“They pay per class, but they can buy a pack of eight classes at a time.”
“And then you have to track them and they can take a year to use those eight classes?”
“Yes, I guess so. Not many do that, though.”
“But some do?”
Barbi nodded and Ryan continued. “You should consider doing monthly and yearly memberships. A set amount per month and they can come to all the classes they want. A discount if they pay a year in advance.”
“Like a gym?”
“Exactly. People go through phases where they will come more often some months than others. Life gets in their way or they get lazy.” He grinned. “But if you do a monthly membership, then you will have a more stable income and can better plan your monthly and yearly revenue.”
Barbi looked impressed. “You’re kind of smart sometimes. That’s actually a really good idea.”
“Thanks. I do have my uses.”
“I’ll see you at work tonight?”
“You will.” He turned to head back upstairs and then an idea came to him.
“You’re not working tomorrow night, are you?”
“No, I’m off.”
“Do you have any plans?”
“Not a thing. Why?”
“I know it’s kind of last minute, but I have a few new recipe ideas I want to try out. I was inspired by that Figs place we went to the other night. I’d like you and your friends Lily and Bernie to come, too, if they’re available, and I’ll run it by Wade and also check with Jess and Jake. You know both of them right?” He paused for a moment and realized what he’d just said. Of course Barbi knew Jake. He was the one she dumped him for. Though she’d broken up with him, too, after just a few weeks.
Barbi smiled. “Yes, I know Jess and Jake. Jess and Lily are really close and they come into the restaurant often for trivia, too. They’re a great couple.”
“Good. So plan on around six or so, then? Bring whatever you feel like drinking and I’ll take care of the food.”
“Sounds good to me. You’re sure you want to cook on your day off?” she teased him.
He laughed. “Yes, I’m sure. Developing new recipes is my favorite part of cooking.”
Chapter 12
Barbi had no idea what to wear to Ryan’s appetizer party. She tried on and discarded several outfits before finally settling on her favorite faded jeans. They were so old and had been washed so many times that the fabric was thin and soft and flattering. She paired them with a light aqua, top that looked good with her blonde hair. She added a bit of blush and mascara and a swipe of creamy pink lipstick, and then she was on her way. She stopped at the store to pick up a bottle of chardonnay and a six-pack of a local IPA beer that Ryan seemed to favor at the restaurant. She knew he wasn’t much of a wine drinker.
A few cars were there when she arrived, and she recognized Wade’s laugh as she climbed the stairs. Jess and Jake came over to say hello. They were both veterinarians and worked together. Bernie was sitting at the island, sipping a glass of red wine and snacking on almonds. Ryan turned to say hello. She saw that he was chopping garlic and looked about to toss it into a pan of sizzling oil.
“I brought some beer for you. I’ll put it in the refrigerator?”
“Thanks. You can open one for me, too, if you like.”
Barbi set the bottle of wine on the counter and took out one beer and put the rest in the refrigerator. She popped the top and found a tall glass in one of the cabinets and poured it for him.
“Here you go.” She set it down on the counter by him.
“Thank you. There’s a bottle of wine open already, if you want to pour yourself a glass.”
Barbi found the wine and a glass and did just that. She joined the others around the island and nibbled on a few almonds, too. They were unusually good, coated with a little olive oil and lightly salted.
“Good, aren’t they?” Wade said as he reached for a handful. “What kind of almonds did you say these were?” he asked Ryan.
“Marcona, Spanish almonds.”
Barbi heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Lily had arrived. She looked amazing, as always. She was wearing skinny jeans, a long, flowing caramel-colored shirt with a delicate white tank top under it and a pair of buttery tan cowboy boots that Barbi hadn’t seen before.
“Are those new?” she asked her.
Lily grinned. “Sort of. New to me. Found them at a thrift shop over the weekend.”
“They’re gorgeous!”
“Thank you.” Barbi helped Lily get a glass of wine and Barbi wandered over to see what Ryan was creating. The garlic smell was intoxicating.
“What are you making?” she asked. He was stirring shrimp coated with spices along with the garlic in the skillet.
“This is a simple shrimp scampi. My twist is a squeeze of orange instead of lemon juice, fennel, and a kick of cayenne pepper.”
“Yum.”
Ryan’s eyes lit up as he smiled. “I hope so. We’ll see. I’m going to plate it up now.”
He brought a bunch of platters to the island and told everyone to help themselves. The shrimp was still sizzling and there was a bowl of yellow rice to have with it. The food looked delicious—spiced lamb meatballs with a yogurt dipping sauce, sticky, crunchy chicken wings, a creamy cheese spread and duck confit sandwiches on crusty bread with caramelized onions.
“This is insane,” Wade said, after he’d tasted everything. “You should think about opening a restaurant someday,” he teased.
“Thanks.”
Wade was right. Everything was spectacular. Barbi had never even tried some of these ingredients before, though she had heard of them.
“What exactly is duck confit?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Lily said. “But it’s delicious.”
“It’s duck meat that has been cooked for hours in duck fat. Everything tastes better cooked in duck fat,” Ryan said.
“I’ll take your word on that,” Wade said.
“Okay. I am after real feedback, so you each have six tickets.” He handed them out to everyone and then set small paper bags on the island, each bag labeled with the name of an appetizer they’d tried. “Okay, put three tickets in your top choice, two for second and one for third. I’ll come back in a minute to tally the votes.” Ryan walked off to the bathroom and everyone dropped their tickets in the bag.
“Why do it this way?” Barbi asked when Ryan returned and started counting the tickets in each bag.
“It’s just a fun way to see if there really is a clear favorite or if the votes are spread around equally. We do this all the time in our restaurants and the results sometimes are surprising.”
But Barbi wasn't surprised when Ryan ran off the results. The duck sandwiches were a big winner, followed by the shrimp and chicken wings.
"I hope you saved room for dessert," Ryan said as he set down an interesting plate of desserts. They looked like what Ryan had described to her the other night.
"Are those…"
"Cannoli. They are. Not quite as good as the North End, of course, but I think you’ll like them. Try one,” Ryan urged.
Barbi picked up a pastry and took a small bite. The cookie was delicate and the filling creamy with chocolate chips on both ends.
“Do I taste licorice?” she asked in surprise.
“Yes. Anisette. It’s common in a lot of Italian desserts.”
Barbi inhaled the rest of her cannoli.
“That was so good.”
Ryan looked pleased. “I’m glad you liked it.”
Wade reached for a cannoli and then looked around the room to make sure that he had everyone’s attention.
“So, Gwen stopped into my office on her way home tonight to let me know about a special celebrity guest that is coming to the ranch this weekend. Sophia Carmella.”
“Sophia is coming to Riston? Why?” Ryan didn’t look happy to hear it.
“Who is Sophia Carmella?” Barbi asked. The name sounded vaguely f
amiliar but she wasn’t sure why.
“She has a show on the Food Channel, too. Sophia’s Seductions. She focuses on over the top, sexy food. Dinners for a decadent date night, is her tag line,” Lily said and then added, “She does have some great recipes. Her carbonara is to die for.”
“It is,” Ryan admitted. “But I’m still not sure why she’s coming here, of all places.”
“Why do you think?” Wade asked.
Ryan’s face went pale. “No way. That was over a year ago. She’s been dating someone else for months.”
“They broke up a few weeks ago. I read it in People magazine,” Bernie said.
“Maybe she wants to go rock climbing,” Wade said with a chuckle. “Seriously, though. I’m just teasing you. You probably won’t even see her while she’s here now that you’re not staying on the resort. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
“That’s crazy. No, I won’t worry about it. It may not even be the same person.”
“Oh, it is. She told Gwen to tell you she said hello,” Bernie added.
* * *
Out of curiosity, when Barbi got home later that night, she googled Sophia Carmela. She found the People article on her recent breakup as well as coverage of when she and Ryan were an item. They’d been all over the gossip pages then. There were photographs of them going to various events or out to dinner with Sophia smiling seductively for the camera and Ryan looking elegant in his suit and a bit uncomfortable by all the attention.
Theirs seemed to be a whirlwind romance. It flared up suddenly when they both met as guest stars on another cooking show and then flamed out barely a month later when Sophia took up with a more famous celebrity, a film actor. Barbi could see why Ryan would be attracted. Sophia was stunning. The first word that came to mind as she looked at her was lush. Sophia looked like a glamorous pin-up girl from years past.
She had a curvy, hourglass figure, like Marilyn Monroe, and she seemed to always wear dresses that showcased her assets. Her skin was a clear, creamy white that was a dramatic contrast against her thick, black hair that fell around her face in fluffy waves past her shoulders. And her eyes. They were cat-like in shape and color—an emerald green that commanded attention. Everything about Sophia drew the eye. Barbi wondered how Ryan was going to feel if he ran into her. If there were still any feelings there.
Chapter 13
Barbi had her first encounter with the infamous Sophia that Saturday night, the day she arrived. Saturday nights were always crazy busy at the restaurant. Many of the guests staying at the resort came in for dinner, but weekends also brought in many local residents who were looking to enjoy a special night out. They generally served dinner until ten on Friday and Saturday nights, which meant that even if the restaurant was totally empty, if someone came in at five minutes to ten, they would serve them.
Everyone hated when that happened, of course, because inevitably if someone came in that late they also tended to stay as long as they liked, with little awareness that they were keeping their server and kitchen staff around just to cater to their needs. Fortunately, it didn’t happen that often. Almost always, though, when it did, it was on an evening when the last thing Barbi felt like doing was staying an extra hour or two.
Saturday night, when Sophia came breezing in at a few minutes before ten, Barbi took one look at her and knew she was trouble. At that point, Barbi was the only waitress left. The others had left when their last tables paid up. Barbi had one that was paying their bill and then she was going to be on her way, too. She was exhausted. It had been a long and very busy night. She hadn’t had a chance to stop once. She watched as Sophia, wearing a silky cobalt blue dress that hugged every curve, and a much plainer woman wearing a simple sweater and tailored pants were led to a table in Barbi’s section. Ted, the dining room manager, gave Barbi an apologetic look as he handed them menus.
Barbi took a deep breath and then walked over to the two women.
“Welcome. Would you like something to drink before you place your order?”
“Yes, thank you. Ellen, you’ll have some wine with me if I order a bottle?” Sophia asked the other woman, who Barbi guessed was an assistant. Ellen had a pocket calendar and pen in her hand and looked as though they were going to be discussing her schedule or something like that.
“I might have a glass, thanks.”
“How’s this one?” Sophia pointed to one of the most expensive bottles of cabernet on the wine list. Barbi had never had it before and didn’t imagine she was likely to have it anytime soon. It was way out of her price range.
“I hear that it’s amazing,” she said, which was the truth and seemed to satisfy Sophia.
“I like amazing. We’ll take it, thanks.”
Barbi returned with the wine, and told them the evening specials as she expertly opened the bottle and poured a small amount for Sophia to taste.
“Oh, that is good,” she said with appreciation after taking a sip. Barbi filled their glasses, took their orders and brought them into the kitchen. Sam and Ryan had the area almost completely cleaned and ready for the next day. They were looking forward to being done for the night, too.
“Your friend is here, and she’s hungry,” Barbi said as Sophia’s order started to print out in the kitchen. They had ordered a lot of food—appetizers, salads and they both got the steak special, a filet mignon with a lobster tail and hollandaise sauce. Rich food for late at night. Sam and Ryan looked at her order and then got busy cooking, while Barbi filled a basket with hot bread and added a little tub of brown sugar laced butter and brought it out to them. She set it down on the table and Sophia smiled sweetly.
“Is Ryan in the kitchen tonight?” she asked.
“He is.”
“Would you please tell him that his good friend, Sophia, says hello?”
“I’d be happy to.”
Barbi went back into the kitchen where Ryan was taking a small tray of oysters Rockefeller out of the oven.
“I was told to tell you that your good friend,” she emphasized the word friend, “says hello.”
Ryan groaned. “I figured I’d have to go out there eventually to see her. I’ll take these out to them.” He slid the still bubbling oysters onto a plate, added a lemon wedge and two cocktail forks and headed into the dining room. He was gone for a long ten minutes before finally returning to the kitchen.
“She talks a lot,” was all he said before heading back behind the line to help Sam.
Barbi cleared their appetizer plates away when they finished and then immediately returned with their Caesar salads. She also topped off their wine glasses and noticed that they were close to finishing the bottle. She hoped that they wouldn’t want another one.
Fortunately, they both still had full glasses when Barbi brought their dinners out.
“Can I get you anything else?” she offered.
“No, this is perfect, thank you.” She took a taste and sighed. “Please tell Ryan it’s phenomenal, as I knew that it would be if he was cooking.”
Barbi smiled. “I’ll tell him.”
She passed the message along when she returned to the kitchen and Ryan said nothing. He just continued to clean up. Sam had already left for the night, so it was just Ryan left in the kitchen and Joe, their dish washer.
“You could probably go, too,” Barbi said.
“I’ll stick around a while and keep you company. Besides, she’ll probably want dessert.”
Barbi couldn’t imagine it after all the food they’d ordered. But sure enough, when she cleared their mostly empty plates away and offered dessert, Sophia smiled.
“I always save room for dessert. I’ll have the cheesecake, and a black coffee with Tia Maria on the side. Ellen, do you want anything?”
“I’ll just have a bite of yours and a decaf coffee, please.”
“She hasn’t changed,” Ryan said when she went back into the kitchen. He had the cheesecake with its cherry topping waiting for her.
Barbi brought it to Sophia,
along with the coffees and her coffee-flavored liqueur.
“I’ll just take a check. Oh, and if Ryan is still here, could you please tell him I’d like a word?”
Barbi passed along the message and Ryan nodded and went out to her table to see what she wanted. Barbi printed out her check and brought it over to Sophia. Ryan was still standing there, chatting—or rather listening while Sophia talked. She pulled out a credit card and put it on top of the bill. Barbi assumed that she would want to look it over so she began to walk away.
“You can take this up if you like. We’re all done here and I’m going to take my drink to the bar, now that I’ve convinced Ryan to join me.”
Barbi couldn’t help but raise her eyebrows slightly at that. Ryan’s face was expressionless. She imagined that Sophia was hard to say no to. She ran the credit card and brought the slip back to the table. Sophia handed her the empty cheesecake plate. Ellen was already gone.
“Thanks so much, Barbi.” Sophia beamed up at her, all sweetness and light in front of Ryan, but it felt fake to Barbi.
“You’re very welcome. Have a good night.”
Sophia chuckled and stood, picking up her coffee and smiling at Ryan. “Oh, I intend to.”
Barbi watched the two of them walk off to the bar and then finished clearing the table. She wondered what was going through Ryan’s mind. Was he happy to see Sophia? She was certainly charming enough, not quite the diva that Barbi had expected. He was certainly hard to read. He’d been laughing and smiling while Sophia had been chattering away and she was a very pretty woman. Completely opposite of Barbi when it came to looks. Maybe that’s what Ryan preferred now.
Chapter 14
Ryan met Wade early Monday morning for breakfast at Kelsey's Kafé. He was impressed with how it had changed since he was there years ago. He and Wade sat at the counter and both of them ordered one of Bob’s special omelets. Jaclyn and Simon were sitting beside them, lingering over their coffee and chatting with customers as they came in.
Charming Chef (River's End Ranch Book 7) Page 5