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Then came Maryanne, who was our Boucher, our meat chef, and she was in charge of all meats, including fish, although she didn’t deal with roasting, frying, or grilling. Maryanne made sure the meats were cleaned, prepared, marinated, and ready to be cooked by the other chefs.
Malick was our Rotisseur or our Roast Chef, and he was responsible for all the roasted meats and sauces while Ben was our Friturier or our Fry Chef. Anything fried was his to oversee.
We also had a Grillardin, a Grill Chef, and Nate worked that position, always trying new rubs and spices on the grilled meats and vegetables.
Josiah was our Garde Manager, more often known as the Pantry Chef who prepared the cold dishes and salads, and we had Tobias, the jack of all trades as the Chef de Tounant. He moved around the kitchen as needed and knew enough about every position to get by without being dangerous.
We had an Entremetier, who was responsible for all the vegetables, and Melinda worked that station. Her boyfriend, Wallace, was our Junior Chef. He was still in culinary school, and he was lucky to land this position to keep up his training.
The last two people in our hectic kitchen were Sadie and David. Sadie was our Kitchen Porter, responsible for prep work, and usually one of the first to arrive each day, while David was our Exuelerie. A fancy term for dishwasher, but not just a dishwasher. He was responsible for making sure our kitchen tools were well maintained, cleaned, and ready for use. He also let us know when something was amiss with a tool and needed to be replaced.
Josiah and Tobias were our two newest members, having recently replaced a couple of guys who were caught stealing from the kitchen. So far, they were working out, and the kitchen was running like clockwork.
This place was my sanctuary, my haven. Here, I was intense but also vibrant and confident. If only I could meet someone here that I could fall in love with—someone who understood what long hours meant, what sacrifice meant to do something that you loved.
My last relationship had ended because of my job. Thomas had said that I always put my career first, that I’d rather be in my kitchen than making love to him. I can’t say that he was wrong. I mean, I did care about him, and I did enjoy our time together, but when I was in the kitchen, I forgot about everything else. Nothing else mattered, and I did become neglectful of him and our relationship. Was that because of my job or because he wasn’t the right man for me?
Maybe if I found the man that I was supposed to be with, then perhaps I wouldn’t lose myself in cooking, or menus, or searching for the right supplier. Maybe, I’d be more interested in lying in bed, making love for hours, or having him cook me a meal. Something I’d never let Thomas do—well, not after the first time. Thomas prepared a meal for me once, but when I saw that he was using a jar sauce for the pasta, I almost kicked him out of his own kitchen. After that, I’d let him assist, but even that was difficult, because I had my way of doing things, and I expected him to do them that way.
I glanced at Paul, who was at the stove, preparing a large stock base for tonight. Oddly enough, I didn’t critique the people in this kitchen the way I did in my personal kitchen. Here, everyone had a style, a form of doing things, and I accepted that—appreciated it really. It was only in my own home that I tended to be overbearing and controlling when it came to how things should be done. Don’t get me wrong; I wasn’t shy to let one of my chefs know if something wasn’t up to par.
Would I ever find a man who didn’t think they were competing with my job? Or who could stand being in the kitchen with me while I cooked? I wasn’t sure, but I did hope so. Maybe this week, I’d find that man, a man who was independent, confident, kind, and didn’t need me to make him feel more like a man just by being at his side.
I might like to cook, but the last thing I wanted was an overbearing man who expected me barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. Okay, well, maybe barefoot and pregnant would be okay as long as he knew I was coming back to work.
Chapter Five
Harvey
Iwas running late, and I hated being late. Not that I had to be there for this lunch or meeting, but because I wanted to. I was looking forward to seeing what Maggie was going to do for our company, and quite honestly, I had nothing else to do with my afternoon.
I had been working for Jake for just over a year, and I had two weeks of vacation to burn. The next few months were filled with training and trips, so I decided to use my time while I could. I thought about borrowing Mike’s cabin on the lake, but since Maggie and Greg had been using that place for the last five weeks, I figured that Mike probably wanted the cabin to himself for a little while.
Although Mike was working all week, so maybe I could have gone up for a few days. That could have been nice, except I didn’t have anyone to go with me.
The last woman I dated, Sherry, broke it off about seven months ago. I thought things were going well, but I guess she didn’t like me traveling all over the world and only being home half the month—or less.
I had been married twice. My first wife and I married when we were only twenty, and she ended up hating the military lifestyle and left me to return home while I was on deployment three years into our marriage. I’d received one of those famous Dear John letters while I was in Iraq, and it had almost broken my heart—almost.
My next wife was four years later and lasted for five years. I thought we had a great thing going, but when I came home on leave and surprised her, the shock was on me, as I found her in our bed with her boss.
Since my second marriage ended, I’d dated a handful of women, but I couldn’t say that I’d been all in with any of them. I figured that after two failed attempts, the chances of finding anyone now were slim. Most women either had their families or had their careers.
Although I wanted a wife to come home to and had always hoped for a couple of children, I didn’t expect that now, and I was upfront with every woman that I met. I’d love to have a great time, but I wasn’t sure that I was looking for anything long term. I even explained to them that my job came first, and I traveled a lot. I never asked them to wait for me, never asked them to be monogamous, and so far, it was good. A bit lonely at times, and Holly got on my case often, but I was okay with that.
Maybe that was contradictory, wanting a family, and telling women that I wasn’t in it for the long haul. I guess if I ever found the right woman, I would change the way I thought, but I wasn’t holding out for that.
I pulled into our training facility and saw Joe and Wyatt off to the side of the lot smoking. “You know those things will kill you,” I said to them as I passed by.
“So will a gun, but you still shoot them,” Wyatt replied with a laugh.
That was kind of the mentality with all of us. Something was going to kill us, might as well enjoy the ride while you can. Although I tended to be the extreme one in the group, and by extreme, I didn’t mean the one that did all the unhealthy things. No, I was the opposite.
My body was my temple, and I only put the best into it—except beer. Beer was always allowed to enter the temple. I worked out, ate right, scheduled physicals, took vitamins, got my teeth cleaned twice a year. I made sure to get enough sleep—most of the time—and felt like I was twenty-five and not turning forty.
Most of the people were still sitting around the table in the classroom area, but Trevor was piling food on his plate. “Hey, man, you just get here?” I asked as I collected a plate and glanced over the spread.
“Yeah, Devon had a checkup this morning, ran a little late,” he said as Alice reached past me and grabbed a pickle spear off the plate. She glanced at me and then did a double take.
