AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I would have shaken my head at the production of it all, but didn't, wanting to leave a good impression on Luke's adoptive mother. It wasn't his fault she was a snob.
Next, the chef and Maria came into the dining room, bringing food with them. The Chef placed a bowl and plate down in front of Mrs. Marshall and Maria placed one in front of me. It was a bowl of some kind of cream soup. Looked like asparagus, since there were two perfectly placed heads of asparagus on top of the soup.
"Ma'am," the Chef said and turned the bowl, so it was perfectly positioned. "Please enjoy this cream of asparagus soup. Fresh asparagus brought in to the grocers this morning from Sunningdale Farms."
"Thank you, José," she said.
Mrs. Marshall watched while Maria placed my bowl down and then smiled.
"Shall we?"
I glanced at her, wondering what she meant. Did she want us to say Grace or something?
I smiled and waited for her to lead. She picked up a spoon and began to eat.
I sighed with relief and did the same. Mrs. Marshall took a taste of the soup and then made a sound of appreciation.
"It's delicious, José. Thank you."
"You're welcome, Ma'am. My pleasure."
The two left Mrs. Marshall and me alone.
"This is delicious," I said and smiled at Mrs. Marshall. "In fact, it's the best I've ever had."
"It is good, isn't it? José is so talented."
We ate in silence for a moment and then she put her spoon down and took a drink of wine.
"So, tell me, Alana, about your upbringing. I know your father was in the army, but where were you born?"
I glanced at her, shocked that she still couldn't seem to remember my name after all this time or the fact that my father was in the Air Force.
"Well, I was born Alexandria Marie Dixon in Ramstein, Germany, where my father was stationed with the Air Force. After that, we traveled all over the US until he retired and became manager of a small regional airport in Portland."
I knew she probably already knew everything there was to know about my family, but she was trying to make conversation, even if she did get my name wrong.
"Oh, yes, of course, Alexandria. Your mother conceived you when they were on their honeymoon in Alexandria, Egypt." She smiled curtly at me. "What a life you must have led, traveling so much. What kind of schools did you attend?"
"Many small schools, until I did my undergrad at the U of Oregon. Then, I got a scholarship to do my MA and PhD at Columbia, and that's when I moved here. The rest is history, of course."
She smiled again and Maria came and removed our empty soup bowls.
"You'll love this next dish," Mrs. Marshall said, leaning forward. "It's a lemon shrimp pasta salad. One of José's best creations. I swear that man is a genius. We're so lucky to have him."
"Sounds delicious," I said, smiling, glad that we'd moved on to food instead of my less-than-rich upbringing.
José and Maria brought in our plates and the food did look delicious -- linguine pasta with shrimp and vegetables in a creamy lemon sauce. The aroma wafted up at me when Maria put my plate down and I was impressed.
"Thank you, José," Mrs. Marshall said with a smile. "It looks delicious."
José bowed and then he and Maria left us.
"Please, enjoy," Mrs. Marshall said and waved at my dish. "It's simply the best."
I picked up my fork, not sure which one to us, and then saw that I'd picked up the wrong one. I quickly put it down and picked up the proper fork.
"Oh, that one's for dessert, dear," she said and sounded perfectly pleasant correcting my etiquette. "You'll love it. It's a beautiful lemon chiffon cake with fresh whipped cream and strawberries."
