Catering to Love (18 page)

Gabi sighed as she stared at the ceiling, her eyes watering from the intensity. She now knew where every crack, every popped nail, and every uneven spot existed on the ceiling. Abandoning her efforts to fall asleep, she sat upright and stared out the window. She smiled to herself, remembering her evening—the evening that hadn’t worn off yet, the evening that had kept her awake all night. One deep sigh, and she tossed her legs over the side of the bed, stood up, and sashayed to the bathroom. Even walking felt euphoric. A single glance at her face in the mirror made her smile—she was absolutely glowing, something she hadn’t felt in a long time. Just thinking about him made her pulse race. How was she going to work today without swooning over him and worrying about the staff noticing something was different? Would she feel nervous around him now? Would she be tongue-tied trying to talk to the staff? She brushed it
off and told herself she was being silly. Once she was downstairs in work mode, she’d be fine.

Twenty minutes later, she locked the door of her suite and walked down the creaky stairs with trepidation. When she reached the last step, she took a deep breath and entered the kitchen. He was leaning against the door in the empty kitchen, a cup of coffee in one hand, a single rose in the other. Their eyes locked—he was watching her, every move she made. A private smile creased his handsome face and caused another sharp intake of air.

“Good morning,” he said, handing her the rose. “This is for you.”

Gabi returned his smile and swallowed hard, bringing the rose up to her nose and smelling it. “Thank you,” she said, wishing she could feel his lips on hers.

Noticing he hadn’t given her the coffee, he grinned and shook his head. “Here,” he said, handing her the mug. “This is for you too.” They giggled like teenagers.

“Thank you.”

“How did you sleep last night?”

“Sleep? What’s that?”

“I know. Me neither. Have you given…” she stopped talking because he was talking at the same time. They both stopped and laughed again. “Go ahead,” she said, “you first.”

“How do you want to handle today? I don’t know that we need to appear any differently than we have in the past, do you?”

“The staff is bound to sense something is different between us,” she said.

“Why? Because we’re not arguing?”

“Yeah, because we’re not arguing.” They stopped talking when they heard a loud knock on the kitchen door. She raised her shoulders and giggled. “You forgot to unlock the door?”

He rolled his eyes. “I guess I did. But wait, before you open it—” he pulled her into his arms one more time and kissed her with more passion than she expected. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to get through the day without feeling your lips on mine.” They heard Leslie’s voice calling out Gabi’s name. Corey began to unlock the door when Gabi quickly scooted across the kitchen into the dining room to collect herself before facing Leslie.

She heard him talking to her. “Sorry, Les, I didn’t realize the door was still locked.”

“That’s okay. Actually, I was thinking maybe we had the day off and I was confused.”

“Yeah, there’s a lot of that going around these days.”

“Huh?” she said.

He flung his hand in the air, “Nothing. Just a private joke.”

“Oh, okay. What a fantastic open house, huh? Wasn’t it great?”

“It was, and I think Gabi has some good feedback for us.” He spotted Gabi coming into the kitchen behind Leslie. “And here she is.”

Leslie frowned and gave a wave to Gabi. “You seem awfully happy today, Corey. Did I miss something?”

“No. I guess I just got a good night’s sleep,” he replied.

“Good morning,” Gabi said. “I’m getting a very slow start this morning.”

“You’re entitled. Okay, where do you want me to start?”

Corey responded. “The bread is in the proofing cabinet, so you could start by getting that baked.”

“You did that this morning?” Leslie asked. “What time did you get here?”

“Very early,” he groaned.

“Okay, thank you.”

“Did you have any feedback to share, Chef?” Steven asked, raising his voice to be heard above the noisy equipment roaring at full speed.

“Plenty!” Gabi said. “Stephanie spoke to several of the customers, and of the information she got, you know what the biggest complaint was?” Joey and Leslie stopped the machines to listen. “That it was taking us too long to create a new menu.” Gabi threw her hands in the air. “I can’t win for losing here. I thought they might be upset if I changed it too quickly. So a new menu is what they’ll get.”

“You know how it is when you deal with the public,” Corey offered. “So as we revise, we’ll give them more than they expect and we’ll be fine. Did Stephanie tell them some of the things you have planned?”

“She said she did, and they were very receptive. On the food question, they asked for more beef and pork dishes… and a few more pasta dishes.” She ran a hand through her hair. “So, it’s full speed ahead now. We have to get this done in record time. Are we still on for next Sunday?” she asked Corey. “I could really use your help.”

“Yes, we’re still on, but don’t go getting all panicky and rush through things. Slow and steady is the pace, and you also have to make sure you’re adding the right kinds of
things on the menu,” he said. “Actually, I’ve already begun to mark some recipes in my personal cookbooks. And there were some terrific ones I used in my own restaurant that I wouldn’t mind giving you to use.”

“Are you sure about that?” She couldn’t believe her ears. Maybe he was beginning to let go of his past. “That’s awfully generous of you.”

“Well, it makes me really feel part of the restaurant by giving them to you, and it would warm my heart to see something I created on the menu.” His smile caused a swirl of emotion in her stomach. She couldn’t take her eyes off him, until she noticed Joey watching them. She quickly averted her eyes. Corey was saying all the right things. Gabi hadn’t had anyone compliment her in a long time—and the fact that it was coming from a tough cookie like Corey meant even more. But the magnetism of his smile bowled her over and made her heart race. Yeah, this romantic involvement was a whole lot better than fighting. She’d made the right choice by letting him get close to her. Or had she? What would happen when she didn’t like something he’d done and he had one of his usual flare-ups? Just because they were together, so to speak, didn’t mean all that nonsense was left behind. Corey was still working on his issues. A sharp pain stabbed at her stomach. She didn’t want to rain on her own parade, but maybe she needed to talk to the girls first. She would call Stephanie, but their friendship was too new. Stephanie didn’t know her well enough to give boyfriend advice. The fact that Stephanie was trying to get a romance going with one of her former classmates meant she’d probably be egging Gabi on without being objective.

Gabi excused herself and walked into her office. She wanted to call the girls to share her good news and talk about Corey.

Jamie answered Cassie’s phone on the second ring. “You have ESP,” she said. “Were your ears burning awhile ago? Cassie and I were just talking about you. Do you have any plans for tomorrow?”

“No. Just resting. Why?”

“Cass and I thought we’d come hang out with you tomorrow and leave on Monday morning. What do you say?”

Gabi squealed with delight. “Ohmigod, are you kidding? I’ve been missing you guys so much. I’m so excited.”

“Okay, we’re leaving here at seven thirty in the morning, so we have a full day to catch up on all the gossip and what’s been going on.”

Tears gathered in Gabi’s eyes. “Jamie, you have no idea how much I need this visit with you guys. I have so much to tell you.”

“Us too. So when she suggested a trip out to see you, I couldn’t wait to call. And you called instead. Now that’s good waves of mental telepathy.” She chuckled. “Everyone here is throwing kisses to you telephonically.” She paused briefly. “Cass is feeding Josh breakfast; otherwise I’d let you talk to her. Okay, I know you must be busy getting prepped for the day, so I’ll let you go. See you early tomorrow.”

Gabi wiped her tears. “I love you guys.” She sat back and heaved a huge sigh. She’d fill them in when they got here. She loved having her own business, but she was missing her friends like crazy. Gabi was grateful she had Stephanie, but no one could ever come close to being Jamie or Cassie.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Figuring out love is like learning Greek. You know a few letters from your college sorority, but not much beyond that. At least this recipe is in English. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and brush each half with olive oil. Place on a sheet pan, cut side down, and bake in the hot oven for 15 minutes.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees.

Use a paring knife to cut the slightly cooked pulp out of the eggplant. Make sure you leave a ¼-inch wall around the eggplant. Chop the pulp into bite-size pieces. Now add the remaining olive oil to a large frying pan. When the pan is hot, add the onions, garlic, and eggplant pulp to the pan
and sauté approximately 10 minutes or until tender, like your heart. Transfer ingredients to a large bowl and add everything else except the Parmesan cheese. Stir until thoroughly combined. Fill the four halves with the mixture and sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top. Bake for 40 minutes. Makes 4 dinner servings or 8 side-dish servings.

Gabi hardly slept a wink all night, excited about having her two best friends spend the day with her. Up early, she showered, then added a light spritz of spray to her hair and took one last look in the mirror. Dark circles puffed underneath her eyes. At least Cassie and Jamie were well aware of what it took to run a restaurant, not to mention an entire inn. Racing down the stairs, she made her way into the dining room to pick up the tray of dishes she’d set aside last night and carried them outside to the patio to set the table.

She’d chosen one of the tables closest to the babbling brook, knowing they’d appreciate hearing the sound of water rushing over the rocks much more than the usual piercing wail of sirens and honking horns in Midtown. Now that the weather was warmer, it was a perfect day to sit outside by the brook. A warm breeze filled the air with the scent of lilacs and azaleas in bloom. Stepping back to admire the setting, her heart warmed knowing they’d be arriving soon. She took one glance at the clock just as she heard Jamie’s voice calling her name. She rushed to the door and couldn’t open it fast enough. One look at each other and the tears
gushed down their cheeks. The girls pulled her into a group hug.

“Oh, sweetie,” Cassie said, “Do you know how much we miss you?”

“Probably as much as I’m missing you.” She hugged them again.

“It’s so beautiful here,” Cassie said.

“Let me show you around first,” Gabi gestured.

“After I use the restroom,” Jamie said. Gabi pointed in its general direction. “Boy,” Jamie inhaled on her way down the hall, “I hope that smell is something you made for us.”

“It is.”

Cassie hugged her again. “Gabi.” She stared at her for a few minutes, her mouth in a pout. “We need to do this more often, because letting a month pass by without contacting each other is ridiculous.” She held her at arm’s length. “You’re looking so tired. It’s hard work, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but it’ll be worth it. Are you ready for a mimosa?”

“I know I am,” Jamie said, reentering the kitchen. “What can I do to help?”

“We have a half hour before breakfast is ready, so let me make the drinks and then show you guys my suite.”

“Sounds good.” Cassie sniffed the air. “Ooh, are you making hot cross buns?”

Gabi grinned. “And what else do you smell?”