Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
“ S omething smells good,” Rhett said as he walked into the kitchen and headed to the Nespresso machine for another dark roast coffee.
Lisa smiled. Rhett was always so appreciative of her cooking. “Thanks. It’s a new recipe for a chocolate bread pudding.” It did smell amazing. Lisa was hopeful it would be delicious.
Rhett brought his coffee to the island and settled onto one of the chairs. He flipped open the Sunday paper, which Lisa hadn’t even touched yet. She’d been too busy with setting up breakfast for her guests and then getting ready for the kids to come for Sunday dinner.
Rhett watched her for a moment as she bustled around the kitchen, stirring the gravy on the stove and checking the rib roast that was resting under a blanket of tin foil. Lisa never got flustered in the kitchen, no matter how many were coming to dinner. It was her happy place.
“You’re in an usually good mood. Are all the kids still coming today?” Rhett asked. It was rare that all four of her children and their partners were available on the same Sunday, but now and then, it happened.
Lisa smiled. “Yes, all of them are coming.” She dipped a spoon in the gravy and handed it to Rhett to taste. “What do you think? Does it need anything? More salt maybe?”
Rhett shook his head. “It doesn’t need a thing. It’s perfect.”
Lisa glanced at the time. It was a few minutes before noon. “They should be here any minute. Everything’s just about ready.”
The timer for the bread pudding went off as the front door opened and her son Chase and his wife Beth walked in. Lisa grabbed two potholders and carefully took the dessert out of the oven and set it on the counter.
She went to welcome Chase and Beth. Ten minutes later, everyone had arrived and Rhett poured mimosas all around. Kate and Abby settled their children at the kids’ table and once they were happily eating, they joined everyone else. Rhett carved the beef and everyone helped themselves to mashed potatoes, gravy, carrots, and roasted asparagus.
“I’m so glad you and Jeff are feeling better,” Lisa said as Abby, her youngest daughter, reached for a second helping of mashed potatoes. They’d been struck with a stomach bug, and Lisa was surprised they hadn’t cancelled.
“It turned out to be one of those twenty-four-hour things, thankfully,” Abby said.
“We missed you last night,” Kate said to Abby.
“Was it fun? I hated to miss it,” Abby said.
“It was. We met Angela’s friend, Lauren. She’s actually staying here, I think?”
Lisa nodded. “She is. She seems like a lovely girl. Though I’m not surprised since she is Angela’s friend.”
“I hear that some people aren’t thrilled about that show filming here,” Chase said as he reached for the butter. “One of my buddies said the neighbors are worried about noise.”
“Sometimes I think people just like to complain,” Rhett said.
“They definitely do,” Lisa agreed. “If anyone has the right to complain, it’s Walter and Kay as they live right next door. But they don’t seem worried about it. I think they are actually spending more time on their deck, curious about the filming.”
“I would be too,” Beth said. “I’ve often wondered how real those shows are. If they actually tell them what to do, you know?”
“I think they are mostly real,” Kate said. “Angela and I were chatting about it with Philippe and he knows some reality show producers. He said that truth is stranger than fiction—especially after a few cocktails. Emotions are heightened and drama just happens.”
Once they finished the main course, the girls helped Lisa clear the plates and bring out the dessert. She set a bowl of freshly whipped cream on the side so people could help themselves.
The cold whipped cream on the still-warm bread pudding was decadent. It oozed warm chocolate and rich custard and turned out better than she’d hoped.
“Speaking of drama,” Kristen said. “I was getting a coffee downtown yesterday and was behind Violet in line. I overheard her bragging to her friend that everyone has been telling her that her lobster quiche is the best on Nantucket and she’s decided to enter it into the food festival. Her evil plan is that when she wins, she will advertise it everywhere.”
Lisa frowned. Violet lived in the neighborhood and also ran a small inn. She was less than happy when Lisa opened the Beach Plum Cove Inn—especially since Violet’s inn isn’t waterfront. She complained that Lisa didn’t have the proper permits—which it turned out that Lisa didn’t, so she had to fix that fast. This was a bit much, though.
“Lobster quiche? Really? That’s something new. And I thought the food festival was for restaurants?” The Whitley Hotel organized a big food festival each June where local restaurants offered sample tastings of their food and people voted on their favorites.
“When I got home, I looked it up online and it seems that they’ve added a category for inns to participate,” Kristen said. “It’s probably not too late to enter. You’ll win easily. You can enter a savory and a sweet dish.”
“You should totally enter,” Kate encouraged her.
“I think it’s a great idea, too,” Rhett said. “It will be good advertising and you can borrow any of my equipment to keep food warm.”
“I think you should do it too, Mom. I can help out,” Kristen said.
“We can help too,” Chase added.
Lisa took a sip of her mimosa. There really wasn’t anything to think about. “I’ll do it. I’ll sign up tomorrow. It will be fun. I’ll just have to figure out what else to make for a sweet dish.”
Rhett reached for a second helping of the bread pudding. “I vote for this. It’s the best dessert I think you’ve ever made.”
Kate reached for seconds, too. “I think he’s right. I’m going to need to get the recipe for this.”
Lisa smiled. “Thank you. Alright, that’s settled then.”