Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
As Marianne left her office for lunch service, her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out irritably. She’d ignored several calls from Imelda Hogan, her agent, when Batiya closed, and then the calls had stopped. Imelda calling now must be a good sign, mustn’t it? She sent a quick text to say she was working, but she’d call back as soon as she could. She couldn’t afford to play hard to get. She pushed open the door into the kitchen and a wave of heat and activity hit her.
“How are we going, Connor?” Her sous chef was running the pass today and the first orders were about to come through.
“All good, chef.” The first chits began to print out and he read them. “We’ve got two chowder, three soup, three mussels all day.” His voice lifted to carry to the kitchen staff who all bustled into action.
Kasia bustled through the door from the restaurant. “Hey, Marianne.”
“Hi, how’s things front of house?”
“We’ve not got many bookings today, but the morning ferry was busy, and Aoife says the lunchtime boat is fully booked. So be prepared for plenty of walk-ins.”
“We’re ready here, aren’t we, team?”
“Oui, Chef.”
“Ready, Chef.”
The responses rang out. The team was really starting to pull together and she was proud of how they’d come on. They were all seasonal workers and Marianne wondered how many of them would be back next year. Not that she’d be here to see them.
“We do appreciate how much you’ve skilled everyone up, Marianne.” Kasia’s voice at her side made her start. She’d almost forgotten where she was.
She led Kasia toward her office. “They’re doing well. I think my standards might have been a shock to some of them. It’s probably overkill for a kitchen like…” She stopped before she said something that might annoy Kasia, who was inordinately proud of the Waterside and its growing reputation for good food. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean?—”
“It’s okay.” Kasia smiled to back up her words. “We’ve done wonders here but I’m not under any illusions about us getting a Michelin star anytime soon. A Snappy Crab would do us just fine.” She pulled out her phone with a flourish and waved the screen at Marianne. “Speaking of which!”
She crowded in to read the email. “We’ve won the regional heat. Amazing.” She was pleased for Kasia and Tierney. They’d put so much into transforming the Waterside from a dated hotel into a modern restaurant, they deserved the recognition.
Kasia’s face broke into the widest smile Marianne had ever seen her wear. “The best in the West. In our category, anyway. I thought you might want to tell your team yourself. When service is finished, the champagne is on us.”
“Thanks, Kasia, they’ll be delighted. But it’s a team effort. The Snappy Crabs are about the overall experience.”
“But we could give the best customer service front of house, and it would mean nothing if the food didn’t wow them. Take the praise, Marianne. It’s well deserved. I’ll leave you to get on now.”
When Kasia had left, Marianne headed back to break the good news to her kitchen team, raising her voice so no one had to stop working to hear the announcement. The cheers were the loudest when she told them about the celebratory drink at the end of the night.
As she worked, Marianne reflected on what the award meant to her. It wouldn’t hurt to have the recognition at this point. It would be even more useful if they won the national finals. Was that a little optimistic? She didn’t really need the award to prop up her reputation, but it would help to show she was back in the game, even if it was a slightly less high-end game.
Marianne stopped her internal monologue with a slight sense of shame. She looked around at her new team and felt a pang of regret that they wouldn’t be together in the long-term. There was so much she loved about her life on Inishderry. Denny was having the time of his life, and his vocabulary was expanding the more time he spent with the older children. And she knew a certain shaggy-haired fisher had a lot to do with her happiness. It was getting harder and harder to keep her hands off Joey, and she didn’t know what to do about it.
She saw the way Joey looked at her when they thought she wasn’t aware. She was sure they hadn’t found it any easier to stay apart than she had. Why were they torturing themselves? Yes, she needed to sort her life out, but she hadn’t felt this kind of hunger for so long. It didn’t hurt when she saw the adoration in Joey’s eyes, either. She needed the affirmation she was still attractive. Maybe more importantly, that she was a nice enough person that someone so wonderful would want to spend time with her. Joey made her feel better about herself, and who didn’t want that?
The cold pain of the sharp knife nicking her finger brought her back to reality and she swore.
“Everything okay, Chef?” Connor turned from his station.
“Yes, all good.” She couldn’t continue to bleed on the dish, but she didn’t want her sous chef to see she’d been so careless. “Ivan, can you just finish up here for me?”
A commis chef ran over, eager because she’d selected him, and she left him to finish the dish while she slipped off to her office and the first aid kit she kept in her drawer.
She sucked her finger, the metallic taste grounding her, and she pushed her office door open and sank into her chair. The kitchen could do without her for ten minutes. She wanted to hear what Imelda had to say.
She dialed the saved number while wrapping her finger in a dressing.
“Imelda Hogan.” The abrupt, clipped tones of her agent warmed her with familiarity.
She waited, knowing Imelda would acknowledge her first.
“How are you, Marianne?”
“All good here, Imelda. You were calling me?”
“I was. It’s been a while and I wondered when you’re planning to come home.”
Home? To a cold city that hadn’t mourned her loss. Full of people she’d considered friends until she was no longer any use to them.
“Back to Dublin, you mean? I don’t have firm plans yet. Why?” She was being a little cool with someone who potentially held her future in their hands.
“Marianne, I’ve missed you. I know we didn’t see eye to eye over your career move, but we stayed in touch. You went completely off the radar this summer. I called so many times.” Imelda sounded genuinely upset.
“You know what happened. I was struggling to process it all, so I cut myself off for a while.”
“On a literal desert island.”
“It’s hardly that.” She let out a sigh. “I’m sorry, okay? It was my way of coping. I’m getting back into the swing of things now. I won’t be a castaway forever.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Imelda’s tone grew more animated. “Because your reels are getting so much attention. We need to think about how to maximize your gains from that.”
“I’m enjoying being back in front of the lens. I think I’d like to do more of that.” She’d always loved—lived—to cook, but the thought of going back to run the kind of kitchen she had before Batiya really didn’t appeal just yet.
“Do you mean like the career you were developing before you ran away to the seaside?”
Marianne wasn’t really feeling like justifying herself to someone she paid to maximize her opportunities, but she needed to humor Imelda if she wanted the best service.
“Okay, I admit it, your advice was spot on four years ago. But I was in love and thought it would all work out perfectly.” She cleared her throat. “I need to put it behind me and move on, Imelda. Will you help me?”
“Oh, yes, it’s what I do.” Imelda spent the next twenty minutes talking her through how she should make the best of the last few weeks of her summer contract. Marianne was relieved she hadn’t suggested trying to get out of the Waterside contract. She really didn’t want to cause problems for Tierney and Kasia.
She tried to outline the sort of work she would be keen to do. They didn’t discuss locations; it went without saying she’d move wherever she had to for the work she wanted.
When she hung up, Marianne felt a strange mix of elation that she might soon be getting back in the spotlight, and sadness that this perfect little slice of life would be behind her.
In an attempt to focus on the future, she dialed a number she’d been avoiding for far too long.
“Good afternoon, Mother. I’m sorry it’s been a while.”
“Marianne. Why have you been avoiding my calls? The only contact I’ve had from you is one postcard from some godforsaken island.”
Call singular . And that had been too soon after their conversation when Batiya closed. She just hadn’t been able to face any more insensitivity from the one person who should have had her back.
“I apologize, Mother. I should’ve been in touch sooner. But here I am now.”
“I suppose I should be grateful. Is my grandson there?”
“No, I’m at work, but he’s doing well. He’s talking much more now. You’ll be impressed.” She made a mental note to repeat the word “granny” to Denny as many times as possible before they visited.
“Well, it wouldn’t take much for an improvement on last time I saw him. The poor child was virtually mute.”
She rubbed her forehead and took a moment to respond calmly, but her mum took advantage of the silence.
“Mind you, he would be much more advanced now as I haven’t seen him since Christmas. That’s almost half the child’s life.”
“His name’s Denny, Mum, or Deniz. Will you stop referring to him as ‘the child’?”
“So, when am I going to see my first, and from recent events, most likely only, grandchild?”
“It’s difficult for me to travel at the moment. I’m doing long shifts and it would be a lot just to drive over for a day. But I promise you, as soon as the summer season is over and my contract finishes, I’ll come straight to Dublin and visit.” She wasn’t committing to anything more than a visit at this point. Her mother had a tendency to remember anything she considered a commitment.
“And this place you’re working. What sort of a restaurant can it be, stuck out on some island? You’ll be lucky if anyone remembers who you are.”
“It’s a beautiful place, Mum, and I have a competent young team around me. It’s a refreshing change to have less pressure on me.”
“I hope you don’t mean you’re working to lower standards. You can’t afford to lose your reputation, Marianne.”
“I know, Mum. We’ve just won the regional heat of the Snappy Crab awards.”
“I’ve never heard of them. Are they for tourists?”
“No, they’re recognized awards for seafood restaurants around the country. We could win nationally.” She wondered why she tried so hard for her mother’s approval.
“That’s something, I suppose.”
“I need to go now, but I promise I’ll be over with Denny as soon as I can.”
“I’ll have to make do with that then, won’t I?”
“Unless you fancied a trip out west? There’s room for you to stay here and you could spend time with Denny while I worked.” And save me some money on childcare while you’re at it.
“I don’t think so. It’s very far. And what would I do on a windswept island?”
Get to know your grandson? “You’re probably right, Mother. Let’s plan for me to visit as soon as I can.” She hung up soon and sat back in her chair, rubbing her face. Calls with her mum were always draining, and ultimately, unsatisfying.
Later that evening when the work was done, and the kitchen team sat around the restaurant laughing with Tierney and Kasia, Marianne watched them with pride. She was making a difference here at the Waterside and it felt good. Her island life would be pretty idyllic if she could just work out a way to manage her feelings for Joey. Perhaps they should talk about it. She smiled to herself. Or maybe she should just make a move and see what happened.