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I laughed, shaking my head.All right, time to go down and give the family an earful so they behave when Scarlett Jones arrives.
It was extremely convenient to work right above the restaurant. I could handle any issues immediately, especially if it was family. My grans were completely right about one thing—thiswasour flagship restaurant. It was one of the top attractions in the city. Our waiting list for a table was a solid three months, though we did keep two tables free, just in case. I hadn't interviewed Scarlett personally because I wasn't in charge of hiring the kitchen staff, but I liked her résumé, and my guy in personnel, Donald, had been impressed with her.
I quickly went downstairs and could already hear my grandmothers’ voices as I went from the kitchen to the restaurant.
"I'm going to give that girl the test myself," Isabeau was saying.
"No, you're not," I said, joining them.
Mom threw me an apologetic glance, but I smiled reassuringly as I sat down with the three of them at a table.
"Listen, I appreciate the two of you stepping in these past few weeks, but I need you to trust me. I’ve run this place for almost a decade. I’m good at it. Besides, you know how chefs are. They like to have complete control in the kitchen."
Isabeau wrinkled her nose. "I'd like to know who this girl is who will take over."
Celine nodded. “Me too.”
Isabeau and Celine couldn’t look more different. Because they were so young when we were born, our grandparents insisted we call them all by their first name. After Bella was born, things changed. They weren't ready to be referred toas great-grandparents, but they insisted on her calling them grandparents. Now they accepted a mix of both.
"I gave my approval," I said politely but firmly. "I love and respect both of you a lot, but I cannot allow you to interfere in my hiring process."
My grandmothers looked at each other, and then Celine smiled sweetly. "Darling, we're not interfering. We simply want to meet her."
There was no way I could convince them to leave before Scarlett arrived, so I changed my tactic. I’d simply point the conversation in the direction I wanted it to go. I was very good at that. It was one of the reasons why I'd taken the restaurant chain to the next level.
The front door opened just as I was about to tell my grandmothers to simply be friendly to Scarlett. I looked up and swallowed hard.
Fucking hell. If this was Scarlett Jones, I was in trouble. Even though we were at the farthest table from the door, I could see that she was exceptionally beautiful. Her brown hair was kind of frizzy, but it looked fantastic on her. Her eyes were deep blue. And thatmouth.
I understood Zachary and Julian's reaction. Of course they'd noticed she was hot.
As I went to greet her, I looked over my shoulder. "I'll do the talking."
“You keep thinking that,” Mom said in a low voice.
Life in the LeBlanc-Broussard family was always interesting.
I turned back to the woman in front of me. "Scarlett Jones?"
“That’s me."
I held out my hand. "Chad LeBlanc. I’m head of the restaurant business."
She accepted it with a quick shake. "Nice to meet you. Am I late?" she asked, stepping farther inside.
"No, you're just on time."
She was wearing a dark blue dress, and I absolutely refused to let my gaze drop any farther. I kept my eyes right on hers.
She looked at my grandmothers and mom and asked, "Are we already open?"
"No, these aren't patrons. They’re my..."
"Grandmothers?"
I cleared my throat. "Right. Julian told you.”
“Yes, and I wasn’t sure what that meant.” Scarlett laughed but averted her gaze, twirling a strand of her hair between her fingers. She was nervous, and all my instincts wanted to put her at ease.
