Page 129 of Boss of the Year
Lucas’s eyes popped open. “Ondine’s restaurant had three stars. That must have been quite an experience.”
“It was terrifying. You can’t imagine the pace these places run at. Every dish had to be timed down to the second in terms of preparation. I walked in, and they were incredibly intense. No one spoke. But the entire staff knew everything about everyone who entered the restaurant. Their likes, their dislikes, personality types, anniversaries, special requests.” I shook my head. “I realized how much of the business isn’t about the food. It’s about the people. And I don’t know if I can handle it.”
“You can.”
That was when I found Lucas watching me so intensely, I thought I might fall over. Or fall into him.
“I don’t know much,” he said. “But I have no doubt that you are capable of anything you put your mind to. And if you want to own a three-star restaurant or anything else, it will be one of the best places to eat on the planet.”
“But how do youknow? I know you think you do, but, Lucas, before this last month, you and I had barely spoken. I was just a girl who worked in your house. How could you really know that I can handle something like that?”
“Do you remember the first time you ever made soup at Prideview?”
I sat back. “I—yes. Do you?”
He nodded. “Daniel was sick. You made him something called chicken pastina.”
“Yes.” I was surprised that he knew anything about this story. “He liked my soup so much, he told Mrs. Lyons to hire me.”
Lucas squinted. “You thought Daniel was the reason you got hired?”
“Wasn’t he?”
Lucas looked up at the sky again, muttering something like “God, I wish.”
“Lucas?”
He sighed. “Daniel was home from college with mono. Had a throat that felt like fire and was losing weight. You were cleaning out his room and mentioned your grandmother’s soup to him.”
“That’s—that’s right. How did you know that?” I didn’t think anyone knew that part of the story.
“It was the first thing Winnifred saw him eat in four days. She couldn’t stop talking about it. Even Ondine couldn’t get him to eat. When I heard about it, I went down to ask her what it was, and she told me what you put in it. Bone broth, but with pork and chicken. Oregano and tarragon, no parsley. Shallots insteadof onions, but with roasted garlic blended into the broth because he doesn’t like the texture. ”
I stared, my mind struggling to keep up. I remembered making that soup, but I’d done it because it felt like I’d been given a chance to show Daniel how much I cared. I had so little power in that house, and food was the only language I could speak without tripping over myself.
I’d thought Daniel had been the one to notice. But apparently it had been Lucas.
He shook his head, like he still couldn’t believe it. “You had a laundry list of all the things my brother loved and hated in one soup. You knew exactly what he needed, and you figured it out, just like you did for our parents and me in other variations of a similar story. It sounds to me like you can do exactly what those restaurants were doing for their customers. You have been for years.”
I gaped. “Did you even try the soup? Maybe it wasn’t any good.”
Lies. It was fantastic.
“No, I did not try Daniel’s soup. But I did try the container you left for me. The one that did include parsley, but also a bit of lemon because you knew I liked citrus, didn’t you?”
Slowly, I nodded. It was the truth.
“You weren’t even in the kitchen yet, and you knew those things. You paidthatclose attention to everyone around you. That’s why I told Ondine to promote you.”
“Why didn’t…why didn’t you ever tell me any of this?”
Lucas sighed, low and long. “I thought about it. After I tried that soup, I went to tell you myself that you were going to be promoted. You were upstairs, changing the sheets in a guest room, dancing to something on your headphones. And you were talking. I think you curtsied once.”
My cheeks bloomed. “Well, that’s embarrassing.”
“Not embarrassing at all. Endearing, I’d say.”
“Do I even want to know what I was saying?”
