The Secret Ingredient (42 page)

But her mind kept drifting, recalling the stunned-mullet expression on Tasha's face at the hospital. Andie had to wonder if the girl had even thought through the ramifications. Was she prepared to take time off work to care for Ross? Was she able to? She couldn't just leave him to fend for himself all day, that was simply not an option, at least not for the first week or two. Andie didn't want to butt her nose in any further than she already had, and she could hardly tell Tasha what to do. She'd have to discuss it with the kids. True, they couldn't stand Tasha, especially Brooke, but Ross was their father, and they had the right to insist that he receive proper care, even if they had to provide it themselves. There wasn't going to be much Andie could do to help, Mondays were her only day off . . .

‘Andie?'

She jumped. Dominic was leaning over the bench to get her attention.

‘Sorry, I was . . . concentrating.' Not so much on her job though. She glanced down at the piece of pork belly she was working on; it was okay, she hadn't hacked it. She had to keep her wits about her.

‘How is everything?' Dominic asked.

‘Everything's good, really good,' she said brightly.

‘Your ex-husband is out of surgery?'

She nodded. ‘It all went well, and he should be going home in a couple of days. So now things can get back to normal, thank God.'

He gave her a curious look.

Great, that sounded compassionate. ‘I didn't mean —'

‘I know what you meant,' he said.

Andie glanced at him, lowering her voice. ‘Maybe I can take you up on that raincheck later?' she suggested, her heart fluttering inside her chest.

‘Maybe . . .' He gave her a smile, just a small one, but it did go as far as his eyes. ‘Anyway, I'll leave you to it for now.'

Andie watched him walk back along the bench towards his office, and breathed a sigh of relief. She returned her attention to the pork belly as her phone started to vibrate in her pocket. Damn. She shouldn't even have it on her, it was expressly against kitchen policy to take calls on the floor, but Andie couldn't bring herself to leave it in her locker. Ross was still in recovery when she'd left the hospital, it didn't feel right to be out of contact.

She worked quickly but carefully through the pork, cutting it into the perfect cubes required for the dish. She carried the finished tray to the next station and went to wash her hands. She couldn't see Dominic anywhere, and Cosmo and Tang were occupied gearing up for lunch service, so Andie slipped out to the change room to check her phone. There was a missed call from Brooke. She pressed to call back.

‘Hi, it's me,' Andie said when she answered. ‘What's going on, is your father all right?'

‘Yeah, he's still pretty out of it,' she said.

‘I think that's normal, and it's good for him to rest.'

‘He keeps asking for you.'

That must be going down well with Tasha. ‘I'm at work, Brooke.'

‘I know, that's what I told him. It's just . . .'

‘What?'

‘Well, Matty's already left, and I have to go soon. I just feel bad leaving Dad alone all afternoon, right after he's had surgery.'

Andie sighed. ‘Brooke, you really have to stop being so dismissive of Tasha. He won't be alone, she'll be with him.'

‘Tasha's not here, Andie.'

‘What? When did she leave?'

‘She didn't even wait until they brought Dad out of recovery.'

‘She didn't?' said Andie, her mind racing. ‘Well, I suppose she must have had to go to work, she's been off the whole week with this.' But it seemed funny to bother to go back on a Friday, especially the day of his surgery.

‘Listen, Brooke, he'll be all right. Just tell him Lauren will be in later. You said he's really out of it, he's probably not going to even notice.'

After she hung up, Andie slipped her phone back into her pocket. She had to be contactable, she really didn't have a choice now. She went back to the kitchen and got on with her work, but her mind wasn't in gear. Where the hell was Tasha? They couldn't get rid of her before, and now she had skipped off after his operation without even waiting to see him? Andie was beginning to get a bad feeling about this.

But she couldn't do anything about it right now, especially once service was underway and they were all run off their feet, as ever. Friday was the day of the long lunch, the busiest lunch service of the week. Andie felt her phone vibrating in her pocket a couple of times, but she had to ignore it. She was finally able to duck out after the last order was away, returning to the change room to check the missed calls.

The first left a voicemail, it was Ross's bank. What the hell? The woman said something about the security division, and left a number for a direct line, asking Andie to call back at her earliest convenience. The other call had come from the hospital.

‘Your husband is a little distressed after his operation,' the nurse told Andie when she rang back.

‘Is he in pain?'

‘No, we're managing that. But he's quite emotional, which is not unusual after surgery. It's just that he's alone, so he's feeling it more. He asked me to call you to find out when you're coming in. I wanted to put his mind at rest.'

‘Look, I'm sorry, I'm at work, and Ross knew I wasn't able to come in. I gather Ms Vassallo isn't around?'

‘No one's been here since his daughter left earlier.'

‘Well, his other daughter will be in this evening. Maybe you can remind him.'

‘I will, thanks, Mrs Corcoran.'

Andie hung up with a heavy sigh. Why was this happening? Her fingers were trembling as she returned the call to the bank.

‘Thank you for getting back to us, Mrs Corcoran,' the woman said. ‘We have been trying to get in touch directly with your husband —'

‘He's in the hospital right now.'

‘Oh, I see.'

‘What's this about?'

‘There has been some unusual activity on Mr Corcoran's accounts in the last few hours.'

Andie felt sick in the stomach. ‘What do you mean, “unusual activity”?'

‘There have been several large credit transactions, as well as a substantial cash advance, all within the space of an hour or two.'

Shit. ‘Can you put a stop on the credit cards?'

‘Do you have reason to believe the cards have been stolen?'

‘Um, well . . . it's complicated. Can't you just put a stop on them?'

‘Not without Mr Corcoran's authorisation, unless you're prepared to officially report the cards as stolen.'

Andie thought about it. She had no idea what Tasha was doing, but Ross would have given her the cards, so Andie couldn't accuse her of stealing.

‘No, I don't want to do that. I'll see what I can find out, and I'll get back to you.'

‘You have my direct number.'

Cosmo popped his head around the door. ‘There you are, Andie. I need that clarified butter.'

‘Yes, goodbye,' she said, hanging up quickly. ‘Of course, Cosmo, sorry about that.'

She raced back to her station and got to work chopping up the butter and placing it in a large pot. Her head was spinning. So Tasha had disappeared, and was in the process of maxing out Ross's credit cards. Andie wondered how many she had, what kind of limit was on them. Ross had always been very generous with her, but they were married; she hoped he'd been a little more judicious with someone he hadn't known so long. But it was unlikely. He was a bit of a show-off with his money; he liked to splash it around.

Andie tried to calm down, think it through rationally. So Tasha had left the hospital without waiting to see Ross after his operation, it didn't mean she was never going back. She might have been relieved, gone off and had a bit of a spending spree; she may even have been buying something for him . . . to help with his recovery.

Yeah, right. Not likely. Andie wasn't going to stress about it, it wasn't her problem. Ross could afford it, and it was his own stupid fault anyway.

It suddenly occurred to her – who was going to look after him after he left the hospital if Tasha was gone? He couldn't go back to the apartment alone.
Shit.
Matty and Brooke were going to have to stay with him, take turns. That was the only way. Andie refused to be roped into this, it just wasn't possible anyway; she had a job, she had a life of her own —

‘Andie, what are you doing?'

It was Cosmo, in front of her. The butter was foaming up almost out of the pot.
Shit.
She quickly moved it off the flame. ‘Oh my God, I'm so sorry.'

He peered into the pot. ‘It's no good, you'll have to discard that batch and start again.'

‘Cosmo.' It was Dominic, right behind her. ‘Have one of the others take over. Andie, could I see you in my office?'

Shit. Shit.

She followed him into the office and he closed the door behind her. ‘Take a seat,' he said.

He was being very formal, so Andie followed suit.

‘I apologise, Chef,' said Andie. ‘It was a mistake, it won't happen again.' After all, he didn't believe people should make mistakes twice.

‘Are you sure, Andie?' Dominic said gravely, as he walked around his desk and sat down. ‘You have to decide if you're up to this right now. I noticed you missing from the floor a couple of times today. You said everything was over with. It doesn't appear to be.'

‘I really do apologise, Chef —'

‘Andie, it's me, Dominic,' he said. ‘Talk to me.'

She sighed. ‘There have been some . . . unexpected developments today.'

‘Is your ex-husband all right?'

‘He's fine. It's, um . . .' Andie looked at him. She really wasn't sure she should go into it with him.

‘You have to tell me what's going on, Andie.'

She took a breath. ‘Ross's girlfriend has decided she's not up for this, so she's taken off, and it looks like she's spent the day maxing out his credit cards. He's going to be released from hospital as soon as the day after tomorrow and I don't know who's going to look after him, or what's going to happen, quite frankly.'

There was a pause before he spoke. ‘Then I think you should take a few days off to sort it out.'

‘No, Dominic, I don't need to. Really, it's not my problem any more.'

‘It sounds as though it's very much your problem, Andie.'

‘Look, I'll leave my phone in my locker from now on, I'll deal with it after work.'

‘You had your phone on the floor?' he said darkly.

‘I didn't take any calls —'

‘It is expressly forbidden, and you know it is. You're the one who didn't want special treatment, and now you're taking calls on the floor —'

‘I wasn't on the floor,' she cried.

‘But you should have been,' he snapped back at her, raising his voice above hers.

Andie just stared at him.

‘Take a few days,' he said levelly. ‘And I'm sorry, Andie, but that's not a suggestion.'

‘No,' she said, ‘it sounds like an order. You're Chef again, right? Not Dominic.'

‘Don't be like that,' he returned. ‘I just cannot have this kind of disruption in my kitchen.'

‘No, that would never do, would it?'

He frowned at her. ‘So now you're pissed at me? Seriously, Andie?'

She bristled. ‘It's just that you should know there are some things more important than trying to create the perfect dish. This kitchen, the way it works, it's not like real life.'

‘No, it's a place of work, where there are standards and expectations.'

‘It was just a pot of butter, for Chrissakes, I'll pay for it. Nobody died, Chef.'

‘Okay, that's quite enough,' he said harshly. ‘Now, please leave as I asked . . . and try to restrain yourself from running out this time, show some decorum.'

Andie was mortified. She got up and walked out the door without looking at him again.

She was shaking when she got back to her car, and she had to sit for a while to pull herself together. What the hell was that? Where was the Dominic of only a day or two ago, offering her comfort, reassuring her he'd be there for her? But not in his precious bloody kitchen.

Oh God, maybe she was expecting special treatment. Not consciously, but she knew the rules, and she'd consciously broken them. And Dominic was right, she had acted pissed off with him for daring to challenge her about it. Damn! It was an impossible situation, she should never have gone out with him in the first place . . . She felt a stabbing sensation in her heart with the realisation. It was hopeless.

Andie started the car and drove out of the carpark, and she had the strongest feeling it would be the last time. She couldn't come back, how could she work here and have a relationship with Dominic? And now she wasn't sure she could have that either, it was spoiled like that blasted butter in the bottom of the pot. Tears welled in her eyes and spilled over onto her cheeks. She drove aimlessly through the city, she didn't know what to do, or where to go. One thing, she wasn't going to see Ross, she was in no state to deal with his pathetic mooning over her. No wonder Tasha had had enough of him.