Drape Expectations (24 page)

Chapter One

Caprice De Luca caught sight of the guest who stepped over the threshold. She braced for trouble.

Spinning on her kitten-heels, her long brown hair flowing over her shoulder, she rushed to the living room of the four-thousand square foot, stone and stucco house. She'd staged it with the theme of French Country Flair. Bringing the rustic country flavor from the outside in, she'd used the colors of lavender and green, rust and yellow, mixing them for inviting warmth. Carved curved legs on the furniture, upholstered in toile with its pastoral scene, mixed with the gray distressed wood side tables.

Prospective buyers who entered should have been screened by real estate agents. So how had Drew Pierson ended up standing in the foyer of today's open house?

The chef was her sister Nikki's arch enemy. Ever since he'd opened Portable Edibles, a catering company that competed with Nikki's Catered Capers, the two of them had been in a battle to make their businesses succeed.

Just why was he here?

Caprice hurried to the dining room with its almost wall-length, whitewashed-wood glass-doored hutch, passed the table with its pale blue tablecloth and white gently scalloped stoneware dinnerware, and headed for the smells emanating from the grand kitchen. She hardly noticed the still-life paintings of flowers that she'd arranged on the walls.

The floor of the kitchen mimicked rustic brick, reflecting the colors in the floor-to-ceiling fireplace. Blue and rust plaid cushions graced the bay-windowed breakfast nook as well as the plate glass window over the sink. Two-toned cupboards, white on top, dark cherry on the bottom, along with the copper pots hanging over the granite island, made the space inviting for cooking or family-centered activities.

Nikki and her servers had almost finished readying the chafing dishes and serving platters in the state-of-the-art kitchen. The combination of Nikki's culinary skills and Caprice's staging talent would pull in prospective buyers. More often than not, they sold houses quickly because of their efforts, and the real estate agent on board made a hefty profit. The luxury broker today was Denise Langford, and Caprice wondered if Drew Pierson knew her and that's how he'd added his name to her list.

While one server poured vin d'orange into crystal glasses, another took a cheese soufflé from the double oven. Nikki's assistant was stirring soupe au pistou, a thick vegetable soup with vermicelli while a platter of pan bagnat hors d'oeuvres, which were basically tuna, tomato, green pepper, olive, and sliced hard boiled egg sandwiches stood beside her.

Since Caprice had gone over the menu carefully with Nikki, she knew other chafing dishes held blanquette de veau—veal in white sauce with carrots, leeks, onions, and cloves as well as poulet basquaise which was pan-fried chicken dipped in pepper sauce. Nikki herself was stirring the boeuf bourguignon. The braised beef cooked in red wine with carrots and potatoes and garnished with bacon smelled wonderful.

Nikki was so intent on stirring the dish in front of her that she didn't see Caprice approach. Caprice was about to warn her that Drew Pierson had arrived when he appeared beside Caprice, looking over the offerings of food for the prospective house buyers.

“I thought I'd stop by and see what my competition was offering today,” he said smoothly.

At the sound of Drew's voice, Nikki's head snapped up, her eyes widened, and she frowned.

“You're thinking of buying a French country bungalow?” Caprice asked, giving her sister time to compose herself.

“I told Denise Langford I wouldn't mind having a look at this place.”

This “place” was definitely out of Drew's budget since he was a fledgling business owner. Portable Edibles couldn't be making
that
much money yet.

Drew ignored Caprice and stared down at the boeuf bourguignon, sniffed it, then smiled at Nikki. “Anyone can make boeuf bourguignon, but I see you added bacon. Nice touch.”

“Don't think I'm going to serve you any of my food,” Nikki responded, her tone kept in tight restraint. “If it were up to me, I'd have you removed from the property.”

Drew clicked his tongue against his teeth. “Your envy is showing. I guess you heard I'll be catering the fundraising high brow dinner at the Country Squire Golf and Recreation Club. My bid came in lower than yours.”

Caprice had to wonder about that conclusion. Nikki's bids were more than competitive. It was quite possible that someone on the selection committee for the dinner had favored Drew. She could read her sister well, and she saw that Nikki was thinking the same thing.

“Just because you won that job doesn't mean your food will win the taste test,” Nikki offered. “I have a growing client base. Do you? I have repeat customers. Do you?”

“Your social media following is pitiful,” he responded with bitterness, and Caprice wondered where that bitterness was coming from. What had Nikki ever done to Drew? They'd actually worked well together when she'd first hired him to assist her in a few catering jobs. It was after she'd turned him down as a partner that their relationship had fallen apart.

“I believe in growing my business one happy customer at a time,” Nikki returned. “My followings will grow. The way ten thousand followers suddenly flowed into your Twitter stream, I suspect you bought them. How loyal do you think they're going to be?”

Everyone in the vicinity was listening and watching now, and Caprice knew the sparring match between Nikki and Drew would only escalate.

Caprice leaned a little closer to him. “We'll serve you if you want so you can sample Nikki's food to see exactly how delicious it is. But I don't think you want a scene here any more than she does. That could be bad for business, and business is what you're all about, isn't it?”

She didn't know what had made her throw that question in. But when she saw the look on Drew's face, she understood this wasn't just about business. There was something personal underlying his rancor for Nikki. Still, she must have gotten through to him.

He took a step back away from the food and her sister. “Good luck, Nikki. You're going to need it because I'm going to cut your business off at the knees.”

After that shot, he turned and headed for the front door.

Everyone around Nikki went back to what they'd been doing and pretended they hadn't heard anything. But Nikki knew better and she looked upset.

“I knew you two were competing, but I didn't realize he nursed a vendetta against you. What gives?” Caprice asked.

Nikki lowered her voice. “It's more than professional. You're right. He made a pass at me before I turned him down as a partner. I had turned him down as a love interest too. I think that rejection really bothered him. Rejected by me both ways, he decided to try to wipe out my business. But he can't. My food's better than his. He's an efficient cook and he'll do fine at catering, but I don't think he has the creative spark to make his dishes really special. I'm determined to show him up next weekend.”

“What's next weekend?” Caprice asked, thinking about her schedule.

“It's the wedding expo. Area bakeries, caterers, dress shops, and flower stores are going to be showing their wares. I'll have sample menus for couples planning their wedding, and food they can taste. Drew will too. But mine's going to be better.”

Of course, it was. Nikki could rise to any challenge. Couldn't she?