“Fantastic. I’m so proud of you.” Gail clapped her hands, her eyes bright with glee.
“Proud of me. I’m disgusted with myself. I’m getting pushed into doing things I didn’t want to do.” And I still don’t really know how I feel about it either.
“Oh come on, you’re not. You know as well as I do that you can’t help yourself. You’d die if you weren’t allowed in the kitchen. Lick your wounds and get over it. It’s what you do best and the kids need you to make it a good night.” Gail got a dreamy look in her eyes. “How many summers did we spend making eyes at the older boys around that pool? Don’t you think our own kids deserve a chance to have as much fun?”
Lena glanced at her friend, trying to find the words to disagree with her, but deep down she knew it was true, especially when she used emotional blackmail like that.
“So what did you cook your new friend last night for dinner?”
My new friend. “Nothing special. Ravioli with wild mushroom sauce and I made a hazelnut gelati with brioche which he seemed to really enjoy. It’s a flavor that I’ve been dying to try.” And he loved it!
“New recipe hey?” Gail swallowed back a smile. Lena had been caught doing what she’d just said she didn’t want to do—cook again and worse still, admit to trying a new recipe!
“Yes, Mama had a heap of fresh ones on the window sill so I thought I’d…You sneak. You did that on purpose.” Lena leaned into her best friend and growled at her.
“Told you it’s what you do best. Now when it comes to the Grill and Swill, I’ll be the one you need to impress and who hands over the cash. We can go over the budget on the weekend if you like. Bring Kyle and come over for dinner and a nice uninterrupted chat.”
You darling you. Knew I could depend on my bestie even after all this time. “Sounds good. You’re on. The boys get on well so it’s doubly good.”
“And I think you should think about doing what you want with your life now you’re at the crossroads again. If you want to cook, fine, if not, so be it. I’m pretty sure Kyle will be fine either way.”
I made him a promise though. “But I wanted to give him the time now he’s almost at high school. They get more homework at this stage. It’s what he missed when he was younger. I was always working and never made it to parent teacher interviews or helped out at canteen. I was always too busy, and after what happened with Cole, I can’t do it to him again. I just can’t.” The guilt is clawing up my throat thinking about it.
“I understand that, Lena, but you have to think of yourself as well. You wouldn’t be happy doing anything else.”
“I could be.” Who the heck am I kidding?
“Fine, come and work for me then. I need another waitress, or you could take the part time job at the library filing. Stuck in your own little dusty room and not having to deal with the public—I can see you doing really well there.” Gail watched her intently for a few seconds. “See, you don’t want to do it. I prove my point.”
“I don’t know. I need to think about it and I can’t with this other thing happening in four weeks. Maybe by then I’ll have figured out my path in life.” She drained her coffee cup and placed it in the sink. “I’d better go. I need to go and help Mama with the tomatoes. She thinks I need a whole new set of pantry staples since I left the last batch I made in the restaurant. Goodness knows what I’m going to do with them.” Hope maybe.
“Why on earth did you do that?” Gail rested her chin on the palm of her hand watching Lena.
“Because it was in the agreement. I wasn’t allowed to take anything from the restaurant.”
Gail cursed under her breath. “The sneaky bastard. I never did cotton onto him all that well and now I know why.”
“You never told me how you felt.”
“Pft, how was I supposed to do that? You were happy and that was the main thing. I just found Cole a little bit cold you know? He doesn’t have the passion you do for the food, but more for the damned glory. That’s what Pete says anyway, and I have to agree especially now hearing what he’s done to you guys.” Pete was Gail’s husband, one of the old high school gang.
Was I the only one who couldn’t see the real Cole? “Well it’s over now so moving on.” She put her cup on the bench. “You’d better give me some idea of what you’re expecting for the Grill and Swill so I can let it churn over in my mind until we get a chance to talk about it.” Give me something else to think about too.
Gail sat up and grinned. “Okay, well we do it at the school in the main hall but that’s not to say you can’t have it anywhere else if you find something else you prefer. Only problem with that is cost, so keep that in mind if you go hunting for another venue. You have carte blanch with the cooking class for your own use on the day if you want to use the school hall. Pete has about eight barbeques lined up this year we can borrow and I’m sure there will be plenty of people who would now be willing to put their hands up when they find out who our head chef is going to be.”
Have I bitten off more than I can chew here? “That’s something I guess, so long as they can do the basics in the kitchen. What kind of food do you normally offer?” Her mind was already sorting through
