Susan Mallery - Delicious

Edouard glared at her. “Did you have to offer two different reductions? On a Friday?”

Penny shrugged. “I thought you were up to it.”

She offered bravado to her staff because it was expected, but on the inside, she winced. She hadn’t been thinking when she’d planned the specials for that evening. Unfortunately, they required too many burners. Which meant if several came in at the same time, there was a delicate dance to be performed, along with a strong-armed game of “who gets the open burner.”

She wanted to make a general announcement that the baby had moved and that had distracted her, but she doubted anyone would care. So she put up with the complaints and vowed not to screw up again.

Naomi blew into the kitchen looking like she was ready to choke someone.

“The wine inventory is wrong,” she announced. “I can’t believe it. On the tasting dinner, they’re out of the pinot. Just like that. Randy just announced it in hushed tones, as if by whispering no one would notice.” She stood in the middle of the kitchen and raised both her fists. “Where the hell is Cal? I want him dead. I mean that. Seriously, not breathing, dead.”

Penny stared at her. “What do you mean, we’re out of pinot? We can’t be out of pinot. Next to my fish and chips, the tasting menu is the most popular item. Dammit all to hell, I told Cal we needed to double-check the wine inventory. Did he have Randy do it?”

“That’s what I’m guessing.”

“And Cal’s not here?”

Naomi shook her head. “I haven’t seen him in about an hour.”

Great. It was a Friday night. The restaurant was packed, they were out of wine and Cal was missing.

“Nobody screws with my tasting menu,” Penny muttered as she headed for her office.

The tasting menu-a five-course prix fixe meal that offered everything from appetizers to dessert-came either with or without wine. The “with wine” selection offered a different glass of wine with each course, including a very nice Pinot Noir with the salmon.

Penny had been very specific about the pairing. Some pinots were sweeter than others and she’d wanted the exact balance of sugar with her salmon.

She jerked off her jacket and stepped out of her clogs. If she was going to have to walk through the dining room, she didn’t want everyone noticing that she was the chef.

After slipping into loafers and tugging on a black blazer she kept hanging on the back of her door for just such occasions, she pulled off her head scarf and raced toward the dining room.

Once there, she moved slowly, acting as if she were simply one of the staff. She smiled at various diners as she walked toward the wine room that was clearly visible from the front of the restaurant.

The cold hit her at once. The room was kept at a constant fifty-five degrees. She ignored the momentary discomfort and quickly walked to the pinots. Sure enough, the bin in question was empty. The wine room door opened.

She turned and saw Randy there. Cal’s assistant was young, tall and very blond. He rubbed his hands together in a signal of worry that reminded her of her grandmother.

“We’re out of the pinot,” he said, his voice shaky and weak. “I don’t know what to serve with the tasting menu. Naomi wouldn’t help. She just threatened to kill me.”

“I know. Right now I’m all that’s standing between you and certain death.”

Penny scanned the various pinots, then grabbed three and walked back to the kitchen. Randy followed.

“What are you going to do?” he asked in a whine.

“Taste them and figure out what works best with my salmon,” Penny said.

“But then we’ll have three open bottles. Plus, what about costs? We haven’t calculated if these wines will still allow us to meet our margins on the tasting dinners.”

Penny did a quick change of clothes again, this time emerging as chef. She found Naomi holding a very large chef’s knife to Randy’s throat-and Naomi looked more than capable of taking him down.

Ignoring the tableau, Penny collected three wineglasses, then quickly opened the bottles.

“Salmon,” she yelled.

Burt dropped a piece of salmon onto a plate. Edouard topped it with the reduction and slid it toward her. She poured, careful to line up each glass with its appropriate bottle.

“Taste,” she yelled.

“Do I have to let him go?” Naomi asked.

“Yes. This is more important. You can beat up the assistant manager later.”

Naomi released Randy, who squeaked, then raced from the kitchen.

Penny grabbed a fork and took a taste of the salmon. She let the flavors meld on her tongue.

“Damn, I’m good,” she muttered, then studied the wines. She picked up the middle one first and took a sip. “Not enough flavor.”

The first wine blended well. She took another sip, tried the third wine, then scrawled her initials on the first bottle’s label.

Naomi went next. She liked the first and third bottle equally. Edouard agreed with Naomi.

“Then I’ll break the tie,” Penny said. She grabbed the first bottle and handed it to Naomi. “Give this to Randy. Don’t hurt him until the shift is over. Understand?”

“Oh, be that way,” Naomi grumbled.

Within five minutes, the kitchen was back on track. Penny left the two open bottles of pinot in the kitchen for her staff to indulge in later. It would serve Cal right to lose the money. He shouldn’t have left such a green assistant in charge of something that important.

And where the hell was he, anyway?

He didn’t appear, but shortly after nine there was another visitor in the kitchen. Penny glanced up as Gloria entered. The older woman was well-dressed and looked very happy. The latter was never good news.

“Penny, I wanted to stop by and say how wonderful everything was tonight. I’m here with friends who are very impressed.”

“Thanks,” Penny said. “The special is doing well.”

“Yes. I noticed that. Although it seemed a little over-priced. Still, you and Cal are making the decisions these days.”

Penny forced herself to keep smiling. She’d felt her baby move for the first time that day and nothing the old bat was going to say could upset her.

“Speaking of Cal,” Gloria said, “I don’t know if you noticed he’s not here.”

“I had noticed. Did you want me to give him a message?”

“Oh, not at all. I know where he is.”

Uh-oh. Penny recognized potential trouble when she heard it. “Good. I’ll tell him you stopped by.”

“If you’d like, dear. But you’re the reason I’m here. I thought you’d want to know where Cal is tonight.”

Penny had been curious, right up until Gloria had offered to tell her. Now she felt a little queasy.

“I’m really busy,” she said. “Maybe another time.”

“This won’t take but a moment,” Gloria said, pulling a piece of colored paper out of her purse. She smoothed the paper on the metal counter. “It’s a flyer for a local high school play. They’re doing a musical-The King and I. Look at the girl playing Anna. Isn’t she pretty? Her name is Lindsey. She’s seventeen. Do you know about her?”

Penny couldn’t speak. She could only stare at the picture. There was something about the teenager-something familiar.

“Cal’s daughter,” Gloria said. “Didn’t he mention her to you? I would have thought he might have, seeing as you were married. Hmm, maybe not. She’s a lovely girl with a beautiful voice. So lovely. She was sick a few years ago. Cancer, I believe. But she’s fine now. She’ll be going to college in the fall. Cal adores her. He’s never missed a school production. He hated giving her up, but he was just a teenager himself. What choice did he have? Still, he’s been a wonderful, caring father. He always wanted children. Just not with you, dear. Just not with you.”

CAL WALKED INTO The Waterfront a little before ten. The dining room was surprisingly full, with three couples still waiting to be seated. It was going to be a late night.

He nodded at the hostess, then looked around for Randy. His assistant was a little new to have been left in charge on a Friday night, but Cal hadn’t had much choice. He wanted a report, then he wanted to check in with Penny.

As he crossed the dining room, he saw Randy race out of his office. The younger man slowed his pace slightly as he approached. He grabbed Cal’s arm and pulled him to the side.

“We ran out of wine,” he said, his voice low and thick with tension. “For the tasting dinner. Penny’s really mad. I mean really mad. She picked a different wine and wouldn’t let me run the numbers, so I don’t know if we’re losing money or not.”

Cal groaned. “We ran out of the pinot? How did that happen?”

Randy shrugged.

“Great. Let me go calm Penny down, then we’ll get through the evening and sort it out in the morning. There’s a decent pinot for the dinner now, isn’t there?”

“I think so. Penny didn’t want me involved in the decision.”

“Okay. I’ll take care of things.”

He patted Randy on the back, then started for the kitchen. He stepped through the swinging door and into the madness that was a kitchen at capacity.

“Penny, I heard there was a-”

Something whizzed past his head and slammed into the door frame. He turned and saw a meat cleaver sticking out of the wood. Except for the hiss of the steamer and the roar of fire at the burners, the kitchen went silent.

“What the hell?” He turned and saw Penny standing by the counter, glaring at him.

“Oops,” she said, not sounding the least bit sincere or concerned. “I must have slipped.”

He couldn’t believe it. “You threw a knife at me,” he said, more stunned than furious.

She shrugged, a casual enough gesture, but he could see the rage in her eyes.

She’d thrown a knife at him and she was mad? “What the hell is wrong with you?” he demanded.

“Gosh, I don’t know. Like I said, it slipped.”

She turned back to the plates she was assembling. Conversation began again in the kitchen. Cal stared at her, not sure what was going on. Penny couldn’t be this mad because they were out of wine.

Penny thrust the plates at him. “Table sixteen. Did Randy tell you we’re out of the pinot for the tasting menu?”

“He mentioned it.”

“Next time you take off on our busiest night of the week, you might want to leave someone competent in charge.”

She turned her back on him and began calling out the new orders that popped out of the small printer. Cal stared at her for a second, then walked out into the dining room. Something was up, but he didn’t have any idea what.

After delivering the meal and chatting briefly with several guests, he walked toward his office. He stepped into the small space and found Naomi waiting for him.

“You okay?” she asked.

“Why do you care?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know what happened, but you’re in big trouble. Penny’s never gone ballistic like that before. What did you do?”

“I haven’t a clue. Everything was fine when I left, and now she’s crazy. She threw a meat cleaver at my head.”

“I heard. Good thing she’s got a decent aim.”

He didn’t want to think about what would have happened if she’d slipped.

Naomi looked at him. “Gloria was here. What do you want to bet the old bat made trouble?”

It was more than possible, but what could Gloria have said to set Penny off? “As soon as things slow down, I’m going to talk to Penny. Would you give me a heads-up if she tries to sneak out?”

Naomi hesitated. “All right. But just because I’m worried about her. Don’t expect me to get in the habit of siding with you against her.”

PENNY FELT AS IF she’d been awake for five days and had just finished a marathon. Her body ached, her head throbbed and she longed for hours and hours of sleep. Maybe then she would be able to forget what Gloria had told her.

She didn’t want to believe, but the proof was folded in her jacket pocket. The teenager looked so much like Cal. And knowing he’d had a child and then had given her up explained a lot. But it hurt to finally know the truth.

“You’re not leaving without talking to me first.”

She glanced up and saw Cal standing in the doorway to her office. He seemed larger than normal, as he filled the space and cut off her only escape route.

Hearing him out was the mature thing to do, although she wasn’t in the mood to do much more than throw a tantrum-something she’d sort of already done with the meat cleaver. She hadn’t meant to do that. One second she’d been holding it after chopping some beef, the next she’d heard his voice and the knife had somehow slipped from her fingers to go sailing through the air.