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Neil emptied the bad food into the garbage.
“That smells disgusting.” Carson wrinkled her nose.
He nodded. “But she did it. That’s all that matters.”
Carson smiled and was happy with her decision to join Neil this afternoon. She had a feeling this was going to be an enlightening peek into the psyche of Neil Harrison. Payback for his front row seat to her father’s humiliating distrust of her work ethic.
“Today our menu is going to focus on your knife skills. We’re making a vegetable tian, a minute steak with caramelized onions and blue cheese, and for dessert, strawberry tarts.”
Crap. She probably should have mentioned that she couldn’t cook.
“I’ve made today’s dish a little harder because for one, we have a guest.”
Carson shrunk in her seat at the evil stares she got from the kids.
“Who’s she?” Larissa asked between wide, open-mouthed chomps of her gum.
Neil stopped and turned. Carson gave a little nervous wave to the group of kids. “I’m Carson Kelly. I’m an architect.”
“What are you doing here?” the kid in the blue hat asked.
“I’m just observing.”
“She’s cooking,” Neil corrected.
“Right…cooking.”
“You can’t learn if you don’t get your hands dirty, right Chef Harrison?” The little girl jumped up from the back of the room.
“That’s right, Maya.”
Was that a motto he made them learn the first day of class?
“You can put together one hundred story skyscrapers, but you’re afraid to make a gourmet meal?”
“I’m not afraid.” Carson stared him down, meeting his taunting eyes. He was daring her. She stood and grabbed the knife on the counter.
He smiled and turned back to the kids. “The second reason is because the techniques used in this recipe are going to be at the core of everything you make at the opening of the farm. You should be practicing these techniques so that you’re prepared to work and help out in the kitchen as part of our intern program.” He held up his hand. “Speaking of which, did you all bring your consent forms?”
The kids ruffled inside their bags and each pulled out a piece of paper.
“I’m allowed to go too, Chef Neil.” The little girl, Maya, jumped up and down in the back.
“You know you won’t be able to cook, right. You can only watch.”
She nodded.
When all of the consent forms were collected, Neil got back to business.
“How about we make this interesting. I will give a prize to the chef who makes the best steak.”
“We’ve never gotten a prize.” The little girl shouted out again.
This time she was sitting with Larissa. The longer Carson looked at them the more she thought they could be sisters.
The boy with the red hat leaned back against his chair. “You always say the prize is in learning how to do something.”
Carson smiled. Such words of wisdom coming from such a stoic individual.
