Susan Mallery - Delicious

“Penny-”

She ignored him. “I said they could screw up one time. Well, they have. I’ll get my own people in here, which is great, but I still have dinner for three hundred tonight. I want someone’s head on a platter. I want it now and I want it raw. I’ll cook it myself.”

With that she turned on her heel and stalked into the restaurant.

He was equally torn between admiring her spirit and dealing with the disaster at hand.

Naomi stared at him. “Don’t go there, big guy. You already screwed that one up once.”

Cal ignored that. “Tell the guy to pack up and send it all back.” He would call later and cancel the contract, but right now there was a bigger problem. Dinner for three hundred.

He went into the restaurant and found Penny in the cold storage, taking inventory.

“I have shrimp,” she said, a note of hysteria in her voice. “Great. If we cut them in half, then everyone gets a serving. Fabulous. Come to The Waterfront and enjoy half a shrimp.” She turned and saw him. “Get out of my way.”

“I want to help.”

“You will. Tell me you drive something bigger than that expensive toy.”

“I have a full-sized truck.”

“Good. Go get it. Dress dirty. We’re going to Pike Place Market. But first I’m calling my fish people and finding out what they can do for me.” She winced. “They’re going to charge a lot for a last minute order.”

“We’ll pay.” He moved close and grabbed her shoulders. “I’m sorry the delivery was crap, but we’ll handle this. We can do an opening night chef’s menu and pretend it was our plan all along.”

“I know, but you have the easy part. You just have to print it out on the computer and slip it into the menus. I have to figure it all out and then make sure we have enough food, then cook it.”

“You can do it.”

“There’s an assumption.”

He saw the doubt in her eyes.

He felt her pain and annoyance and couldn’t think of a damn thing to make her feel better. She deserved more. Worse, he was partially to blame. He’d insisted on keeping the old vendors.

“I…”

“Yes? Any solution would be welcome.”

When he was silent, she sighed. “Yeah, I don’t have a miracle up my sleeve, either. Okay, meet us at the market in forty-five minutes,” she said. “We’ll check out what’s available and I’ll come up with a menu. Then we’ll put it all together and pray that it works.”

CAL WALKED THROUGH the dining room at eight-thirty on opening night. Every table was full and there wasn’t an empty seat at the bar. Quiet music blended with conversation and laughter from the guests. He could smell the various foods and hear the comments of surprise as people tasted one of Penny’s many special dishes.

The disaster had been averted.

Three hours at the market, with everyone running around buying mushrooms, shallots, fish, shellfish and ingredients for salad had produced a Chef’s Menu that should fool everyone. He couldn’t believe she’d pulled it all together so quickly, but she had.

He crossed the floor and pushed through the swinging door. In contrast to the quiet elegance of the dining room, the kitchen was a loud, bright, crazy house of activity.

“Fire up!” one of the cooks yelled. “Fire up, you skinny-assed sonofabitch.”

“Puta,” the other man replied without looking up from his pan where he sautéed shrimp with various vegetables.

“Table three. I’m waiting on bisque,” Naomi yelled from the front. “Bisque, ladies. How hard is that?”

Another chef pushed a full bowl toward her. She grabbed it, put it on a tray, expertly turned, then hustled out into the dining room.

Cal moved next to Penny who watched everything anxiously. She fingered the orders lined up and then turned to him. “What’s the next seating?” she asked.

“Two tables of four are going to open up in about five minutes.”

“Okay, once they’re seated, switch the menu.” She shook her head. “I hate this.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“Ha. Like that helps me now.”

He was just as pissed as she was, but figured there was no point in showing it. One of them screaming was enough. But the contracts with the old supplier had already been canceled and the new company would start in the morning. He would be there himself to make sure everything was up to standard. If it wasn’t, there would be hell to pay.

“I’ve never had to do this,” Penny said. “It’s opening night, Cal. I’m playing fast and loose with the menu. One special order could sink me. I don’t need this kind of pressure.”

The small printer in the corner spat out three more orders. Penny lunged for them. He sidestepped her and started out of the kitchen. On his way, he passed Naomi.

“She still threatening to kill you?” the other woman asked.

“Not to my face.”

“You should have been here earlier.” Naomi lowered her voice. “Orange sherbet. Bring her some and she’ll be eating out of your hand. Assuming you’re into that sort of thing.”

He looked at Naomi. “Why are you being nice to me?”

She grinned. “Because sex with your brother was so amazing, I’m feeling at one with the world. I’d say that you should try it, but that’s a place neither of us wants to go.”

“You got that right.”

He left the kitchen and made his way to his office. Leaving the store wasn’t an option-not on opening night. But he was management, he knew how to delegate. Once there he picked up the phone and called Reid. “Do me a favor,” he said. “Stop at the store on your way over and pick up some orange sherbet.”

IT WAS AFTER MIDNIGHT before the last guests had left, the kitchen had been cleaned and the staff clocked out. Penny sat at a round table for six, her feet propped on a chair, her lower back aching.

Every cell in her body groaned with exhaustion. She’d been at the restaurant since shortly after six. Eighteen-hour days weren’t all that uncommon in the business, but she was pregnant and apparently that changed things.

“You did good,” Dani told her. “I was impressed.”

“Thanks. I just never wanted to have to replace menus partway through the evening.”

Talk about doubling the work in the kitchen. But they’d done it. Their first night in business was a hit.

Hugh, Dani’s husband, raised his glass of wine in her direction. “To Penny-chef extraordinaire.”

“To Penny.”

Everyone joined in. Penny smiled. “Thanks. I appreciate it. Now one of you volunteer to take care of my shift tomorrow and I’ll be really grateful.”

“Not a good idea,” Naomi said from her place next to Reid. “You’re the talented one.”

“That is the rumor.”

Penny picked up her glass of water. She’d been fake-drinking her wine for nearly half an hour and was ready to give up the game. Half the people at the table knew the truth. She did, of course. Naomi and Reid. Which left Dani, Hugh and Cal as the only ones who didn’t.

Penny looked at Dani and her husband. Dani sat on her husband’s lap, her legs hanging over the arm of his wheelchair. Hugh was tall and muscled, a former star football player at the University of Washington. He’d been injured his senior year, a hit gone wrong paralyzing him from the waist down. Dani had stuck by him through his recovery and rehab, her love never wavering.

Penny didn’t know anything about their sex life, although with Hugh’s injuries it was unlikely to be completely conventional. What would happen when they wanted children?

On the off chance word of her pregnancy might send Dani to a bad place, Penny decided to keep the news to herself for now. She would have to come clean with Cal sooner rather than later, but not tonight.

Speaking of Cal-she turned her attention to her ex-husband. She was still pissed off that he’d insisted she use his suppliers who had then totally screwed her, but she had to admit he’d taken the fall like a gentleman and had done everything he could to help. He’d always been a great guy to have around in an emergency. It was the day-to-day stuff he wasn’t so good at.

“Your fish and chips were a hit,” Cal said, with a nod of his head. “I bow to your superior cooking skills.”

“As you should,” Naomi told him.

“It’s our first victory,” Penny said. “Let’s hope there are others that follow.”

He stood. “I need some more wine,” he said. “Anyone want any?”

There was a chorus of nos. Cal had a feeling the party was going to break up soon. Both Dani and Hugh had to be up early, and Reid and Naomi were looking at each other like sharks eyeing bait. He guessed they’d be heading out shortly to do things he didn’t want to think about.

He nudged Penny’s chair. “Come into the kitchen for a second,” he said.

She pushed herself to her feet and followed him. “If we’ve got rats, I don’t want to know.”

“It’s a restaurant in an old building. What do you think?”

She shuddered. “I know it’s inevitable, but I don’t want to see them.”

“I’ve got a great exterminator.”

“You’d better. I hate rats. It’s the tails. They’re so scaly looking. Why can’t their tails be furry?”

“Not my department.”

He crossed to the freezer and stepped inside. The carton Reid had brought earlier was right where Cal had left it. Orange sherbet didn’t sound the least bit like anything Penny-the queen of fussy eating-would want, but Naomi was too happy with Reid to lie. So he pulled out the container and slapped it on the counter.

“I heard you had a taste for this,” he said. “It’s my way of saying thanks for doing a hell of a job tonight.”

Penny took a step back. “Who told you to buy this?”

“Naomi. I think she felt bad because I heard you planning to kill me.”

Penny grabbed a bowl and a spoon. “I only threatened to take out your liver. There’s a difference.”