Delicious

“Good.” She turned to Penny. “That’s candidate number one.”

Penny was still laughing when she turned to face the crowd.

Her humor faded as she took in the sheer number of people milling in the main dining room. They’d sent out over five hundred invitations and from the looks of things, everyone had decided to show up.

Soft music was barely audible over the general din of conversation. People stood in groups, chatting and laughing, while waiters in white coats circulated with trays of food.

The bar was doing a brisk business, hardly a surprise when the liquor was free. Penny had a brief urge for something to steady her nerves, then braced herself and tried to pick a direction in which to wander.

Just then the crowd shifted and parted, allowing her to see into the center of the room. Cal stood there, tall and studly in a dark suit. Her body reacted, getting all hot and weak and needy.

She used her kitchen experience to call herself several bad names and when that didn’t decrease her very inappropriate desire, she reminded herself that she and Cal had already tried the relationship thing and it hadn’t worked. He’d let her go without a whimper, leaving her to wonder if he’d ever loved her at all.

“So it’s just you and me, kid,” she whispered as she lightly touched her stomach. Then she squared her shoulders and plunged into the crowd.

“Nice to see you. Thanks for coming.”

Penny smiled, greeted and generally made nice with the prospective clientele. She made her way toward Cal, who came and collected her before she reached him.

“It’s going great,” he said. “Big crowd showed.”

“Sure they did,” she murmured into his ear. “The food is free. Let’s see how many of them are willing to pay on another night.”

He chuckled, then introduced her to several government officials.

“We used to come here all the time,” a petite, pretty lawyer said. “Lately, though…” Her voice trailed off.

Penny waved away the comment. “You can say it was really bad. I wasn’t the one cooking.”

The woman laughed. “I guess not. I’ve sampled most of the food. It’s terrific.”

“Thank you. Obviously we want to offer traditional favorites while helping people branch out.”

Cal put his hand on the small of her back, which caused her nerve endings to make a few Flashdance moves of their own.

“Have you tried Penny’s fish and chips? They’re incredible. I made the mistake of saying they weren’t important enough for our menu. She won me over with one bite.”

Penny glanced at him. “I didn’t think you’d admit that.”

“I was wrong.”

The lady lawyer grinned. “Care to embroider that on a pillow? Women everywhere would love to see it.”

“No, thanks.”

Cal excused them and they moved to another group of local business people. He introduced her and then let her explain about her philosophy as far as using local ingredients whenever possible.

“We live in a wonderful part of the country,” she said. “Why not take advantage of that?”

A reporter from the Seattle Times moved closer. “Are you going to be featuring Washington wines?”

“Of course. And those from Oregon and British Columbia. Obviously, we’ll have selections from California, France and other places, but our focus is regional.”

The next two hours were a blur of introductions and sound bites to sell the restaurant. Cal stayed close except when she ducked into the kitchen to check on things. When she returned to the dining room, it was to find Naomi leading Gloria Buchanan toward her.

They were an odd couple. Gloria was small, with white hair and piercing blue eyes. Her clothes cost more than the national debt of several small island nations. Naomi towered over her, six feet of Amazon beauty. Her wavy dark hair fell down her back, and her green eyes seemed to laugh at the world. But it was the heart tattoo on her bare shoulder and the way her breasts moved in the black halter top that really caught one’s attention.

“Lookee who I found,” Naomi said, releasing Gloria’s arm and grinning. “Don’t you know her?”

Gloria adjusted the sleeve of her winter-white wool suit jacket and sniffed. “Who is this person?” she demanded.

“Hello, Gloria,” Penny said, forcing a smile. Gloria had made it very clear she would never forgive Penny for leaving her precious grandson. After all, in Gloria’s mind, marriage to a Buchanan was a pinnacle few could hope to achieve. “Nice to see you. This is my friend Naomi.”

Gloria glanced at the other woman, then turned back to Penny. “If you say so.”

“Oh, Penny and I go way back,” Naomi said cheerfully. “We met while she was still at the culinary institute. I was her next-door neighbor and she came over to complain that I was making too much noise.”

Penny winced, knowing what was to come.

Naomi lowered her voice. “It was the sex. I have this thing for younger men and that can get kinda noisy. I felt really bad. But Penny was great about it and we became friends.”

Gloria’s expression didn’t change, but her mouth tightened. It was what gave her away—a trait she shared with her grandson.

Cal joined them. Gloria looked at him. “Do you know this woman?” she demanded, pointing at Naomi.

Cal groaned. “Oh, yeah.”

Naomi sighed. “Tell her about the time I saw you naked,” she said, then strolled off.

Cal looked from Naomi to his grandmother, then excused himself. Under the circumstances, Penny couldn’t exactly blame him. Unfortunately, his action left her alone with Gloria.

“So, Callister hired you,” the older woman said, her voice laced with displeasure.

“That he did. I have a three-year contract.”

“I see.”

“Have you tasted the food?”

Gloria glanced at a passing tray. “I have a delicate stomach.”

The insult was so blatant, it was almost funny. Almost. Penny wasn’t surprised to hear she wasn’t Gloria’s first choice. For some reason, the old bat had never liked her and it was hard to feel affection for someone so determined to keep her on the outside.

“Too bad,” Penny said. “We’re getting rave reviews.”

“The food is free, dear. What did you expect?”

Sort of what Penny had thought. Not that she was going to admit it.