrong, of course.

  Utterly, totally wrong.

  “That was a mistake,” she said. “A really big mistake.”

  “Julie—”

  “Please, Andrew.” She walked to the door and held it open for him.

  Amazingly, he started to walk through it. But just before he crossed the threshold, he turned and held her gaze for several long beats.

  “I’m not giving up, Julie. And neither should you.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Thanks for agreeing to help me, Aunt Evie,” Julie said as she took the third layer of cake out of the oven and put it out on the side of her aunt’s kitchen counter.

  “It’s no problem, honey,” her aunt assured her, handing her a full nozzle of frosting. “I know you haven’t done many wedding cakes before.”

  “I haven’t done any wedding cakes before,” Julie corrected. “I really need to get this one right.”

  “But isn’t this one just for the tasting? ”

  How did Julie explain why this cake was so important? Did she tell her aunt about everything that had happened with Andrew picking her food apart? Or how badly she needed to make things up to Rose after the fiasco with the O’Neils and their extreme reaction to squid and raw meat?

  But she knew she couldn’t drop her problems onto Aunt Evie’s lap, not when the stresses of the wedding business had already made her ill once.

  “I just want to make the best impression I can.”

  “I know you do. You’ve always worked so hard, honey. Too hard, sometimes.”

  While the cake was nothing more than a few simple ingredients mixed up right, decorating it was practically an art form—one that took extreme focus. Which proved to be a problem–a big problem–every time thoughts of Andrew’s very unexpected kiss flashed into her mind.

&nbs
p; “Julie,” Evie asked when she messed up a string of frosting for the third time, “tell me what’s wrong.”

  But Julie didn’t want to think about what had happened the night before. Maybe if she buried it deep enough, she might just be able to forget how good Andrew’s mouth on hers had been.

  “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just not good at this.”

  Aunt Evie took the frosting tube out of her hands. “I’m not letting you do anything else to that poor cake until you tell me what has you making such a mess of the edges.”

  “I…I kissed this guy.” Julie suddenly felt like a teenager again. “Actually, he kissed me and I kissed him back. And now I don’t know what to do about it.”

  “Do you like him?”

  Julie hesitated as Andrew’s beautiful face swam into her thoughts once more.

  “Let me rephrase that,” her aunt continued with a smile. “You obviously can’t run a line of frosting straight, so yes, you like him. Now, what’s the problem?”

  Julie shook her head. “I shouldn’t like him. I should hate him. But things…”

  “Aren’t that simple?” Her aunt laughed softly. “They never are. My advice is to just get on with life and see where it takes you.”

  Fortunately, her aunt left it at that and by the time they were done with the cake, Julie was fairly certain Rose would be pleased with it—enough, she hoped, to get them over the hump of the O’Neils.

  Before she left for work, Julie put on far too much makeup in the bathroom, then took almost all of it off again before settling on her normal work clothes.

  When she arrived at the Rose Chalet, Phoebe was putting together a couple of small table floral displays. The florist was dressed in a long blue and green dress that hugged her figure and Julie almost felt as if she were dressed in rags by comparison.

  “Phoebe, those designs are incredible.” She really hoped Andrew wouldn’t pick away at her new friend’s arrangements the same way he had at her food. “I didn’t expect you to be here today, though.”