Getting Rich (A Chef Landry Mystery) Read online

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake, you’ve been spending way too much time with Toni.” I dropped the bag on the nearest table as I slipped out of my parka. “Tell me something, Charles. How often do you eat hamburgers?”

  “Me? Why?”

  “You’re naturally thin, and you don’t have to watch your diet. I’m just curious. On average, how many burgers a month would you say you eat?”

  He shrugged, frowning as he counted in his mind. “Uh, I don’t know—maybe half a dozen.” My jaw dropped. And then, looking guilty, he added, “Okay, maybe more like ten or twelve.”

  “You eat about a dozen burgers a month? That’s...that’s an average of three a week.” I was so jealous. “Does Jennifer eat that many too?”

  Jennifer was Charles’s new girlfriend, a tall and slender blonde he’d recently talked us into hiring. In all fairness, we’d needed the extra help and she was proving invaluable in the kitchen. The girl could multitask better than anyone I’d ever known.

  “I think she eats more than I do,” he replied.

  “More than you?” Life was so not fair. “Well, that proves it.”

  “That proves what?”

  “You know what I miss the most since I’ve been watching my weight?” In truth, the only weight watching I’d been doing was daily peeks at the numbers on the scale as they kept climbing. “Hamburgers. There are days when I’d sell my firstborn to the devil for one.”

  He chuckled. “Good thing you don’t have kids.”

  “You know what our menu needs? A good low-calorie burger. I know it isn’t exactly a gourmet dish, but maybe we can create a really upscale Skinny burger.”

  “A low-cal burger? Let’s see.” He counted on his fingers. “Beef, cheese, bread—none of those are exactly diet foods.” He bobbed his brows. “But you’re right. If we can find a way of making it, we’d have a new hot item.”

  “Don’t worry. We’ll figure out a way.” I picked up the bag again and headed for the kitchen, pausing at the swinging door. “We’ve turned more challenging dishes than burgers into low-cal meals.”

  In the kitchen I was greeted by a blend of delicious aromas. Charles had put Jennifer to stirring at the stove. She threw me a beaming smile. “Hi, Nicky.”

  Marley, our assistant, was at the counter chopping vegetables, his dreadlocks gathered in a bun under a hairnet, and Scott, our dishwasher, was stacking clean dishes onto the open shelves. Even Jake, our headwaiter—actually our only waiter—was putting clean dishes away.

  “How are we doing? Is everything ready for the lunch crowd?” I asked. Just using the word crowd gave me a kick. It wasn’t so long ago that we were thrilled when we served six or eight customers a shift. Now we were averaging over thirty people at lunchtime alone. Granted, our dinner clientele was still meager, but eventually that would improve too.

  Charles walked over to the stove and peeked into the pot Jennifer was stirring. His hand landed on Jennifer’s back and a tender look passed between them. “The Alfredo sauce is simmering. I’ve got two dozen individual crustless quiches in the oven.”

  Since the introduction of our Skinny menu, our three most popular dishes remained our quiches, our Skinny Fettuccine Alfredo and our Skinny Caesar salads. We had to keep a ready supply of those at all times.

  He continued. “The romaine is washed and dried. The dressing is done and the special of the day—” he indicated another pot, “—is chicken mulligatawny.”

  “Yum.” I plopped my burger bag on the plating counter. “How soon can you get going on the Skinny burger idea, Charles?” He turned from the stove.

  He frowned. “Does it have to be a beef burger?”

  “Hmm.” I thought quickly. “How about we test a few different versions and then decide which one we should adopt?”

  “Good idea.” He tapped his wooden spoon on the edge of the pot and set it in its rest. He came over and opened the bag. He snatched the burger and unwrapped it. “Do you want to include fries?”

  “Burger and fries, what a treat. If you can manage to still keep the dish under 500 calories I say go for it.”

  His eyes got that faraway look they always did when he began considering options. Charles liked nothing better than a challenge, which was one of the many reasons he was so valuable to us. Another reason, one I didn’t like to admit, was that he could almost outcook even me. He was that good.

  I grabbed an apron from the hook by the door. “Has anybody heard from Toni yet?” At that very moment, she appeared in the doorway, wearing a leopard-print shrink-wrap dress, five-inch heels and a wide smile.

  I blinked. Toni, arriving on time?—that was unheard of.

  “Why are you all looking at me that way?” she said, giving her blond mane a toss. “Is it my new dress?” She walked a few steps runway style and twirled. “How do you like it?”

  “A better question would be, why are you here so—” I frowned, my eyes locking on her breasts. They were ginormous.

  Seeing the confusion in my eyes, she burst out laughing. “How do you like them?”

  I glanced around quickly and, yes, the guys were all staring bug-eyed at her chest too.

  Toni gave a little shoulder wiggle. “Are they all right? Too big? Too small?” Her smile widened. “Will somebody say something?”

  Charles found his voice. “Nice,” he said, blushing.

  Toni slipped a hand into her V-neck and pulled out two apples. “I’ve been thinking of getting a boob job and thought I’d see what everybody thought first.”

  “Please don’t,” I said. “You look great just the way you are. In fact, sometimes I have to remind myself that it’s not your fault if you’re tall, slim and gorgeous. You were born that way.”

  “I know,” she said, fanning herself. “It’s a blessing and a curse.” She smiled wanly and winked. “So, seriously, do you think I should do it?”

  “No,” five voices exclaimed at once.

  “Well, I guess that settles it.” She dropped the two apples on the plating table. I waited for her to turn her back, picked them up and threw them in the nearest trash can. There was something very unappealing about apples that had masqueraded as boobs.

  The bell above the entrance door tinkled, announcing the first lunchtime customers, quickly putting an end to the conversation. Jake hurried out front and the rest of us jumped into high gear. I plopped on my chef’s hat, got a box of shitake mushrooms from the walk-in fridge and began chopping. At the plating table, Toni was wrapping the apron ties around her waist. She looped it around three times before tying the ends into a bow in the back, and the apron still looked too big on her.

  She threw me a smile. “Like I said, a blessing and a curse.”

  “Wish I had to live with that kind of a curse,” I snapped back. My eyes wandered over to Jennifer. Every woman around me was tall, thin and gorgeous, damn it.

  For all the complaining I did about my weight, I knew I had it pretty good. To most people, my life probably seemed perfect. I mean, here I was, not even thirty and I owned a pretty little Victorian semi-detached, which I had lovingly restored to a warm and cozy home. And I already co-owned my own business. Thank goodness, the restaurant had turned around, because I was also the owner of many overextended credit cards, which I was slowly paying off. If those paychecks stopped coming in, I would so be in deep shit.

  *

  The day whizzed by in a frantic rush of grilling, baking, steaming and roasting, and suddenly it was ten-fifteen. The lunch shift had been packed, but once again the dinner crowd was sparse—normal for a Wednesday. Now, one couple remained and they had just asked for the bill. I peeked out from the swinging door to see Jake escorting them to the exit. I looked around. “Where’s Toni?”

  Charles looked embarrassed. “She hurried out about an hour ago—”

  “I don’t believe it,” I exclaimed, unamused. She had sneaked out so quietly that I hadn’t even noticed. “She had a date with Steven, didn’t she?”

  He shrugged. “She
said she’d be back with some kind of a surprise before you left.”

  “A surprise? Any idea what it might be?”

  “Not a clue.”

  The real surprise would be if she showed up before we left.

  “Everything is done,” Scott said. “Do you mind if we take off?”

  I looked around. The kitchen was clean and tidy once again. The counters were spotless, the dishes and glasses stacked neatly and sparkling on the shelves. The floor had been swept and mopped. “Okay, let’s call it a day. Good job, everyone. See you in the morning.”

  Jake, Marley and Scott were going out the back when the bell above the entrance door chimed. I looked at Charles. “I thought you locked up.”

  “Of course I did,” he said, looking as worried as I was.

  I slipped off my stool and went to the door. To my surprise, it was Toni. She stood in the entrance looking around, as if confused. “Toni, you came back,” I said. “Toni? Are you all right?”

  She turned to look at me and I stopped short. This wasn’t Toni. But this woman—whoever she was—looked so much like her that the two could have been twins.

  She smiled tentatively. “You must be Nicky.” She walked over with her hand extended. “Oh, what the hell. I feel like I already know you,” she said, taking her hand back. Grinning, she leaned forward, brushing her lips against my cheek.

  From up close I could see the differences. She wasn’t quite as tall as Toni, and her features, although lovely, were not as refined. Her hair was slightly darker, her eyes brown instead of blue. “Oh my God, you look so much like—”

  At that moment Toni stepped out from behind the coatrack, laughing. I must have looked stunned because she pointed at me and doubled over, laughing even harder.

  “I wish you could see the look on your face. It’s priceless.” She came forward. “Nicky, meet my sister, Judy Donaldson. Judy, this is Nicky.”

  I tried to regain my composure. “But you—” Toni had told me she was an only child, orphaned at the age of three when her parents passed away. She’d been raised by her maternal grandparents, later inheriting their fortune when they died in a car crash.

  “I know. I always thought I was an only child,” she said, guessing the question going through my mind. “Imagine my surprise when Judy contacted me and announced that she and I were sisters—half sisters to be exact.”

  “But she—”

  “We share the same father, but different mothers. Judy is a year older, from a relationship my father had before he and my mother married.”

  “But how—”

  “We were raised by different grandparents. After our parents died, I went with my mother’s parents and she went with our father’s.”

  “But why—” Clearly I wasn’t able to form a complete sentence.

  This time, Judy explained. “From what I was told, Toni’s grandparents were dead set against Toni’s mother marrying my father. He came from a middle-class family. He already had one child—me—and only eked out a living as an artist. And they regarded him as a philanderer—not exactly the kind of match wealthy parents would want for their beloved daughter. So, when he and Toni’s mother died, Toni’s maternal grandparents took her in, and I went to live with Grandma and Grandpa Spencer. It wasn’t until Grandma died and I went through her papers that I found out about Antoinette.”

  Toni grimaced and said lightly, “I hate that name. It makes me feel like I’m about to get my head chopped off.”

  Judy chuckled. “Sorry, Toni.”

  I was watching the interaction between these two. They obviously liked each other. Whenever they glanced at each other their eyes lit up. “Have you met Steven?”

  “No, not yet,” she replied.

  “I’ll introduce them soon,” Toni said. There was a hint of worry in her voice. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he thought I’d been seeing another man.”

  Judy shook her head. “I wouldn’t blame him if he did. After all the sneaking around you’ve been doing since we met, anybody would imagine the same thing.” She said to me, “I told her she shouldn’t keep me a secret. But she wanted to make sure I really was who I said I was. All anybody has to do was look at me to know we’re related.” She chuckled. “But she insisted on DNA tests. Can you believe it?”

  Actually, I did. Toni was a very rich woman. And she was also suspicious by nature—at times bordering on paranoid. During her entire ten-year marriage to Steven she had carefully kept her net worth a secret from him. According to her, that was the only way she could be sure he was with her for love and not her money. It would have been just like her to suspect Judy of being some sort of scam artist.

  Noticing the blush creeping up Toni’s neck, I changed the subject. “Where did you grow up?”

  “In Ottawa.” She shrugged. “I searched for Toni for three years before finding out that her grandparents changed her name from my father’s—Spencer—to their name—Gordon. Once I knew that, it took me no time to track her down.”

  Charles had been listening to the story with as much fascination as I had. He suddenly remembered his manners and held out his hands. “Here. Let me take your coats.” He hung them and then guided us to a nearby table, asking, “Can I offer anybody a glass of wine?” He looked at Toni for approval.

  She jumped up. “I’ll go get a bottle.”

  Judy called after her. “Please don’t open a bottle on my account. I can’t stay very long.” She turned to me. “I have to go back to the hotel. I promised my husband I’d be back early. Poor guy, I keep leaving him alone all the time.”

  Toni came cha-cha-ing back from the kitchen carrying a tray. “Here’s to taking life with a grain of salt...plus a slice of lemon...and a shot of tequila. Margaritas for everyone.”

  Judy’s eyes grew wide. “Oh my God, margaritas. Just give me a small one.”

  While Toni poured, Charles cleared his throat. “I should let you ladies talk.” He looked at me. “If you don’t mind, I’ll take off now. Jenny’s still in the back waiting for me.”

  “Of course, go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  He returned to the kitchen, and a moment later I heard him and Jennifer leaving by the back door.

  “I’m so happy to meet you at last,” Judy was saying. “Toni told me all about you, your lovely home and your boyfriend.”

  I nodded. “He might be going out of town to work on his manuscript with his editor.”

  “Do we have time to meet him before he leaves?”

  “Maybe. Why don’t you and your husband come here for dinner? If you make it soon, before he leaves, you’ll both get to meet him.”

  “Sounds good. It must be difficult for you to find time together. You work such long hours.”

  “That’s one advantage of living next door to each other.”

  Toni cut in. “And when she says next door, she means right next door. Nicky’s house is a semi-detached. Mitchell lives on the other side.”

  I laughed. “It’s true. I can even hear his phone ringing from my place.”

  Judy chuckled. “What a great arrangement. It’s even better than living together. He’s there when you need him but you can still have your own space. I was telling my husband that Mitchell’s an author. Richard is so impressed. He loves to read, especially mysteries. You’ll have to tell me the title of his book. I’ll make sure to buy it.”

  I made a mental note to repeat this to him. He would be flattered.

  Toni turned to me and changed the subject. “You should see my niece. She’s adorable—six years old and a real sweetheart. I just love her to pieces.”

  Toni thrilling about her relationship with a child was something I never thought I’d see. “So you’re an aunt.”

  She nodded, chuckling. “All the pleasures of being a parent and none of the hassles—I can do as much spoiling as I like, and just hand her back when she’s being naughty.”

  Judy beamed with pleasure. “And she sure has been doing a lot of spoiling. Celia is crazy a
bout her auntie. Toni must have bought out the entire toy department of The Bay. Our room is filled with dolls. There are so many, we can barely move around. I have no idea how we’ll get them all home.”

  “Do you still live in Ottawa?”

  “Yes, but hopefully not for long. I’m trying to convince Richard we should move here. He’s an accountant. I think he could find work very easily in this city, don’t you? After all, this is the financial capital of Canada. There couldn’t be a better place for him to carve a career. But it couldn’t be until the end of June. We don’t want to pull Celia out of school in the middle of the year.” She glanced at Toni and then lowered her eyes shyly. “My whole life I missed having siblings. Toni is the only family I have, and it’s important to me that Celia gets to know her.”

  “Celia just went back to Ottawa. She’s staying with an aunt until Judy and Richard go back.” She reached over and placed her hand on Judy’s. “I’m sure he’ll agree to move here. And if he doesn’t, we’ll just have to put our heads together and come up with some way to convince him.”

  Judy smiled, but her eyes held uncertainly.

  “Tell him I have two very nice guest bedrooms and when you decide to take the leap, you can stay with me until you find a permanent home. There’s plenty of room.” Toni snapped her fingers. “I know. I’ll go shopping for a child’s bed tomorrow, so Celia will have a bedroom ready for her.”

  Judy shook her head. “Please don’t go to any expense on our account.”

  I was a bit surprised that Judy and her husband weren’t already staying with Toni, especially since they seemed to only be here for a short visit. On the other hand, although the condo was large, some people felt uncomfortable living in another person’s home.

  “I have a guest room,” I said. “My house isn’t big or as luxurious as Toni’s apartment, but it has a small backyard, and I’m only a block away from Bells Trinity Park. If you decide to move here, you can stay with me until you find a place. Your daughter would be able to play outside.”