Charming for Mother's Day (A Calendar Girls Novella) Read Free Page B

computer programs for engineering class straight, and he wanted to discuss the least popular meals on Sidney’s menu? I couldn’t even remember what was on the menu. I jerked my head at Maxie. “Got a menu back there?”
                  “Sure.” She handed over a burgundy leather and gold-embossed book.
                  Placing it flat on the bar, I flipped open the cover.             
                  “Wow,” Colin said. “I see what you mean about the lighting.” On a screech, he pulled his barstool closer to mine to read over my shoulder.
                  Too close. So close, I could smell lemon juice on his skin. And skin on his skin. Warm, male skin. I tried to back up, place a wall of air between us, but he reached down near my thigh and pulled my stool close until his legs touched mine.
                  “Do you mind?” he asked with no censure. “You’re blocking the meager sliver of light when you move.”
                  Oh, I minded. But he had me trapped. At least, for now.
                 
                               
    Chapter 2              
    Ariana
                 
    Chef Colin was going to run our restaurant! And he was even nicer and funnier in person than on TV. If I squinted my eyes almost shut, he really did look like Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid , with spikier hair. Before Mom came in, he answered all my questions about being on “All Star Chef.” Like, what was his favorite challenge (the unusual ingredients one where he made alligator steak pizzaiola), who—besides him—was the nicest chef (Chef Margaret), and who was his favorite celebrity judge (the man from that alien movie—I forget his name).
    Whenever we watched the show, Mom would say Chef Colin wasn’t a nice man, but I liked him. On the show and in person. While it was just me, him, and Grandpa in the restaurant, he taught me how to make s’mores in puff pastry. A mean chef wouldn’t do that. So Mom must be wrong.
    I finished the blackboard and propped it on the stand, then went back into the kitchen to help Grandpa.
    “There’s my snickerdoodle,” he shouted over the clanging pots and shouts of the kitchen staff. “Ready to get cookin’?”
    I tucked my hair under my chef’s hat. “Uh-huh. What are we making tonight?”
    “You tell me, doodle. What were the specials?”
    I remembered all of them except that avocado/mango one, but Grandpa let me slide since he knew my Spanish wasn’t very good.
    “Close enough,” he announced and picked me up to plop me on the stool by his side.
    He told me to start pitting strawberries. I worked quick and careful, like he taught me, so when Chef Colin came back into the kitchen, he would see what a hard worker I was. I mean, cooking in the kitchen with Grandpa was fun, but if I got to learn from Chef Colin? That would be so cool! So I had to show him I was good enough, or he wouldn’t keep me.
     
    Lucinda
     
    At the end of my shift, I switched from my dressy heels into my cushioned boots for the walk to the bus stop. My mother had shown up around nine to take Ariana home, thank God. I hated keeping her in the restaurant until two a.m., even with the cot Sidney had set up for her. Too much noise in the kitchen didn’t allow for restful sleep. And Ari was still a little girl. Not that she ever complained. She loved being here. But I couldn’t continue that tradition with my new boss.
    Colin popped into the cloak room before I could grab my jacket and slip out, unnoticed. “Lucinda Rosado.”
    I stiffened.
                  He grinned, all full of himself for finally remembering me. “That’s who you are, right? Or I guess— were —before you married Rob Soto. I can’t believe it. Sidney and I sat right at that bar and went over the employee roster, and I didn’t blink when he mentioned the maître d’s name. I