Page 128 of Culinary Chaos

“What’s six plus six?” Eva asked.

“Twelve…?” Angelica said it like a question, and when Hope glanced, she could tell that she was doing something else at the same time as entertaining her daughter.

“Um… twelve plus twelve?” Eva continued. Hope had played this game with her several times in the past few months, and she wasn’t exactly wanting to do it again.

“Twenty-four.” Angelica glanced at the camera and smiled at Eva. “You know that one. I don’t know why you’re asking me.”

“To test you!” Eva giggled in the way only a little child could. “What’s twenty-four plus twenty-four?”

“You should be asking what six times eight is.”

“What?” Eva was confused now.

Hope dropped her hand onto Eva’s shoulder. “She’s talking about multiplication. And you shouldn’t be bothering her. Can’t you tell she’s busy?”

Eva squinted at the camera. “Are you busy?”

“I’m trying to solve a problem.”

“Oh, what problem? I like to solve problems!” Eva grinned. “I can help you this time.”

“Maybe you can.” Angelica put down whatever she was working on and focused on the phone for a minute. “You know how your mom and I have this big party coming up? For everyone who worked on the show with us?”

“Yeah.” Eva frowned. “Mom said I can’t go.”

“Yeah, sorry, it’s for grown-ups only.” Angelica seemed genuinely sad about that.

Would she be more relaxed if Eva was there? Hope was about to suggest that when Angelica continued. “The person who was supposed to make all of the food can’t do it anymore.”

“What? Why?” Eva frowned, her big blue eyes looking so sad.

“There was a big problem that they can’t solve, which has made a big problem for me.”

Hope furrowed her brow at that. Angelica had just been deliberately cagey and not even in a way that would throw Eva off the trail. What the heck?

“Mom can cook for you. She likes to cook.”

Angelica’s eyes twinkled. “Are you going to be her sous chef? I tried it once, and I’m not sure that your mom would want me back in her kitchen.”

Hope would take Angelica in her kitchen any day, honestly. She’d enjoyed those few hours together more than she wanted to admit to anyone. They’d been tense about the task at hand, but relaxed with each other.

“Maybe when I get older. Right now I can only use the microwave.” Eva popped her lower lip out in a pout.

“Because you put your hand on the stove when you were four and burned it so severely we had to take you into the hospital.” Hope snagged the phone from Eva. “What happened with the caterer?”

Angelica’s face fell, and she rolled her eyes. “That’s a long, complicated story.”

“Tell me about it then.” Hope took the phone with her, glancing over her shoulder at a still pouting Eva. “Go watch Bluey!”

“Okay!” Eva turned toward the television.

Hope walked out of the room and down the hall to her office. She sat on the small love seat in there and crossed an ankle over a leg as she stared at Angelica. She didn’t look all that different now than she did before, her hair in gentle curls, her makeup not as pronounced as when Ansel did it.

“Are you still in LA?”

“I am, at least for this week.” Angelica stared directly at Hope. “I thought you had a problem in San Francisco that you needed to resolve.”

“I do,” Hope answered with a sigh. “I leave Friday when Rex has a bit more time to be at home with Eva.”