the alley. What an inauspicious place to receive such devastating news. A long moment of silence hung between us as I brooded over the new information, feeling wounded and suddenly vulnerable. I didn’t want to return to the kitchen yet. I didn’t want to move until I knew what my next course of action should be. But I knew Paul had a thousand other things he ought to be doing. “I’m sorry for getting upset,” I said, “and I appreciate you taking the time to tell me yourself.”
“It’s the least I could do,” he said, his face taking on a bit of brightness. “And I truly believe you have nothing to worry about. As soon as the First Family gets to know you, you’ll be just as valued as you were with the Campbells. The Hydens are simply accustomed to having a personal chef.”
And what was I? Chopped tuna? “Thanks,” I said and moved to take one of the seats along the back wall. “If it’s okay with you, I’m going to sit here for a little bit before I go back to the kitchen.”
“Of course.” Paul patted my shoulder. “Just remember one thing. Nobody could ever replace you, Ollie.”
Although I appreciated his compliment, one thought kept running through my mind: Did the Hydens know that?
CHAPTER 10
BY SATURDAY MORNING, I WAS DETERMINED not to let this news about the personal chef deter me from running my kitchen the best way I knew how. I still hadn’t broken the news to my team, and though I rationalized my reasons, I knew it was because saying it aloud would make it more real. I wasn’t ready for that. Cyan had the day off to be with her mother, but she and I had made plans to meet later for dinner. I had a feeling she might need a friend today to listen. I know I did.
My mind was on breakfast, but my eyes were on the salsa mixture in front of me. I’d come up with a new recipe for huevos rancheros, but wasn’t quite sure it was up to presidential standards. If this didn’t fly, we had a backup meal planned, and Bucky was already hard at work across the kitchen. I was beginning to believe I’d gone too heavy on the onions for a morning meal, and reached up to grab a tasting spoon to test that theory.
My hand came up empty. “Aargh!”
Bucky turned to me. “Are we out?”
“Again,” I said.
We were running out of basics right and left. The absence of our stricken laundry ladies and butlers was creating a ripple effect through all departments. Several butlers were now pulling double shifts, and a few of the dishwashers were pitching in with laundry duties. That meant plates and silverware moved more slowly through the process than we were accustomed to, and we were obliged to dip into our vast store of duplicates to keep the kitchen running smoothly. Tasting spoons and other flatware were becoming a big problem. Because we had two extra tasters hanging around, we were flying through utensils like butter. I was constantly sending runners to the dishwashing area to replenish our stock.
We had no runners in the area at the moment so I decided to make my way to the dishwashing area myself. “I’ll get what you need,” Gardez said. He turned to Nourie. “Can you hold the place down while I’m gone?”
Nourie laughed and waved him away. Over the past few days, the two agents had begun to relax just a little. They let us know that they, and the two agents assigned to Marcel’s area, had been taking a lot of ribbing about how lucky they were to snag this detail. Cyan and I had discovered that neither of the two handsome guards assigned to us was married, and from what we could tell, only Gardez had a girlfriend.
Right now I turned to Nourie, who was eyeing the salsa from afar. “Do you two ever get a day off?”
“Sure we do,” he said. “But until all these new protocols get established, Agent MacKenzie wants to keep us at our posts for as long as possible without interruption. He will probably assign our relief in the next couple of days.”
“Makes sense, I
“It’s the least I could do,” he said, his face taking on a bit of brightness. “And I truly believe you have nothing to worry about. As soon as the First Family gets to know you, you’ll be just as valued as you were with the Campbells. The Hydens are simply accustomed to having a personal chef.”
And what was I? Chopped tuna? “Thanks,” I said and moved to take one of the seats along the back wall. “If it’s okay with you, I’m going to sit here for a little bit before I go back to the kitchen.”
“Of course.” Paul patted my shoulder. “Just remember one thing. Nobody could ever replace you, Ollie.”
Although I appreciated his compliment, one thought kept running through my mind: Did the Hydens know that?
CHAPTER 10
BY SATURDAY MORNING, I WAS DETERMINED not to let this news about the personal chef deter me from running my kitchen the best way I knew how. I still hadn’t broken the news to my team, and though I rationalized my reasons, I knew it was because saying it aloud would make it more real. I wasn’t ready for that. Cyan had the day off to be with her mother, but she and I had made plans to meet later for dinner. I had a feeling she might need a friend today to listen. I know I did.
My mind was on breakfast, but my eyes were on the salsa mixture in front of me. I’d come up with a new recipe for huevos rancheros, but wasn’t quite sure it was up to presidential standards. If this didn’t fly, we had a backup meal planned, and Bucky was already hard at work across the kitchen. I was beginning to believe I’d gone too heavy on the onions for a morning meal, and reached up to grab a tasting spoon to test that theory.
My hand came up empty. “Aargh!”
Bucky turned to me. “Are we out?”
“Again,” I said.
We were running out of basics right and left. The absence of our stricken laundry ladies and butlers was creating a ripple effect through all departments. Several butlers were now pulling double shifts, and a few of the dishwashers were pitching in with laundry duties. That meant plates and silverware moved more slowly through the process than we were accustomed to, and we were obliged to dip into our vast store of duplicates to keep the kitchen running smoothly. Tasting spoons and other flatware were becoming a big problem. Because we had two extra tasters hanging around, we were flying through utensils like butter. I was constantly sending runners to the dishwashing area to replenish our stock.
We had no runners in the area at the moment so I decided to make my way to the dishwashing area myself. “I’ll get what you need,” Gardez said. He turned to Nourie. “Can you hold the place down while I’m gone?”
Nourie laughed and waved him away. Over the past few days, the two agents had begun to relax just a little. They let us know that they, and the two agents assigned to Marcel’s area, had been taking a lot of ribbing about how lucky they were to snag this detail. Cyan and I had discovered that neither of the two handsome guards assigned to us was married, and from what we could tell, only Gardez had a girlfriend.
Right now I turned to Nourie, who was eyeing the salsa from afar. “Do you two ever get a day off?”
“Sure we do,” he said. “But until all these new protocols get established, Agent MacKenzie wants to keep us at our posts for as long as possible without interruption. He will probably assign our relief in the next couple of days.”
“Makes sense, I
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