Page 3 of Canapés at the Beach House Hotel
“All of it,” added Rhonda.
“I guess I’ll begin with how the trouble started,” said Chet.
Harper nodded her agreement.
“But first, some very important history for you,” said Chet.“I was raised in upstate New York, and when I was six years old, my father was killed in Afghanistan, leaving my mother and me alone.Our neighbor, Rosalie Mancini, took care of me while my mother was at work.Two years later, my mother married a man who, to put it bluntly, hated me.So, at eight, I spent a lot of time with Rosalie even after my mother and stepfather moved to a different house in the same neighborhood.”
As Chet stopped to take a drink from the glass of water I’d placed before him, Harper said quietly.“All of it is important.”
“While we were together, Rosalie taught me to cook,” continued Chet.“It was a creative outlet and she and I became very close.And when she realized how much my stepfather belittled me for liking to cook, she spoke to my mother about it.And though things got better, my stepfather thought I should’ve been playing football, not busy in a kitchen like a girl.Privately, he called me every name he could think of.None of them nice.”
I could see Rhonda’s fingers begin to curl into a fist and knew how upset she was.Rhonda herself had used cooking to get through tough times growing up in her neighborhood.
“So, that’s where and how you learned to cook,” I said, prompting him to continue.
“Yes, but our cooking wasn’t about following recipes.It was more than that.It was about smelling and tasting food, trying new combinations, putting creativity into food that gave people pleasure.”
“My grandmother taught me to cook that way, too.I’ve been forever grateful to her.Like your Rosalie, she saved my life,” said Rhonda.“Go on.”
“I graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, ten years ago and chose to move to warm weather after Rosalie died.Rosalie had always wanted to be able to go to Florida, but never did.So, I thought that would be a good place for me to start fresh.”
“How did the two of you meet?”I asked Harper.
“I was getting my college degree in psychology from the University of Miami and had to work my way through school.I started waitressing, then tending bar, where I could make a lot more money,” said Harper.“My last job was at Chez Michel.Do you know it?”
“I do,” said Rhonda.“The chef, Jonny Arno, recently put out a new cookbook.An Italian one.I bought it.It’s fabulous, with recipes my grandmother would love, with an international flair.”
“Exactly,” said Chet, his cheeks flushing with emotion.“The problem is that a lot of those recipes were stolen from me.When I confronted Jonny about it, he fired me, and told me he’d see to it I’d never work in Miami again or anywhere else.”
“Are you sure they were your recipes?Plagiarizing is illegal,” I said.“How could you be certain?”
Chet’s lips thinned.“I’m sure.Some of the recipes he stole were from a notebook I’d mistakenly left in my locker one night.Rosalie’s secret ingredients were in some of them.Enough to be of concern.And when I looked at the recipes he’d put in his book, the instructions matched exactly.”
I shook my head.“That’s not fair, but it’s a difficult thing to prove.”
“Some recipes require the same ingredients from any source,” said Rhonda.“Even the extras you talk about are hard to declare as your own.”
“But he made up a story about a friend named Rosalie.That’s another thing that can’t be called just a coincidence,” said Chet.“That’s what hurts the most.Rosalie would never have allowed a man like him to use her recipes.For all the PR Jonny Arno gets, the people who work for him hate him, and for a reason.I’m not talking about the usual temperamental chef behavior but an evil man who’s willing to destroy someone else with cruelty.”
Harper put a hand on Chet’s arm in sympathy.“Chet’s right.Jonny Arno is not a great person.He persisted in trying to seduce me even after I made it clear I was not going to bed with him.”She let out a snort.“When I threatened to say something, he was furious and told me I was too ugly for him anyway.”
“Why hasn’t all this been reported?”I asked and then said, “Forget that.I understand why no one would want to be tormented even more by him.He sounds like a real monster.”
“That’s a perfect name for him,” said Chet.“I think he found out another chef was interested in bringing me on board.But after my trouble with Jonny, no one would even respond to my calls.That’s why I’m here, hoping that I can find work on the Gulf coast of Florida.Someplace safe.”
“Are you two aware that Jonny Arno is opening a restaurant not far from here?”I asked, and saw their faces fall.“Rhonda and I would like to think about how we might be able to help you.The hotel business is a tough one, but there’s no need for cruelty and deception.”
“Absolutely,” said Rhonda.“Let us do a little investigation, and then we’ll be in touch with you to set up another meeting.”
After we showed them out of the office, Rhonda turned to me with a frown.“Do we really want to get involved with Chet and Harper?This news of Osteria Arno changes things.He might be vindictive toward us.”
“Knowing Brock is somehow involved in the restaurant is troublesome,” I admitted.“He’ll make a bad situation worse, and from what I’ve seen of them, Chet and Harper seem like decent kids.Let’s do some research of our own before we meet with them.”
“Okay,” said Rhonda.“I don’t think these kids can handle a comeback on their own.I know what kind of people sometimes get involved with supplying restaurants.My father had to deal with them when he opened his butcher shop in Jersey.”
“Do you think it’s dangerous for us to try and help Chet and Harper?Maybe even hire them?”I asked, appalled by the idea of dealing with people who could really hurt us.
“I think we need to be careful.That’s all,” said Rhonda.
