“It’s okay.” She practically hyperventilated. “I almost died too, but he said he’d come by the bakery in the morning for bread to find out if a reservation was available.”
Madison slumped against her. “Thank God. I was envisioning having to— I don’t know what I was envisioning, other than searching the streets for this guy and calling out his name, hoping he’d pop open his window.”
“No, we’re okay.” Thea started jumping up and down like Spike did when he was excited. “Do you know what this means?”
She really didn’t want to. Hope could break hearts. “A very important Frenchman named Christophe Flaubert is coming to the restaurant with two friends. That’s all I’m going to think about.”
Not that a Michelin person—or two—might be in his party.
“But Madison!” Thea grabbed her in a tight hug and rocked them like two sailors who’d survived that shipwreck Sawyer had spoken about. “This reservation could be the break we’ve been hoping for.”
She clenched her eyes shut. She wanted to believe. She wanted to reach her hand up to the sky again and touch that Michelin star she’d always dreamed about, the one she craved so badly, the one she feared she’d never win in Paris. “We’ll see.”
“I know, I know. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”
Pushing away at Thea’s somber tone, she made herself smile. “You did great, Thea. I know you hate little sister. How about Sherlock Rogers?”
Thea sweetly laid her head against her shoulder. “Ah…I love you too. So you’ll tell Kyle?”
“No, you should do it since it’s your coup—then tell him to call Claude since they’ll have to figure out how we’re going to seat them.”
Where there was a will, there was a way. Regardless, she would cook for them at Nanine’s standard, just as she would for every other guest.
“I swear, a few days ago, I felt completely out of the loop. Oh, Madison, I’m so glad I could help.”
She patted her back awkwardly. “Me too.” Although until anything changed, she was going to keep a wall up around her heart—she couldn’t take more disappointment. “I need to get back to the kitchen. There are people to feed.”
“Something you’re terrific at doing.”
Thea gave her another hug. But she didn’t really mind, she realized as she walked Thea out. Her people were all looking out for her, trying to help her reach her dreams.
A pretty far cry for a tough, lonely kid from Liberty City who’d always done things on her own.
