Page 116 of Culinary Chaos

She made her way up to the reception desk where Angelica was stationed, giving more training to the staff there. They made eyes across the large lobby, and Angelica seemed confused and then concerned. Rex caught sight of her and turned a camera onto Hope.

Perfect.

That wasn’t exactly what she wanted, but she didn’t really have another choice either, did she? They were mic’d up for a reason. This was a reality television show. Hope would just have to be very careful with what she said and how she said it.

“Got a minute?” Hope asked.

Angelica nodded. “Yeah.” She gave a few more commands to the staff before walking around the counter so that she and Hope were face-to-face. “What’s wrong?”

“I found your missing owner.”

“Conrad.” Angelica sighed heavily, glancing at the reception staff before stepping farther away from them. The cameras followed. “Where is he?”

“He’s doing dishes in the kitchen.” Hope crossed her arms, barely containing the smile on her lips. “I told him if he was going to hide out in my kitchen, then he needed to be useful.”

Angelica snorted, her lips twitching into a barely there smile. She shook her head. “Damn, that’s good.”

Hope hummed briefly before looking over at the reception staff again. “How’s it going up here?”

“Could be better. They’ll get there, eventually. It’s more just herding cats, and apparently one slipped out the back door while I wasn’t looking.”

“Yeah.” Hope locked her gaze onto Angelica’s blue eyes. She looked worn out and tired, perhaps stressed, but in a way that Hope hadn’t seen on her since New Orleans. She wanted to help, but she wasn’t exactly sure how to do that. “People do that when they’re scared.”

“Scared?” Angelica frowned. “Scared of what?”

“Hard work, I think. Competence.” Maybe that would tip Angelica off enough to get her to understand what Hope wasn’t saying.

It seemed to click, because in her gaze, Hope found recognition.

“Feel free to come get him when you’re ready. Just let him finish the dishes first.” Hope nodded and stepped backward.

“I’ll do that.”

Hope deliberately put distance between them, not just physical but emotional. She needed to be on her own and figure out if this was really what she wanted or if it was something else entirely. And being in close proximity to Angelica wasn’t helping her figure that out at all. Angelica pulled her in, which scared her just as much as Angelica had Conrad. But for entirely different reasons.

She got back to the kitchen and picked up right where she left off. She was deep into changing up the menu completelywhile halfway supervising Conrad as he did dishes and one of the busboys continued to correct him when he screwed it up.

She set up a plate, cooking a few of the items on the menu so that the rest of the staff could try them out for a taste test and understand what to explain to customers. But she set aside one small plate for Angelica. It was normal to prepare food for the hotel manager to taste as well, so that she could approve it. And Conrad wasn’t going to have any brain capacity for that right now, but Angelica would.

Everything was set up when Angelica arrived, a look of anger on her features. Hope raised her hand to get Angelica’s attention and beckoned her over. “Before you light into another unsuspecting—or perhaps in this case, suspecting—hotel owner, why don’t you try our new menu?”

Angelica froze, her gaze dropping from Hope’s face to the plate that Hope pushed gently closer to her.

“If you have a minute, that is.”

Surprise reflected in Angelica’s eyes, but she seemed to calm instantly. Which probably meant she wasn’t that angry to begin with. Hope pushed the plate forward a little more and then leaned on the counter with her elbow and rested her chin in her hand. She had a smile on her face as she looked directly into Angelica’s eyes.

“Which do you want to try first? I promise I made them all with you in mind.” That was Hope’s way of letting Angelica know there were no nightshades in them. She’d spent hours researching that allergy one night, diving down the deep hole that was the Internet to discover as much as she could.

Angelica flicked her gaze toward Conrad, who stared at her like a teen who had missed curfew one too many times. Swallowing, Angelica folded her hands in front of her. “Is this a tactic?”

“Isn’t everything a tactic?” Hope responded, keeping her tone light and nodding toward Conrad so slightly that only Angelica—and the damn cameras—would be able to see. “I go into my best arguments when I have a full belly.”

Angelica hummed, her lips pursed, but she raised her eyebrows and nodded, finally. “What did you make me?”

Oh yes, Hope had definitely made this food for Angelica. That sent a rush through her, a shiver of delight that she wanted to hold onto. She explained each item on the plate, watching with rapt attention as Angelica tasted all of them. She listened for the small noises of pleasure and acceptance. Angelica finally looked at her with a smile.

“That last one was good.”