And He Cooks Too (36 page)

“None of us wants to do what the network wants,” Reese summarized for him.

Jasper nodded begrudgingly, as if she’d poked a hole in his balloon. “That’s the underlying assessment I began with. But I got to thinking, what if we found a way to address the reasons why each of you turned down their offer? Nick wants to get back on the boards again. And he wants to come clean about not being able to cook.”

Reese jerked her head up.

Her mother said, “What?”

“That’s right,” Jasper went on. “Nick told me that your discovery of his little secret is why you left. And, the network now knows as well, after Nick told them at the meeting he and Leonie had with them yesterday. So we might as well figure that little gem will soon become common knowledge.”

She tried to read Nick’s reaction to being outed, but he was staring at his shoes. Leonie looked straight ahead. This must be difficult for him to get through. It would have had to come out sooner or later, but that didn’t make it any less humiliating.

“But now that it’s out,” Jasper went on, “why not make the most of it? Nick’s track record as a non-cook who’s an actor demonstrates that anyone can cook, with the appropriate training and direction. But, in keeping with Nick’s desire to go back to acting, we need to set it up so that Nick can accept acting jobs that mesh with his schedule on the show.”

While he still had the floor, Jasper moved on to his next point. “Then there’s Leonie. She should be walking on air because she finally got what she wanted: the network’s attention. But it came with a price. The network will only take the show if the person for whom she has such dislike comes with it.”

Leonie sat forward. “Jasper, must you be so tactless?”

Jasper turned to Leonie. Reese could barely see the looks they exchanged, but what she did see appeared to be him warning Leonie to hold her tongue, because the woman clamped her mouth shut and sat back. “Tactless or not, that’s what it appeared to come down to. But after talking this through with Nick in recent days, I saw this through new eyes. Like twisting a kaleidoscope a few degrees and coming up with a different picture.”

He turned back to Reese. “You see, as much as Leonie has portrayed this show as her baby, her dream, it was really a means to an end. The same with getting the show on the network. The show is Leonie’s way of showing her ex-fiancé that he made a horrible mistake dropping her for a younger woman.”

He moved closer to Leonie and took her hand. “This lovely lady has been carrying a deep hurt far too long. A hurt that isn’t necessary,” he paused, “because she has me.” He held up her hand and kissed it.

Reese blinked. Her mother, like a fan at a tennis match, glanced from Jasper to Reese and back again to Leonie. And Leonie glowed.

“Okay, dear, now you can tell her,” Jasper said.

“I’m resigning as executive producer and returning full time to my catering business. With a new partner.” Her expression took on a softness Reese had never seen as Leonie looked lovingly toward Jasper.

“In business…and in life,” Jasper announced.

Nick must have been privy to this information, because he didn’t seem surprised at the announcement. Instead, he beamed at the pair.

“Congratulations,” her mother said, filling in for Reese’s silence.

Jasper and Leonie? How many times had she heard him complain about her tactics, her need for control. The man had even quit his job because of the way she treated him. And he’d teamed up with her, Reese. She’d trusted him. Had he turned on her?

“No, Reese, it’s not what you’re thinking,” Jasper was quick to reassure. “I wasn’t a plant sent to spy on you and report back to the enemy camp. Leonie and I have had our differences, but once Nick and I figured out why she was so hell-bent to get the show on the network, I decided it was time for me to step up and show her she didn’t need the show anymore.”

Jasper came over to her. “So that leaves you, Reese. You had difficulty working with Leonie. She will no longer be there calling the shots. You were horrified by Nick’s lie. That’s come out for all to know. And Nick is duly repentant.” He shifted his gaze to Nick as a cue.

Nick didn’t look at her. He studied his hands instead. “Yes. I am.”

“So, that ties up all the loose ends,” Jasper continued. “I’ve put together a pitch for the network that gives them the two co-hosts they want with a slightly altered concept where the real chef works with the actor to help him cook too. I’ll remain behind to direct. You, Reese, since you’re the expert here, will take over as executive producer. And Nick gets a clause in his contract allowing him time off and a flexible schedule for other acting jobs.”

“So? What do you say, Reese? Under those conditions, will you come back?”

Though her body remained in the familiar surroundings of her parents’ home, her mind and soul seemed to have removed themselves and were floating somewhere else, like they needed time to catch up with and process the events of the last several days.

If all this would have occurred yesterday, things might have been different. She might even have been tempted to return to the scene of her recent humiliation and disillusionment.

She attempted a weak smile for Jasper’s benefit. He’d worked so hard to pull this together. She hated herself for what she was about to do, but it was for the best. “Always the diplomat, Jasper. The United Nations needs you. You’ve seemingly found a way to make us all happy.”

Jasper sent her a hopeful smile in return. “Then, you’re saying yes, you’ll do it?”

All eyes focused on her. No pressure. She swallowed, gathering strength to proceed. “No.”

“No?” Jasper and her mother reacted as one.

“No.” She turned to Jasper. “I appreciate all you’ve done to put this deal together. But there’ve been some new wrinkles in my career plans since we spoke yesterday after that disastrous meeting.”

“New wrinkles?” he asked.

“All the interest generated by that silly Internet video has reopened restaurant doors for me. I’ve had two offers this morning. I haven’t even told my family about them yet.” She sent a guilty glance toward her mother. “Besides getting myself off the blacklist, I’ve had another goal in mind. These offers will help me get back on track.”

For a minute, no one spoke. Everyone sat there shell-shocked. Finally, her mother came to her rescue. “Reese, that’s wonderful.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier, Mom. I wanted time to think things over first. But Jasper’s plan helped me make up my mind.”

“Just a goddamned minute!” Nick marched to her, pulling her off her perch on the sofa arm. “How very convenient for you that the video got you off the blacklist while it made fun of me, my aunt’s show, and has had Jasper working ’round the clock trying to put things back together.”

Startled by his sudden take-charge attitude, Reese could only stammer, “I’m sorry. I had no idea the rest of this was going on.”

“I told you this wouldn’t work,” Leonie said to Jasper, coming to her feet and grabbing his arm to go.

In a stronger voice than Reese had ever heard from him, Nick said, “Wait, Leonie. We’ve all gone through too much recently to let this end here.” He turned back to Reese, his blue eyes softening to a gentle Delft color. “We have to talk.”

Before Reese could say no, her mother interjected with, “There’s a small patio behind the house. Why don’t the two of you discuss things there, while the rest of us have coffee.”

“Good idea,” Jasper added. “I’ll help you. Leonie, dear, I want you to see Maureen’s lovely kitchen. I like how she’s turned part of it into a temporary office while Reese has been here. I think we could do something similar in your catering kitchen.”

****

Before Reese and he even reached the patio, Nick barked, “Are you crazy?”

“Would you like to sit?” She indicated a wrought iron bench off to the side, even more secluded than the rest of the closed-in area. He didn’t follow through. So she sat.

He stood there in front of her, hands on hips, attempting to stare her down.

“I’m sorry Jasper went to so much trouble to save the show. But even if I hadn’t received these restaurant offers, I’m not sure I would have gone along with his plan.”

“Because of me?” His eyes held hers, daring her to deny his involvement in her decision. “Careful. Whatever you say has to be the truth, remember? You couldn’t live with anything else.” His voice carried a sarcastic edge.

“That’s part of it. I didn’t want to get into that back in the house.” The last time he’d come here, she believed he’d been there for his own benefit. “You lied to me, Nick. And used me. I always came second to Leonie. How do I know that won’t happen again if you and I work together?”

“Because that’s all changed,” he said quietly. “The last time I was here, you asked if she owned my soul. You got me thinking. I was ready to walk the following day and then all hell broke loose with that Internet video.” He took a breath, gave her a slight grin, as if it pained him. “Not a bad rendition of me, by the way.”

“I’m sorry about that. I had no idea I was being taped let alone that it would go online.”

He shrugged. “Unintentional or not, it got you noticed and back in those kitchens you love so much.”

“Why do you make that sound so bad? You’ve known all along that was my goal.”

He bent a leg, put a foot on the bench where she sat, leaned in. “That’s what I don’t get. You’re turning down probable stardom on a network show in the hopes of potentially getting your career as a chef off the ground in some restaurant. How do you know you won’t run into more guys like your old boss?”

“I don’t know that, but I’m willing to take my chances. It’s not that I don’t like being on television, Nick. I really did. So much, I was even planning my own show. That was supposed to be much later, but…”

“When you found out about me, that accelerated the schedule.”

“I was still ready to continue down that road, even after the network’s rejection yesterday. Then I got these calls today. It makes it all so much more simple.”

That statement elicited a brow raise. “What do you mean by
all
?”

She made a sweeping motion with her hand. “I’ve disrupted the lives of my entire family and even Jasper. They’ve all given up their time to be my production team. Now, they can go back to their own lives.”

He gave her words some thought. “That takes care of your family. But what about you?”

“I have this goal to hit the Big Time by the time I’m thirty-six. That’s only four years off. I’m pretty sure I can do it, if I stay in restaurant cooking.”

Nick narrowed his eyes. “This is the first of I’ve heard of this.”

“It’s my own private thing. So private I’ve never shared it with even you. My way of honoring my father, who died at the same age.”

“I don’t follow.”

What had possessed her to mention her plan? Even her mother didn’t know much about it, because every time she brought it up, her mother discouraged her. This was such a personal thing, her small way of making up for her father never realizing the success he deserved, that she kept it locked tightly within herself.

Nick sat next to her. “Tell me more.”

“I don’t talk about it, because I hate admitting what a cruel, unfeeling daughter I was.”

“You?”

She turned to him, “Yes, me. I thought my dad had run out on my mother and me.” She told him about her parents’ divorce and the so-called perfect marriage that had turned out to be a sham. “I had no idea until later that they had sacrificed their own dreams for a decade in order to provide me with a loving home.”

She paused, dabbed at her eyes with one hand. “My mother tried to tell me that she had been the one to send my father off to pursue his music career, but I thought she was just covering for him. Then her career in marketing took off and she met Elliott, and within a few years, the first of my three half-brothers was born. She was happy. Meanwhile, my father would be on the road for long periods at a time, and I chose to interpret that as his lack of interest in me.”

Nick didn’t say much as she revealed the story of her childhood, but his hand slowly moved over to cover hers and she didn’t push it away.

“The song you mentioned that night at Ocho’s?
Make My Future
?”

Nick nodded.

“It hit the top of the charts as my sixteenth birthday approached. Elliott and Mom planned this incredible Sweet Sixteen party for me. Despite my shaky relations with my dad, I really wanted him to come, mainly so he could sing his song and I could impress my friends.”

“Typical teenager.”

“He had an out-of-town concert that night which took precedence,” she continued. “I was devastated. When he was back in town a short time later, I interrupted a rehearsal and accused him of all sorts of things, but mainly of being a rotten father who always put his own needs before his daughter’s. Can you imagine? I said that to a man who’d given up ten years of his life to stay in a loveless marriage just for me?”

“Aren’t you being too hard on yourself?”

“My outburst came three days before his sudden death. I never got a chance to apologize. And even though I knew in my head that I’d had nothing to do with the aneurism—it would have happened any place under any circumstances—in my heart, I’ve never been able to forgive myself for denying him the success he deserved.”

Nick picked up a stray lock of her hair. “So becoming a famous chef is your way of forgiving yourself?”

“I’ve always thought of it as my way of honoring him. But I guess you’re right. It has been my way of atoning.

Nick rose and moved off slightly to view her mother’s garden. “This is a nice place your parents have. Peaceful, unlike the city.”

She recognized the ploy. He was trying to digest her story.

He turned back to her. “What if, instead of lighting into him that last time you saw him, you told him how much you’d always loved him and how proud you were of his music career? Would he have lived then?”

“No, I know that. My mother has posed similar questions.”

“If you’d called him the very next day and apologized, would he still be alive?”