Page 18 of Always Be My Baby

What? I shook my head slightly. “Okay, then can you tell me how things are going? You think you’ll be good to take over completely while we’re gone?”

“Training’s going great. You’ve got nothing to worry about here, lover boy.”

“Great, because I really need this—”

“To be special,” she finished for me. “Yes. So you’ve said about fifty thousand times.”

I laughed. “It hasn’t been that many, has it?”

“Pretty close. But I get it. Best friend here. I know how special she is—plus, she likes to touch Girard Junior down there. That probably counts for a lot all on its own.”

“You have no idea. But seriously, I need your opinion on the destination. After lunch, come find me. I’ll show you the three choices I’ve narrowed it down to.”

“Righty-ho. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to see if I can’t wrangle a date with Mr. Diagnostic Technologies Junior.” We both chuckled as she walked toward the party room. Lee, and now I, was lucky to have her as a friend.

With that tentatively taken care of, I turned to walk back into the kitchen to get going with lunch prep.

The time flew by as I lost myself in the Zen of cooking. I always lost myself when I cooked. The traffic in the restaurant picked up and we were hopping. Specials and menu items flew out of the pan as fast as we could prepare them. Lee and Lena made the rounds throughout the kitchen, dining room, and the hostess station.

Lena had finally changed out of those ridiculous-for-work but sexy-as-hell spiked heeled boots. I’d gotten the impression before she went to the meeting that she’d worn them specifically for the meeting with Diagnostic Technologies. I knew it for a fact once it was over.

My mind was on pressing the squab flat in the frying pan coated in olive oil to achieve a crispy skin on each side before finishing the bird in the oven. Squab was a young, unfledged pigeon with a mild, tender meat and happened to be the special this week.

With all the clinking and clanking going on in the kitchen, I was surprised I heard the throat clear. And when I looked around, I saw Lena staring at me. “I said after lunch service,” I teased. She didn’t laugh.

Actually, her face fell to something that resembled worry and sadness, with maybe a pinch of anger.

“What’s wrong?” After moving the frying pan into the oven, I wiped my hands on my towel and stepped out from behind the stove side of the prep area to where the servers picked up the platters of food.

I placed a hand on her arm. “Talk to me.”

“There’s a guy out there—Girard, he was looking for Lee. He said he’s her brother.”

“Jimmy?” I asked, completely dumbfounded. Last I heard, he and Tessa were trying to make a trip happen at the end of March.

She vigorously shook her headno. “He says his name is Lach. I’ve never seen him before. But, Girard, he doesn’t look older than early twenties.”

“Has Lee met him yet?”

“Not yet. I intercepted him. He just got to town and has apparently been asking about her everywhere. Someone tipped him to this place because he couldn’t reach her at the apartment. Which—”

“Was her last official residence,” I finished for her, and sighed. Then I pinched the bridge of my nose. Something about this started my boyfriend senses tingling. Thank god I had Lee staying with me. Depending on this guy’s answers, he’d either be meeting her or getting run out of town. She’d faced enough heartache for a lifetime.

“Sawyer,” I called.

“Yes, chef?” he answered.

“Squib in the oven. You’ve got the kitchen for a few.”

“Got it, chef.”

Then I turned to Lena. “Point the way, then keep Lee busy until I talk to him.”

Lena nervously brushed the bangs off her face, tucking strands that usually framed her cheeks behind her ears. She pointed to a younger guy seated at a table for two in the far corner of the dining room.

While Lena broke off to intercept Lee in the hostess station, I approached his table, sizing him up in the process. Aside from being the wrong age, he had reddish-auburn hair, not at all like Lee, Tess, or Jimmy. He was a pretty boy type, physique that said he probably spent his off hours at the gym. Like he should be in L.A. What was he doing here?

“Lena said you asked to speak to Marilee,” I said on my approach.

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