Page 91 of Under the Table

She wanted to keep her personal and work lives as separate as possible. And she wanted her work life to be as calm and easy as it could be. There would always be drama when working with people, but it didn’t have to be manufactured, and it certainly didn’t have to be between her and Hope to make the show good.

If only Josef could see that.

Chapter

Thirty

Hope’s shoulders were bent as she stared at the white plate in front of her, showing the chef in the kitchen how to properly swipe the jam across the plate to make it look fancier. It’d scale up their restaurant which would mean they could charge more for the plate itself.

She smiled when the chef attempted and failed to do it.

It was a skill that took practice more than anything. Leaving the practice to those who needed it, Hope stepped back over to the stove and started to pull ingredients to make a small meal for Angelica.

“Hope?” Rex’s voice reached her ears, and she turned around to find him standing near the doorway to the kitchen.

“Yeah?” Hope dropped some butter into the skillet and let it sizzle.

“This is Harold and Christian.” He pointed to the two men who had followed him in.

Seeing Christian, despite the fact that he was at least a foot taller than Angelica, Hope had no doubt that they were related. Same coloring. Same facial shape. Same baby-blue eyes. Though his hair had a bit of a reddish tint to the blond that Angelica lacked. Hope’s heart skipped a beat. They’d invited Rachel tothe show, so it’d make sense that they’d invite someone from Angelica’s family.

But she hadn’t said anything.

She wiped her hand on the towel hanging on her apron and held it out for Harold first. He grinned at her easily, and Hope recognized the slight quirk of his lips—higher on one side than the other—and the fact that he shared the same very small dimple that Angelica had.

“You must be Ange’s father,” Hope said, smiling as she grasped his hand. “It’s good to meet you.”

This wasn’t exactly the way she’d thought she’d meet the family, but it was as good as any, she supposed. Hope didn’t miss the cameras that were behind them. This was all for the show, still, and she had to make it worth it.

“And you must be her baby brother.” Hope gave Christian her patented smile and charm. “It’s good to meet you as well.” She shook Christian’s hand and then stepped back. “I’m glad both of you were able to come this week.”

“It’s the only way we get to see her,” Christian commented, looking around the kitchen.

Hope ignored that comment as much as she could. She knew Angelica worked hard, but she also knew that her relationship with her family was strained, though she’d never gotten the full story of how or why. Not that she expected to hear about that now either.

“And still, we’re meeting with you instead of her,” Christian said, still not looking directly at Hope.

Pressing her lips into a thin line, Hope nodded at Harold and decided to try and get him on her good side at least. She wasn’t sure she had any hope with Christian. “Have you been in a commercial kitchen before?”

Harold shook his head. “No. It’s fascinating! There’s so many stations!”

Hope smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “There are. We have several stations for prep, cooking, final touches, and then a check station. The last one is the warming station before the food goes out to the customer.” Hope walked them through the kitchen, showing off each one like a proud parent. “LaRae here is the chef for this restaurant, and she’s working on mastering the art of the swipe.”

Hope showed off LaRae’s latest attempt, which didn’t look half bad. She just needed more consistency with it so she could easily just swipe her hand across the plate and make the design. Not that she was going to point that out to Harold and Christian.

“What are you cooking?” Christian pointed at the skillet Hope had all but abandoned.

She walked back to it and dumped in a little more butter to keep it going. “Filet mignon with a balsamic glaze, some honey and butter roasted asparagus. Normally, I’d make a rosemary potato to go with it.” Hope stopped talking, realizing far too late that she’d said too much.

Christian narrowed his gaze at her, his head jerking up a little before he locked his eyes on her. “This is for Angelica?”

“Yeah,” Hope said, hoping he wouldn’t take it too much further than that.

“Do you make her meals every day?”

Hope flicked a glance to Rex behind the camera. He hadn’t disappeared from the room yet. She shook her head. “No, not every day. Though it’s not hard to add in an extra meal to a day’s schedule, especially if it’s something on the menu.”

“Is this?” Christian pointed to the steak that Hope pressed into the hot skillet to sear.