Charming for Mother's Day (A Calendar Girls Novella) (5 page)

Darlene
shrugged. “Okay, fine. Fire me. This job sucks anyway.” She stomped past me to the cloak room, a smug grin on her face.

I couldn’t help but see tonight’s events as an omen of more doom to come.

~~~~

             
At the end of the evening, as the rest of the staff filed out with their hasty goodnights, Colin popped up in the cloak room before I could escape. Again.

“Will you let me drive you home tonight? Please?”

              Still steaming over the incident with the bone crusher, I shook my head and shoved my arms into my coat. “I don’t think that’s such a hot idea.”

             
“Lucie,” he said on a sigh, “it’s not safe for you to be taking the bus at this hour of the night. I’m surprised Sidney even allowed it.”

             
Allowed?
My temper boiled, and I whirled on him. “Okay. In the first place, no one
allows
me to do anything. I’m a grown woman, and if I want to take the bus, I’ll take the damn bus. I ride the bus all the time. I’m pretty sure we established last night that I’m in very good hands on the bus.”

             
He waved off my reminder. “A fat old man and two young kids. If anyone ever seriously wished you harm, your fan club would be useless to you.”

“Yes, well, lucky for me, I treat people decently so they respond in kind. You, on the other hand…” I paused before adding, “…I’m seriously close to hurting you, myself, right now. So, let me catch my bus, and you have a good night, Chef.”

Blocking my path with hands planted on his hips, he sucked in an exaggerated breath. “Ouch. You know, it’s been a long time since I’ve been on the receiving end of a woman’s temper. What’d I do now?”

“You know damn well what you did.
You and
Nat
.” I sneered the man’s name.

“You’re still sore over that?” At my sharp look, he shrugged. “That was business.”

“Of course it was.”

He ignored my sarcasm. “Do you have any idea who he is?”

“Your probation officer?” I asked with a sugary smile.

“Try the executive producer of ‘All Star Chef.’ I told him to come down to see the place I’d bought with the prize money from the show. And you left him standing around, waiting for a table, like
a
nobody
.”

I stiffened, but judging by the change in his expression, even he realized what he’d just said.
And to whom.

His cheeks flooded with color, and he held up a hand. “I didn’t mean that—”

“Yeah,” I said with more calm than I felt. “You did. But don’t sweat it, Chef. I’m used to hearing that term from you. However, in order to avoid embarrassment and upsetting other customers, may I suggest, in the future, you let your maître d’ know you’re expecting a VIP guest?”

This way, no matter who had my job after I left, Colin wouldn’t put them in the same awkward position.
Which reminded me…

I pushed past him then tossed over my shoulder, “Oh, and by the way. I fired one of the wait staff tonight, so you’ll want to start looking for a replacement ASAP. Goodnight, Chef.”

I pushed through the door and sped down the block, praying he wouldn’t follow and yet, wishing he would. When headlights sliced the dark night, I even turned around once or twice to see if he’d driven up behind me like last night. He didn’t. For the rest of the walk to my bus stop, I chastised myself.

Why did I always give
him the benefit of the doubt? He would never change. Raised as he was, with all the privileges of the truly wealthy, he would always consider anyone not born into his social circle as a “nobody.”

I really had to get away from him. He upset me too much, made me question my sanity and self-worth, and put me in a foul mood whenever we were in the same room.

No better time to update my resume and start seeing what other jobs were available to me. I wouldn’t limit myself to maître d’ positions or even restaurant work, either. Any job that gave me hours that could fit around my crazy schedule of school and childcare—that offered the added bonus of distance between me and Colin Murriere—was preferable to my current situation.

The bus pulled in right on time, and the accordion doors unfolded on a hiss and a squeal.

“Morning, Jack.” I climbed the steps and fed my dollar to the meter monster.

“Morning, Lucie.” He craned his neck to look past me. “No stalkers with you tonight, I see.”

“Nope.” I offered a weary smile. “Thanks to you and my other knights in shining armor yesterday.” I nodded to Nadir and Joaquin, then took my seat just as the bus lurched forward, slamming my shoulder against the rail on my right. I touched my fingers to the spot, felt the pain of a brewing bruise, and snorted in disgust. Perfect. The perfect end to a perfect night. All I wanted now was to crawl into my bed, pull the covers over my head, and hide from the world until tomorrow.

“I hear that guy’s some kind of TV star,” Jack said, eyes staring at me from the rearview mirror.

“Uh-huh. He won a reality cooking show last December.”

Jack snorted.
“Big whoop. All those reality shows are fixed anyway.”

I didn’t reply, not wanting to give credence to his statement, but having no way to dispute it, either. I honestly had no idea if the show was fixed, or if Colin continued the good luck streak he’d lived with since birth.

Pulling my book from my purse, I allowed Kathleen Porter, the fictional forensic accountant, to lead me into a web of financial hanky-panky that would take my mind off Colin, Nat the bone crusher, Darlene, and all my other problems.

Chapter 4

Ariana

             
The following week, when I was all ready to question Chef Colin about how he knew my mom, Grandma told me I wouldn’t be hanging out at the restaurant anymore.

“How come?”
I asked.

Grandma turned from the window she was cleaning, the rag and a bottle of blue spray in her hands. “Normally, little girls aren’t allowed in restaurant kitchens where their mommies work. Grandpa Sidney made an exception for you. But Grandpa Sidney isn’t the boss there anymore. So you’re not going anymore.”

No. That couldn’t be right. Just because Grandpa was leaving didn’t mean I had to leave, too. Why shouldn’t everything else stay the same? “Chef Colin said he wouldn’t fire anyone for six months. And Grandpa told him I was a great apprentice sous chef, the best he ever had.”

“I’m sure he was just being nice,” Grandma said. “Grandpa Sidney didn’t mind having you underfoot because he loves your mom and he loves you. But now that there’s a new boss, you can’t spend all your time in the Gull and Oar’s kitchen. So you’re
gonna stay after school with your friends until I can pick you up.”

“But that’s not fair. I don’t want to stay in the afterschool program.”
Eww. I hated the afterschool building. It smelled like old feet. The Gull and Oar smelled like sunshine and garlic and flowers. All nice smells. “I want to hang out with Chef Colin.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s fair or what you want. The restaurant is a place of business, not somewhere for you to ‘hang out.’” She sprayed blue stuff on the window glass and rubbed like crazy. “Chef Colin hasn’t invited you to stay, and it’s rude to take advantage of him.”

“He did too say I could stay. He said no one would be fired for six months. That included me.”

Grandma laughed. “You’re not an employee there,
chica
.”

“I am so.” I stomped my foot. “I’m an apprentice sous chef. I have a certificate on the wall and everything.”
              “You’re a little girl who’s acting like a brat,” Grandma scolded.

I didn’t care. I stomped again. “Chef Colin said it was okay for me to be there.”

“Well, your mama says differently.”

             
“Where
is
Mom?” I was gonna hafta talk to her and tell her she was wrong about me staying at the restaurant, about Chef Colin being mean, about everything.

             
“She had a meeting with her counselor at school,” Grandma said, waving the dirty rag at me. “She’s planning her classes for next semester. So, don’t go bothering her about the restaurant. She’s been working very hard for a very long time. The best we can do is support her and cheer her on.”              

             
I nodded. Mom worked hard all the time. Harder than Cinderella and Snow White combined. She needed to rest more. But she went to school all day, then worked at night. And she took care of me and Grandpa Sidney and Grandma, too.

             
My mom needed someone to take care of
her
, her very own Prince Charming. And since she was busy all the time, I would have to find him for her. I had a good idea where to look.

Lucinda

             
I only woke up when the ringing of the phone at my bedside permeated my sleep-induced fog. I fumbled the receiver, but eventually stopped the noise and managed a thick, “Hello,” into the mouthpiece.

             
“Lucie? It’s Sidney. Did I wake you?”

             
Pressing a hand to my throbbing skull, I inched up into a seated position and glanced at the clock. “Yes, but I’m glad you did. I’ve got a test in two hours.” And I’d need a shower to ease my tension and make me appear human before I headed to the bus stop.

             
“I’m sorry to bother you right now, but I wanted to talk to you about something.”

             
Uh-oh. The remnants of sleep evaporated. “What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”

             
“With me? Everything’s fine. But I want to talk about you.” He paused, cleared his throat. “I know my announcement the other day came out of the blue.”

             
“Not totally,” I admitted. “I mean, I knew you were thinking about selling the place and retiring...”

             
“But thinking’s not the same as doing, I know. Then again, I had no idea Colin Murriere would show up with an offer I couldn’t refuse. He agreed to all my requests, right down to keeping the staff. You know I wouldn’t have taken the deal if it didn’t take care of you and the rest of the crew.”

             
“I know.”

             
“He even promised me that Ari could still come to the restaurant on your mom’s late nights.”

             
“Oh, well, no worries there. I’ve already made other arrangements for Ari. I don’t think it’s a good idea for her to be around Chef Colin. She might get attached.” Zip my lip. Why’d I go and say that?

             
His sigh blared through my ear like a typhoon. “Lucie.”
              Yeah, he caught my slip. But I played dumb anyway. “What?”

             
“You know what.” He paused, and I sensed he was drawing the lines together. “He’s the one, isn’t he?”

             
“The one what?”

             
“The one who broke your heart and sent you running to my good-for-nothing son.”

             
Heat rushed into my cheeks. “Sidney, don’t.”

             
“Ah, dammit. He is.” He blew out an exasperated breath. “That does it. I’ll call off the deal.”

             
“No, don’t do that,” I insisted. “Please. You’re overreacting. Really. That was a long time ago.”

             
“Maybe so, but you’ve never forgotten him. Neither did Rob, apparently. God knows I’ll never forget what I saw that night.”

             
I didn’t want to travel this road. Because what Sidney had seen was the one and only time Rob had put his hands on me in anger, leaving me broken, bleeding, and barely alive on our kitchen floor, with Ariana, just a toddler at the time, protected beneath me.               

             
“There’s no way you can work day in and day out with that man. You’ll relive that night every time you see him.”

             
“No, I won’t. Colin didn’t hurt me. Well...not physically, anyway. I’ve already spent time with him and I haven’t relived that night—at least, not ‘til now.” I realized how harsh that sounded the minute the words left my lips, and I hastened to add, “But you’re right that there’s no way I can continue to work for him. I don’t plan to stay at the restaurant now that you’re gone. I’m going to start looking for something else.”

             
A long pause followed before he asked, “Are you going to be able to swing a new job? With school, child care, and money?”

             
“I’m not sure yet,” I admitted.

             
“Well, you better get sure before you make the jump.”