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  Picking up the phone, she dialed the Atherton Gallery and asked to speak to David. She was only on hold for a second or two.

  “David Lathem.”

  “Hi David. It’s Lindsey. Dardin. The chef?”

  David chuckled. “I know who you are. Hi.”

  I’m a moron! Speak like a normal person! “Are you planning on returning to the cooking class?”

  “Well,” he began. “I’ve missed a few weeks so probably not.”

  Lindsey opened her mouth to speak but didn’t know what to say. “Oh,” was all she could muster.

  “With work and the opening I just couldn’t do it all. But just so you don’t feel bad for me I’ve found a great new Thai place that delivers. They know me by name now,” he laughed.

  “You paid for a twelve-week course though.”

  “Yeah, I did.”

  “Well you should get twelve weeks of instruction then.”

  “I’m not going to ask for a refund!” David scoffed. “I may not have money like my brothers but I do okay and I’m not that put out.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” Lindsey sighed. This conversation was not going the way she’d planned. “I could give you the nine weeks of instruction that you’re missing…privately.” There was silence on the other end of the phone and Lindsey waited…and waited for a response. It didn’t come quickly enough. “I mean, if you’re really interested in learning how to cook, that is.”

  “I was serious about learning when I signed up,” David replied. “I just had no idea at the time that I would be showing my pieces in the gallery and I ended up not having enough time. I didn’t quit because I couldn’t cut it if that’s what you think.”

  “No! No I don’t think that!” Why is this going so badly? she wondered. “I understand. I just thought that I could give you the rest of your lessons…one on one…maybe at your apartment where you feel comfortable…at your convenience.”

  “Oh,” David responded. “That actually would be pretty cool.”

  Lindsey exhaled in relief. “Great! When would you like your first lesson to be?”

  “How about Saturday?”

  “As in tomorrow?”

  “Well, yeah. During the day of that works best for you.”

  “Sure! I can do that. How about we make something for lunch?”

  “Okay,”

  “So, let’s say 11:30?”

  “Great.”

  “Give me your address and I’ll see you then.”

  Lindsey hung up the phone after writing down David’s address. She had her foot in the door. The plan was in motion!

  *****

  David stood in his office as Audrey gave him the rundown of the guests they were expecting at the gallery that evening. Only two more days and the evening events would come to a close. All of David’s sketches had sold the first night. But to be fair, he only had shown four. Most of Reggie’s pieces had sold and all of Lou’s had now sold. Next week, she would be bringing more in. The gallery would be selling them for her. No more sidewalk haggling. Because of David, Lou had been launched into the art world and she wasn’t planning on looking back.

  “Are you listening to me?” Audrey frowned.

  “Umm, sort of,” David grinned.

  “What’s on your mind?”

  David shook his head.

  “I can see it David! What is it?”

  “Lindsey called.”

  “Oh really?” Audrey raised her eyebrows.

  “She’s offered to give me private cooking lessons seeing as though I didn’t finish the course I’d signed up for.”

  “That’s great!” Audrey clapped.

  “Yeah. Just out of the blue she called and offered.”

  “Lindsey is very generous.”

  David nodded in agreement.

  “And an excellent chef,” Audrey added.

  He nodded again.

  “And she’s very attractive.”

  David turned to look at Audrey.

  “She is!” She defended her statement. “That long dark hair and perfectly shaped mouth. Women would kill for those lips.”

  “Kill?” David asked.

  “Well, maybe not kill,” Audrey admitted. “But at least pay good money to one of the gazillion doctors in this town to get them full and plump like hers.”

  “I’ll take your word for it,” he chuckled.

  “And even in those ugly chef jackets she wears you can see she has a great figure.”

  He swung around to Audrey. “Are you a lesbian?” He was seriously asking. The way she was talking he thought maybe she had a thing for Lindsey.

  “Of course not! I’m married! To a man!” Audrey yelled. “I was just saying that she was a woman that was worth getting to know better.”

  “You want to get to know her better because she has full lips and a great body?”

  “No you idiot! YOU should get to know her better because she has full lips and a great body! Good grief, David! You really are clueless!”

  And Audrey stomped out of the office and slammed the door leaving David to wonder what the hell was wrong with his boss.

  8.

  David walked into his small but adequate kitchen and checked to make sure it was clean. Of course it was clean…he never used it. He opened one of the cupboards and looked at the neatly stacked dinner and salad plates. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d used them. He opened the refrigerator and saw bottles of ketchup and mustard. There was a half-gallon jug of milk that was about a third full and three bottles of beer. He doubted the contents would impress Lindsey. I’m not trying to impress her so I guess it doesn’t matter, he told himself.

  Grabbing the stack of mail off the dining room table, he wandered through to his bedroom and threw it on the small desk next to his bed. Back in the living room, he fluffed the pillows and made sure there wasn’t any cat hair on the back of the sofa. Freckles didn’t shed, but he wanted to make sure his apartment said he wasn’t a slob. He fed the cat and opened a couple of windows to let in some fresh air. And then he went to take a shower.

  As David stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, he slathered shaving cream all over and ran the hot water in the sink. As he began with the first scrape of the razor, his phone rang. He walked over to the bed and saw Nic’s name on the Caller I.D.

  “Hi Nic.”

  “Hey David. I wanted to call and tell you thank you for the sketch. Paul has just hung it in the nursery and it looks amazing!”

  “You’ve already thanked me several times,” David chuckled.

  “I know, but now that it’s up on the wall I just wanted to say thanks again.”

  “You’re welcome,” David smiled. “So you’ve got the nursery ready?”

  “Mostly,” Nic replied. We’re done with the painting and papering and Paul hung the new light this morning too. Still haven’t picked out a crib though.”

  “Well you still have…what is it? Five months?”

  “We want to be ready.”

  “You’ll be ready in plenty of time,” David laughed. “And I tell you what. After the baby is born, I’ll do a portrait of all three of you.”

  “Really?” Nic screamed. “That would be awesome! Thank you!”

  “Of course, no problem. I’d be honored to do it.”

  “I hope someone really special snatches you up David Lathem. You are a catch for sure!”

  David chuckled. “I don’t have anyone pounding down the door yet.”

  “Well, I’m sure the perfect woman for you is just waiting for the right time. Thanks again, David. Bye.”

  David threw the phone back on the bed and re-smothered his face in shaving cream just as the buzzer screeched. He hurried through to the front door as the door man announced he had a visitor.

  “Send her up,” he casually replied and went back to finish shaving. He’d just splashed the cool aftershave on his cheeks and neck as his doorbell rang. He opened the door with his towel wrapped low on his hips.
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br />   “Hey,” he smiled. “Running just a tad behind. Let me take that for you.” He reached out and took two of the three bags Lindsey was balancing. “Come on in.” David turned and walked into the kitchen, setting the bags on the counter. “Let me go get dressed.” He walked down the hall and turned right and disappeared, leaving Lindsey standing in the hallway mouth open at the sight of him.

  *****

  When David returned to the kitchen, Lindsey had emptied the bags of groceries on the counter.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever had this much food in my kitchen at one time,” he grinned.

  He wore jeans and a t-shirt and his feet were bare. His hair was wet and he smelled amazing. Lindsey tried to focus on the food in front of her.

  “So today, I thought we’d make soup and salad for lunch. Pretty simple really,” she smiled.

  “When it comes to cooking, simple does not exist for me,” he said. “But I’ll try.”

  “That’s all I ask,” Lindsey smiled. “We’re going to have roasted butternut squash soup. So obviously, the first thing we need to do is roast the squash.”

  “No obvious about it,” David grinned.

  “Okay,” Lindsey laughed. “The first thing we’re going to do is roast the squash.”

  David smiled his crooked smile. “Tell me what to do.”

  Lindsey showed him how to peel and cut the squash. Then she showed him how to oil the roasting pan and season the squash and get it in the oven.

  While washing his hands, David announced, “That wasn’t that hard.”

  “Great!” smiled Lindsey. “Let’s move on to making croutons for the salad then.”

  Step by step, Lindsey showed David simple techniques and taught basic skills to help him begin the life-long process of learning to cook.

  “I’ve been to culinary school and trained under some of the best chefs in the country,” she told him. “And I’ve been working in the business for years and years, but I’m always learning something new. It never stops.”

  “You don’t get sick of it? Cooking ALL the time?”

  “No not at all. I love cooking! I love creating. I love watching people enjoy eating my food.”

  “I like creating too. It appears that art and cooking are similar,” he observed. “We both make something from nothing.”

  They were pureeing the roasted squash and adding the vegetables they’d sautéed on the stove and the chicken stock and some cream. David poured it all back into the dutch oven and stirred ‘til the thick, creamy soup was heated through. Lindsey had dished up the green salad they’d put together while the squash was in the oven and David finished it off by adding the croutons they’d made from day-old brioche bread.

  “I have a couple of beers?” David asked as they laid their food on the table.

  “Sounds great,” Lindsey smiled.

  David popped the tops off two brown bottles and sat down at the table. “This smells wonderful,” he grinned.

  “And you made it!”

  “I did, didn’t I?” he grinned again.

  “Let’s eat!”

  It tasted as good as it looked and smelled. They chatted all through lunch about the different restaurants Lindsey had worked at and how it had taken David a while to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. She listened as he talked about the gallery.

  “You really love that place.”

  “I do,” he nodded. “In school I couldn’t fathom how I could make a living in the art business, so I figured I’d have to do something else. But now here I am…doing what I love.”

  “I wish everyone could do what they love,” she sighed.

  “You’re not talking about you now?”

  “No,” she said as she shook her head. “My foster dad worked as a janitor until he retired a few years ago. He used to say that the best part of his day was coming home to Trudy, his wife. I didn’t think about it at the time, but he disliked his job. Not the duties of his job, but the supervisor who made him feel like dirt. I don’t understand when people get a little bit of power, why they treat the people under them like crap. They used to be in the same position. You’d think they’d have compassion not contempt.”

  “I bet you’re a good boss,” David said as he finished the last of his salad.

  “I try to be,” Lindsey replied. “In the restaurant business, you work a lot of hours every day, sometimes seven days a week. And most of the time you don’t earn much money either. It’s hard work but the people who go in to this profession do it because they’re passionate about food. The financial compensation is a side benefit, not the main focus. I hope that my employees think I treat them with respect because I do try to.”

  “I’m sure they do,” David assured her. “I’ve seen you with them.”

  Lindsey smiled. “Well? What do you think of your first lesson?”

  “This was awesome. I can’t believe I made this.” David appeared to be quite proud of himself.

  “Same time next week?”

  “Absolutely!”

  *****

  Peter Lathem sliced the prime rib as the family sat salivating around the table. Serving bowls were passed around and plates were being filled with potatoes and vegetables and bread. Finally, everyone was ready to eat. Peter said grace and the clink of knives and forks on the china plates filled the room.

  It had been a family tradition that every Sunday, the sons who were in town joined their parents for dinner after they’d attended Mass. As the sons found significant others, the table expanded and the dinners got bigger. On this particular Sunday, the only son that was missing was Ben. He was off in London on business. But all the grandchildren were in attendance, including Janie’s twin boys and Katy’s son, Derek, and that had Maureen’s heart swelling with love for her family.

  “The spinach salad is delicious Katy,” Nic said as she took another mouthful.

  It had taken Maureen a while, but she had finally come around to letting her daughters-in-law contribute to the meal. “Yes it is,” Maureen agreed.

  “Maybe one Sunday I could bring the salad,” David offered.

  Every adult muscle in the room stopped moving and every adult pair of eyes was now on David.

  “You?” Paul choked.

  “Yeah…me!”

  “You can’t make toast and you’re offering to bring a salad?” Tim laughed.

  David glared at the youngest Lathem brother. “I’m learning.”

  “Well good for you!” Janie smiled. “I think that would be fantastic.”

  “It’ll be store bought,” Tim joked.

  “Actually, I prepared a green salad yesterday for lunch and made my own croutons.”

  Maureen audibly gasped.

  “Really mom. I’m taking cooking lessons. Just tell me what to bring next week and that’s what I’ll make.”

  “We should probably look out the window.”

  Everyone turned to Mark with a confused expression on their faces.

  “Pigs must be flying,” he explained.

  “Ha ha ha,” David smirked. “Very funny. Joke all you want.”

  “I think that would be lovely David,” Maureen smiled at her son. “I’m very proud of you.”

  *****

  At lunchtime on Monday, Audrey sat with David and shared a cheese pizza.

  “This is so yummy,” she giggled as she wiped a drip of grease of her chin. “I’ll pay for it later in the gym, but right now I don’t care.”

  “Nothing like New York pizza,” David agreed.

  “So I have this friend who wants to have drinks with you.”

  “Me? Why?”

  “Because she saw you at the opening and thinks you’re cute.”

  “Cute?”

  “Her words, not mine,” Audrey insisted. “You should meet her. You’re an eligible bachelor and she’s from a very well connected family with gobs of money.”

  “My family has more than gobs of money,” David frowned. “I’m not looking for money.” />
  “Fine! I’ve seen her naked and you’ll want to fuck her when you see her.”

  “Audrey!”

  “Well you will! All men do. Let me introduce you two. You are too good-looking to be living like a hermit.”

  “I do NOT live like a hermit!”

  “When was the last date you went on?”

  David didn’t reply.

  “Hermit!” Audrey sneered.

  “Fine!” he snapped. “Set up drinks for this week then.”

  Audrey stood and threw her paper plate and napkin in the trash can. “Will do,” she said over her shoulder as she left the small kitchen at the back of the building.

  Once out of earshot of David, she pulled her cell phone from her pocket and dialed in a number.

  “We’re all set for this week,” she said. “He says he’ll meet for drinks. Wednesday is good. I’ll text you where and what time. Bye.”

  She put the phone back in her pocket and grinned. Phase two of the plan was now in motion.

  *****

  David sat at the bar of the hotel waiting for a woman he didn’t know. He was supposed to meet her at seven. She was late.

  Downing his second cola, he felt someone slide into the chair next to him. He turned to see a gorgeous redhead looking at him.

  “David,” she smiled. “I’m Veronica.”

  “Hi,” he grinned. Audrey was right. “It’s a pleasure to meet you Veronica.”

  The bartender arrived and took her drink order. “Umm, I think I’ll have a Long Island Iced Tea.”

  He looked at David. “I’m good.”

  “So, David,” Veronica smiled. “Tell me all about yourself.” She played with his tie.

  David cleared his throat and paused as her fingers were now very close to his belt. He looked down to see her fingers walking down his chest getting dangerously close to a part of his body he didn’t show in public. Her other hand had moved to his knee and she was slowly caressing his thigh. He was about to speak when the bartender saved him, arriving with her drink.

  “Yummy!” she squealed with delight and turned and grabbed the glass, enabling David to relax now that her hands were no longer fondling him.