Fire In the Kitchen (18 page)

Dante glanced at the producers before he replied. “I’ll fill you in later.”

“Anything I need to know?”

“No. Trust me.” Dante put his hand on her shoulder. It felt comforting. She had more important things to worry about than an unsubstantiated envious moment.

Pearl tried to sit her down to take the call, but Cassidy refused. She took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and spoke into the phone.

“Gary, what’s happened?” She tried not to picture her mother in trouble, like when she’d collapsed at the café a few weeks before, but the image was impossible to ignore.

“I’ve got bad news, sweetie,” Gary said.

“What is it? No, wait a sec. I’m too scared for you to tell me.” Cassidy’s voice croaked, sounding unnatural.

Dante sat on a nearby seat and pulled her onto his lap. She kept the phone to her ear but sunk into the comfort of his chest without fighting it. She breathed in his strength, which gave her the courage to learn her unknown dilemma. She took a deep breath and spoke into the phone again.

“Tell me, Gary.”

“Your mum’s okay, but you’re still going to be very upset.”

Relief seeped into her bones. Her mum was okay. She could still talk to her, laugh with her, have her mother’s love.

“How upsetting? Is the baby okay? You’re scaring me.”

“There’s been a fire.”

“What?”

“A fire, at the café.”

“Our café?” Cassidy’s world started to spin on a wobbly axis. “It can’t be at the café. It’s Monday morning, isn’t it? It was closed last night. There must be a mistake.”

“There’s no mistake, Cass. It’s still burning. The fire department is working hard to put it out, but there’s not going to be anything left to salvage. I’m waiting for the police.”

“I don’t believe it.” Cassidy shook her head as Dante held her tight.

“Amy’s on her way with your mother because she wants to make sure you’re okay. Don’t worry if they won’t let you talk to her, we’ll manage. We know how important the competition is to you.”

Cassidy heard a siren in the background before Gary confirmed the police had arrived.

“I’m seeing Mum, and I’m leaving with her so we can be together, whether they say I can or not, dammit. Besides, without the café my reason for being here is pointless.” She looked at one of the producers and wondered if the sudden glint in his eye was a trick of the light.

“Don’t do anything rash. We want you to stay where you are. I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I’ll keep you updated,” Gary said and hung up the phone.

Adrenaline kicked in. Letting her emotions take over wasn’t going to get her anywhere. Cassidy looked at one of the producers like she meant business.

“I have to go.”

“No. You’d be breaking your contract.” His mousy brown hair was clumped together and she found it oddly distracting. “We’re too close to production to have any interruptions. You leave now, you’re out of the show. Not only that, you’ll also be breaking the indemnity clause.”

Dante scowled at him with a look of such fierceness that Cassidy was glad he was on her side. “Can’t you see she’s shattered? Show some compassion, man.”

He placed his hands on Cassidy’s shoulders, squeezing them gently. “What’s happened?”

“The café’s on fire,” she said, covering her face with her hands.

“How bad?”

“
Bad
bad.”

“Anyone hurt?”

“I don’t think so.” She shook her head. “Oh no, I was so worried about Mum, I didn’t think to ask. I hope not. I have to see it for myself.”

“Okay.”

He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and turned back to the producers. Ignoring Eric, he looked at Joe. He knew Cassidy had been friendly with him.

“She has to go, Joe, but she’ll be back.”

He shook his head in response, but it was obvious he was struggling with the decision.

“Joe, please,” Cassidy said. Although the situation was stressful, she knew she had to be strong. “If it was Pamela who needed you, wouldn’t you go?”

A car horn tooted. Cassidy ran to the window and looked out. Her friend’s battered yellow VW was in the driveway. Inside it were two people in the world whom she loved fiercely.

“You’ve got ten minutes,” Joe said. “Then you have to come back inside.”

The car beeped again, three long blasts. Lights flickered on from floors above. Cassidy ran out the door and into the night.

Amy was waiting for her outside the car. She opened the back door and Cassidy got in followed by Amy.

“Mum,” Cassidy choked.

The three of them clung to each other for a long time, unable to speak. Only a few weeks had passed since she’d seen them, but tonight it felt like a lifetime. Cassidy felt as if all her senses had become finely tuned. The streetlights seemed brighter, the idling car engine louder, her breathing sharper. It felt as though a rock had been forced on her chest, an obstacle to her normal breathing. Amy must have been eating takeaway chicken recently because the smell of cheap cooking fat permeated the seats and made Cassidy feel nauseous.

“How bad?” Cassidy broke the silence.

Amy explained they’d smelled the smoke before they’d seen it. The end of the street had been barricaded, and several people had gathered to watch the bright orange and red flames lick and tease their beloved café. The spectators had been like urban vultures, out for a thrill at another’s expense, like people who slow their cars when they see a horrific car accident. Would Cassidy have done the same thing in a similar situation? Maybe.

Things are very
different when they happen to you
.

Everything was surreal.

All those dreams she’d shared with her father, gone.

The notebooks held her extension plans, and the pictures of her younger parents that had adorned the walls showed Cassidy in pigtails and barely reaching the countertops. Had anything been saved? This was the only thing she had left of him. His dream had become her dream, father to daughter. Keeping the café alive had kept him alive in her heart. All her plans for the extensions, all their treasured recipes.

Gone.

All gone.

Cassidy held her mother, who sobbed quietly. She pulled her closer and gave her the gift of quiet strength. Strength that came from places she hadn’t known existed.

“It’s okay, Mum, let it all out.”

“All those years…Your father would be heartbroken.”

Cassidy found a sad-looking tissue in her jeans pocket and handed it to her mother.

“I’m sorry, Mum.”

“It’s you I feel so badly for. It’s why you entered that competition, to keep the dream alive.”

Her mother examined the not-so-clean tissue and then blew her nose into it anyway.

Amy was looking out the window at the producers waiting at the entrance.

Vultures of a different variety, but still unscrupulous.

Cassidy tapped Amy on the shoulder.

“Can you call Gary and let him know we’re on our way?”

“It’s my fault,” Amy said without turning around. “I…I ruined everything.”

“Of course it isn’t.” Cassidy’s mother sounded surprised. “What are you talking about? You weren’t even there.”

“Yes I was. I came in last night and baked teacakes for my acting group. I was in a hurry. Maybe I left something on in the kitchen, like the gas, and it just exploded.”

“Amy, no,” Cassidy sighed and leaned over the seat to hug her. “You never would’ve left anything on. You were always running around telling off scatterbrained me.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I know you.” Cassidy rubbed her friend’s tattooed shoulder. “Give me your phone, please.”

Amy sighed and handed it over. Cassidy had only half dialed Gary’s number when Dante opened the front passenger door and got in. He swiveled around and gave them a resigned smile. “Your time’s up, Cassidy. You have to come back inside with me.”

“I’m not going back in there.” Cassidy shook her head. “I’m going home. My family needs me.”

“Oh, no you’re not.” Cassidy’s mother’s voice had a no-nonsense tone reminiscent of Cassidy’s childhood. “The café’s gone, Cassidy. There’s nothing left to save. You have to stay here and grab this chance with both hands. Don’t turn bad news into something even worse. Go back inside and give us something to look forward to.”

“No,” Cassidy said, crossing her arms and shaking her head. “We’re going home, claiming the insurance, and rebuilding straight away. There’s no time to lose.”

Cassidy’s mother rubbed her eyes before she replied. “I’m afraid it’s not that simple, and I can assure you it wasn’t your fault, Amy.”

Cassidy felt a wave of trepidation press the panic button to her emotions. Her words came out as a harsh whisper. “What’s going on?”

“There was a sign of forced entry.”

*

Dante tried to create a ticking clock for the producers. He got out of Amy’s car and demanded they give her twenty-four hours to sort things out, or they could find two more semi-finalists. The words were out of his mouth before his brain had time to catch up with the possible implications. But all he had to do was talk her into coming back with him when she’d done what she had to do. Simple, right?

The producers didn’t think so. They reminded him how much the show had already gone over budget, and how much an extra day without filming would cost them.

They refused her the extra time, and although Cassidy’s mother and friend tried to convince her to stay, Cassidy remained stubborn in her decision to leave with them. They drove away.

Dante clenched his fists as he told the producers he didn’t want to be in a competition that put rules and clauses above a competitor’s basic need to support their loved ones in times of distress.

They admired his sentiments, but deadlines were looming and they couldn’t rely on Cassidy returning of her own free will. Whatever Dante chose to do, it would make a great story, and Carlos and the other remaining chef would be more than willing to go straight into the grand finale without a semi-final taking place at all.

Dante said a slightly less than cordial goodbye and left.

* * * *

The next day, he fell back into his usual routine of running his restaurant by the sea. He spent the morning with his chefs, and in the late afternoon, he settled at one of his best tables to sample the dishes they’d created in his absence. Satisfied they were more than good enough to be kept on the menu, he looked beyond the walls and floor of glass to enjoy the uninterrupted view of the ocean. The jutting triangle of glass had won many architectural awards. Many didn’t realize it had only come about because he’d insisted it could be done, even though he’d been unsure of the intricacies of the technical feat. He’d wanted it, he’d gotten it, it was as simple as that. Now, he didn’t know what he wanted. The lines were constantly blurred with images of Cassidy in his mind.

His restaurant had continued to thrive during his absence because several of his chefs had returned with heartfelt apologies. His sister had convinced them Carlos had duped them with smooth words that had been as false as the cheap imported food he had brought in. Dante wasn’t sure he’d have been as forgiving toward them as his sister had been, but he was glad his sister had fought for him when he discovered he had his old chefs’ loyalty back, in spades.

He closed his eyes and let the aroma of the meals being prepared for dinner and the familiar background banter of the chefs in the kitchen become a soothing balm to his highly wired emotions.

Cassidy.

He saw her in his mind as if she were so close he could touch her. The fine laugh lines around her ever-cheerful eyes, her small elfin nose, her sweet grin. A zest for life that was contagious. Until the fire had occurred, she’d never given up on the magic that had always been just within their reach.

But he had.

He’d gotten used to having her around, with her regular injections of exuberance, even when things between them had gone so terribly wrong because he’d been so hot and cold with her. He admitted to himself it was more than an amazing physical attraction. He was attracted to her sense of humor and her ability to rise above any challenges. But there was more to it even than that, and he searched for what it was.

Then it came to him and his eyes snapped open. She was caring, had a great respect for other people, and above all, she had virtue. Their values were aligned after all. So different, yet they were the same. How ironic. And he’d dismissed her in front of the cameras as inconsequential.

A perfect ristretto was placed in front of him and, for a fleeting moment, he thought Cassidy had come to surprise him with the liquid perfection he’d come to know so well. His heart skipped a beat, but it sank when he smelled the familiar perfumed scent that belonged to his sister.

Of course it’s not Cassidy. She’s with her family.

Without looking up, he groaned and readied himself to answer a hundred questions.

Sophia pulled a chair so close to his they scraped together. She put her arm around his shoulder and squeezed. She didn’t speak, which he found even more disconcerting than her usual chatter. They watched the sunset together while they sipped their hot beverages.

Like a delicious combination of gelato flavors, the sky became a combination of blueberry, watermelon, and caramelized orange.

“I quit the comp.”

“I figured that,” Sophia replied.

“You’re not going to ask me why?” His eyebrows arched.

“You going to tell me?”

“Yes.”

“It’s a miracle.” Sophia waved her hands in the air like a preacher.

“Remember that barista you wanted to hire?” Dante crossed his arms and leaned toward his sister. “She made it as a semi-finalist.”

“Cassidy’s her name, isn’t it?” Sophia’s lips curved into a slow smile. “So
she’s
the one you had me rushing out to pick up the green chef’s outfit for?”

“Yes.” Dante nodded.

“I’m surprised the show let you make the calls to organize it,” Sophia said. “She must look good in it, or they wouldn’t have allowed it.”

“It wasn’t easy.” Dante’s mouth curved into a slight smile.

“She got to you, didn’t she?” Sophia patted his hand. “I’m always right. So why on earth did you leave her there?”