Part 14 (2/2)
”You've already noted my healthy ego, so this can't be a surprise.”
He caught her mouth twitching as if she were fighting a smile. ”But when I spoke with Henri, he told me he was willing to give you everything to stay in his kitchen. You would have had control. Why did you leave?”
”If I'd taken over for him, I'd have always been in his shadow. He's a famous chef and that's a famous restaurant so I'd never make a name for myself. I'd just be keeping his alive after he retired.”
”Do you want to be famous?”
”I want to be respected. And I want something that is mine. That's why I need to buy my own place in the city.”
”Is New York your first choice?”
”Yeah.”
She pushed her salad away and looked out the small window. She hadn't eaten much.
From the corner of his eye, he watched as the man with the two kids got up and held his hand out to his younger daughter. She slid off the seat and together they started to make their way to the unis.e.x bathroom which was in the far corner. The door squeaked a little when the man opened it and they went inside together.
Nate rubbed the throbbing spot in the middle of his chest. The sight of the little girl's hand in her daddy's sure grip made him sick to his stomach. He gulped some more water.
”What's wrong?” she asked.
”Nothing.”
Chapter Ten.
T he waitress came by again, putting a bottle of ketchup between them and saying that their dinners would be out in a few minutes. As she walked off, Nate heard the bathroom door open and then the father and daughter were standing at their table.
”Frankie?”Her head snapped around, her face settling into a frozen smile. ”David.”
The man smiled. ”You're looking well.”
”You, too. And this must be Nanette?”
”No,” the little girl piped up. ”That's my sister. I'm Sophie.”
”And there's another one on the way,” the man said with an awkward shrug, as if apologizing for his wife's fecundity.
Nate avoided looking at the little girl and narrowed his eyes on the guy. He was tall, in good shape. Expensive watch and shoes. Had that genteel air of old money about him.
”How is Madeline?” Frankie asked.
”Very well. Getting bigger everyday. But she still keeps up with all of her work. That woman chairs more boards than I have clients.” The man cleared his throat. ”But you-ah, you must be busy, too. With White Caps.”
”Yes, very busy.”
The man looked at Nate as if he were searching for a life raft. ”Where are my manners? I'm David Weatherby.”
Nate recognized the name immediately. The Weatherbys and the Walkers had crossed paths often. But the last thing he wanted was to play connect the social dots, so he shook the man's hand and kept his lineage to himself.
”I'm Nate. The new chef at White Caps.”
”Oh.” The man inclined his head towards Frankie. ”How are things this season?”
”Fine.”
”Daddy. I want to go sit down now,” the child said.
”Yes, darling. Ah, if you'll excuse us? Frankie, it was good to see you.”
”Same here, David.” Frankie let out a long breath after they left. ”May I have some more wine?”
Nate poured, watching her as he filled her gla.s.s. ”Old friend?”
”Something like that.” She drank. There was a silence. ”You aren't going to pry?”
”Don't need to. It's pretty obvious.”
”Oh, really.” She lifted the gla.s.s to her lips again.
”The two of you were lovers, right? Nasty breakup followed. But it's a small town so you know you will run into each other. Both of you are determined to be pleasant when it happens-”
”He was my fiance.” When she emptied her gla.s.s, she refilled it herself.
Nate s.h.i.+fted in the booth. That was more than he'd expected. He measured the man again.
Those could have been her daughters, he thought. And she'd probably considered the same thing once or twice.
The waitress put two plates the size of river barges down in front of them, asked if either of them wanted fresh pepper, and left when they declined.
”Why did it end?”
Frankie stuck with her wine. ”My old life was over when my parents died. And neither one of us could see David fitting into my new one.”
Nate paused with his fork and knife over the meat loaf. ”He left you?”
”I told him to leave because I knew he was going to.” She pushed her food around. ”I think I was just a declaration of independence from his family, anyway. He'd always done what his parents expected of him and he was just getting out of college when we got together. His parents were trying to force him to go into the Weatherby brokerage firm down on Wall Street even though he was interested in journalism. Eventually, he caved in, but he brought me home the very first weekend after he started working. I was totally outside the standard. No money, working girl, loonies for parents. His mother wasn't happy and the more she complained, the more he said he loved me.”
She tried a bite of the meat loaf. ”I wanted to believe in him. In us. I was twenty years old and I wanted to live out a big, bright future in the best city in the world with a handsome husband who was devoted to me. But then my parents died and we postponed the wedding. After a while, I started to see the cracks in our relations.h.i.+p. Part of him had no doubt been honestly in love with me, but he was also using me. And I do think he would have married me if things hadn't changed in my family. He just wasn't prepared to strap on the remnants of my parents' lives and raise a teenager. His relief when I gave him back the ring was astronomical.”
She laughed awkwardly, as if she was surprised she'd said so much. ”But at least he cured me of any Prince Charming complex I might have had. Rich men are a huge turnoff. Between waiting on them hand and foot at my day job, and everything that happened with David, I'm sticking to my own kind from now on.”
”Not everyone who comes from money is evil,” he pointed out.
”True. But I've already gracefully endured the shocked disapproval of one rich man's family. I can't see myself behaving that well again. Now, I'm too old to put up with that c.r.a.p.”
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