The Caterer

Chapter 30

A LICE TRIED TO PUT TOGETHER a cohesive rundown of the trip for Carver the next day at the bakery. It was busy for a Wednesday, but Carver seemed ready to block it all out. Alice needed to process what she’d seen, what she had been a part of. It felt weird to be back in a place with such abundance. People went about their days with no consideration for those she met. The uneaten croissant on Carver’s napkin would be well-appreciated where she’d been. How did she let the staff throw away as much food as they did? Surely there was something better to be done with it.

She went with Rita to their usual setup on K Street. She didn’t need to do it anymore, except the local crowd appreciated they were there. Needing to not think, she let Rita oversee the front. There was something simple and uncluttered about the food truck. To go back to May with Valencia there. Only she wouldn’t give up anything she was doing now. Comida felt like an unexpected gift, helping to realign Alice to what mattered .

Delany showed up after the lunch rush ended. Alice introduced him to Rita. They chatted while Alice made his lunch. He appeared at the back doors just as it was ready. Alice told Rita she’d be back and stepped onto the street. They found a park bench to sit on. Alice drank her water while Delany leaned into his knees and took a few bites. She studied the line of his chin, his broad shoulders. He was back to wearing his usual tailored slacks and blazer, his trilby hat.

“How is the office?” She broke the silence.

He looked over his shoulder and shrugged. “Still there. Katy’s good. She could run that place.”

“And Bobbie?”

He laughed. “Sometimes I think half her job is keeping Bobbie from running away with things.” He finished his meal and set the box on the bench beside him before he wiped his hands and sat back. “Nothing can get done without my okay. How are you?”

She shrugged one shoulder. “A little overwhelmed to be honest.”

“Yeah, it can be like that. We come back to all this, knowing what we left.” He faced her on the bench, his arm behind her. “I’m here if you want to talk. I know Eddie is available too.”

“Do you want to get dinner tonight?” It flew out of her mouth before she could stop it. He smiled wide, Alice’s heart racing.

“That would be lovely.” He touched her cheek.

Alice studied his eyes. Rita called her name, a line waiting at the food truck.

“I have to go.” She stood.

“I can pick you up at seven if that works.”

“Let me meet you there.” Easier than trying to think of something to tell her sister. “If that’s okay.”

“That’s fine. I was thinking Emre.”

“I will see you tonight. ”

She texted her sister to say she was working late. Annie clued her into Tabby’s reaction to what was going on. She thought Alice went with a credible organization, not some rogue cowboy. Annie mocked her sister’s tone in the car, Paul laughing too hard to scold her. Apparently, Tabby ranted all about it to Cyndi, a new regular in her mother’s life. It sounded like Tabby had a captive new audience for the drama of her takeover, the family starting to be less supportive of her decision to seethe.

It would be best to lay low for a few days. Not hard considering all the work piled up for the back end of Hasty Pudding on top of prepping for their upcoming events. It might be time for her to move back to her place. She’d be closer to the bakery, and it would give her a bit of privacy.

She went to the clothing stores around Carver’s bakery and found an off-the-shoulder, dark-blue, straight cocktail dress that fell to her knee. She bought some new heels and prayed she could walk in them. Carver gave her his fob for the gym down the street so she could shower. They had done it before when she came in covered in sweat from the ride in or needed to shower before an evening event. She changed into shorts and a T-shirt she kept in a bag in Carver’s office. He motioned to the dress on the back of the door.

“That’s not for an event, Lil.”

“I have a date tonight.”

“With whom?” He looked up from his work and smiled.

“Don’t think I’m a sellout.”

He stood and tossed his pen onto the checkbook. “Are you giving Delany Clare a shot?” He came around the desk.

“We’re going to Emre.”

“Damn. Not that I’d expect any less. I want a full rundown in the morning.” He sat on the back of his desk and crossed his arms. “My, my. We should have sent you all away sooner.”

“Because a disaster zone is where you find love.” She rolled her eyes. He laughed. “This is okay, right? I mean, after what… ”

“His company did to your sister? His second-in-command did to your sister? This is a good thing. You deserve to be happy. I don’t know if I have ever seen you smile like that.”

Carver got a photo of her all dolled up. She promised to email it to Valencia, who kept sending playful Skype messages from Spain. Things were going well with her mother. Valencia loved getting to know her siblings, but sounded restless. Alice kept herself from asking Val to come home. She wanted her friend there, able to see a host of things they could do together with Hasty Pudding so well-established.

Alice let out her breath and walked to Emre. She’d been on dates since her ex left. Bad setups, or men who seemed charming at first, but only wanted one thing. It had been a while since she’d been attracted to someone, and she had forgotten these fun emotions. Her stomach was in knots, and she felt above her body and happy. Hopefully those were good signs.

Delany stood outside the restaurant with a small bouquet of white peonies. He had changed into a blue suit, no tie, the first two buttons open. His brown hat brought out his eyes, and he’d trimmed his beard back to only accenting his chin. Holy cheese puffs.

He saw her and smiled, doing a once-over on her.

“You look incredible,” he said when she got close. He reached for her hand and gave her the bouquet of her favorite flower.

“How did you know?”

“You mentioned it once. Have a tattoo on your thigh, right?”

He held the door for her, the host leading them to a table in the back. When the server came, Delany ordered a bottle of red wine.

“I have to admit, it’s pretty intimidating taking a chef on a date. I mean, what if you hate the food?”

“This is one of my favorites. I know Garrett.”

They ordered their meals, and then there was nothing to distract her from the person she’d been trying to convince herself not to care about for the last three months and a mountain of emotions she was not expecting. She asked about Samson in northern California. Delany reached for her hand, telling her they didn’t have to talk about work.

“Have you ever been to Spain?” Delany asked. She shook her head. “Europe?”

“Tabby and I went for a few months after I graduated high school.”

“Did you all stay in hostels?”

“Have you met my sister?” Alice asked. He leaned into the table and laughed, Alice smiling too. “Yeah, no. Besides, my mother would never have let us stay in one. She’d be too scared of us getting hurt or contracting a disease or getting robbed.” She reached for her wine. The server came with their first set of tapas. Alice slipped a slice of rolled ham into her mouth, wanting to know how they got it so flavorful. It sat on her tongue, Alice closing her eyes and trying to pick out the spices they used. The menu said it was cured for twenty months. It must start with the pig—something local, humanely raised, no additives in the diet. She could eat the whole plate if Delany wasn’t there.

She forced herself to chew and swallow. “What?”

“Just enjoying watching the master appreciate food. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen you leave the room like that.”

Her face warmed. They ate, talking like old friends. He told her why he chose to retire, sharing fears Alice wondered if he ever told another person. A new side opened to her, someone well-read and observant, who thought a lot about the world around him and his place in it.

The executive chef came to the table after Delany ordered dessert and another bottle of wine. It was obvious Garrett knew Delany, that he came to Emre a lot. Garrett asked Alice how she was. They talked before he went back to his kitchen .

“Can I ask you something,” Delany said when Garrett left. Alice took a bite of her dessert and waited. “Every time we see another chef, they are nice to you. I get Jonas did you wrong, but why not just work in another kitchen?”

Alice sighed. “In Cornelia’s kitchen I was second chef, so when he was away, I ran that place. We worked on menus together. I got a say in who we hired. He started talking about my taking over when they found their next location. And then he died.” She sat back. “I could work in another kitchen. I could work for Garrett. But it would be as a station chef or as the meat chef. And that’s where I’d stay. There would always be an excuse why I was overlooked, a reason why some man with half my experience got promoted over me. There is a ceiling in this industry. There is rampant sexism. I worked too hard to be making sauces forever or prepping vegetables. I am a good chef with creative ideas and the only way I can cook what I want is to do it this way. So I went to Carver and am taking a less traditional route that lets me cook the food I want, my way.”

“Do you want your own restaurant?”

She thought about it. “If you asked me a year ago, hell yeah. But that’s capital I don’t have. Now, this, what we’re doing, I’m kind of enjoying it.”

They walked toward The Washington Monument, lit up for the night. Delany undid his jacket and put it over her shoulders, Alice thanking him. He took her hand, Alice floating. If she met Delany under any other circumstance, she’d fallen over herself to get another date. Maybe things had to come slowly so she trusted him. He was nothing like her ex, unlike anyone she’d ever met.

“Helene’s birthday is this weekend. I know she’d love to see you.”

“Do you want me to cook for it?”

“You can just come.” He chuckled and smiled .

“I know, but I’d love to make something fun and special for her. See if I can stump that incredible pallet of hers.”

He laughed. “Let me call Nadia.”

They stopped walking. She faced him, the look in his eyes humbling, full of respect and care.

“I had a good time tonight, Alice.”

“I did too.”

He kissed her, Alice moaning. She opened to him, her knees threatening to give out. His hand on her cheek, the strength of his arms. The earth tones of his cologne. It had been so long since she’d been kissed in a way that made her heart race. She only wanted to stay on that patch of grass with the lights on the monument, the trees around them changing colors for the fall.

She tried to catch her breath when he left her, her eyes still closed. His thumb stroked her cheek. It wasn’t just the emotion of New Mexico; she was falling fast and hard.

He kissed her again in the cab outside Tabby’s building. Alice kept herself from asking to go back to his place; it was too soon for that.

“I can come by the bakery after work tomorrow.”

“I’ll see you then.” Alice made herself get out of the cab. In the lobby she realized she still wore his jacket, the cab gone. She took the elevator to Tabby’s floor. Please let them be asleep. She needed to stop smiling. The second she tried the beam overtook her face again. She shook her head, still unable to believe what changed in just a few short days.