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I grin at the mention. “I loved him. He was a huge inspiration for me and most of the people I’ve worked with.”
“I have seen every episode of No Reservations.”
“Me too!” I say with a laugh. It’s weird that someone with such poor ordering manners likes his work, but people come in all types, I guess. “So, the kids—
“Franny and Aiden. They’re twins, five years old. Have you worked with kids before?”
“No one that young.” The only kids I’ve worked with were college kids, but if she’s not going to ask, I’m not telling.
“But you’ve nannied before?”
“No. I might be wrong about this, but I think a lifetime in the hospitality industry has prepared me for it, though.”
“A lifetime?”
“My parents own a B&B here in Somerset Harbor, and I was raised there. Then I went to culinary school, and had my own restaurant for a few years, before it burned down. A freak electrical issue. I came back, and now, I’m here.”
Her confusion lines her forehead. “I would think you’d be eager to return to restaurant life.”
“I poured myself into my business, and it’s just too soon for me to go back to a kitchen yet.”
“What was the atmosphere in your kitchen like? Calm and organized, or chaotic and messy?”
I smile and sit back. “It’s hard to say. Everything was organized, but when you’re turning and burning, things get chaotic. That said, the trick for me was to find the calm in the chaos. To maintain my demeanor, no matter what happened around me. That’s how you earn every ‘Yes, chef!’ from your staff. They have to know you have it all under control, especially when they don’t.”
“You’re hired.”
“What?”
She laughs. “That is exactly what my kids need. They are ruthless engines of chaos, and they need someone who can handle that. If you want the job, it’s yours.”
“Don’t I need to meet your husband or something?”
“Olivier is happy if I’m happy, and their father is too busy with work to be here tonight, but he trusts my judgment.”
I smile. “Okay. This sounds great.” I hope.
7
Lily
“I have a surprise for you,” Mom says.
I sigh. “Mom, you know I hate surprises. Ever since the fire, I can’t—
“You can take this one. I promise.” She passes me a small black box. “Open it.”
“You can’t afford—
“Open. It.”
I huff and open the box. Inside sits a thin silver chain with a chef’s knife pendant. A laugh escapes me, before I tear into the backing and she helps me put it on. “What made you do this?”
She smiles. “I know you’ve been feeling disconnected from yourself, and taking this new job as a nanny, I worried you’d feel that way even more. No matter what comes along, Lily, you’re the best chef I’ve ever known, and one day, other people will know that, too.”
I can’t help it when tears make her wobble in my vision. “Thanks, Mom.” I hug her tight.
She squeezes back before she says, “Off with you. Aren’t you running late to meet their father?”
