Chapter 5
Chapter Five
M andy made Cory’s favorite dinner, veal marsala, and planned to tell him about Mimi’s Place after they’d eaten and maybe had a glass or two of wine.
When she spoke to him earlier in the day, he’d sounded exhausted already and distracted.
He also said he’d most likely be home by six thirty, seven at the latest.
So she’d planned accordingly. She fed the kids at about six, chicken marsala for them, and then she set about preparing the rest of the meal that she and Cory would share.
At six thirty, she put the asparagus on a sheet of tinfoil, sprinkled a little parmesan cheese, salt and pepper, a drizzle of olive oil, and a quick squeeze of lemon.
She threw them in the oven, next to a casserole dish of tiny fingerling potatoes that were glistening with butter and starting to brown nicely.
At a quarter to seven, she poured herself a glass of chardonnay and began sautéing the veal cutlets, which only took a few minutes.
The sauce came together quickly and was a simple reduction of the drippings scraped up from the bottom of the pan and stirred into a bit of marsala wine, butter, and sautéed mushrooms. It smelled heavenly.
By seven, everything was ready, and there was still no sign of Cory.
At a quarter past, she called his cell phone, which apparently wasn’t on as her call went immediately into voicemail.
By eight, the children were tucked into bed, the veal was cold and congealing, and Mandy’s wineglass was empty.
She refilled it, to the top this time, and grabbed an asparagus spear to nibble on.
Finally, at almost nine, Cory walked through the door.
Mandy glanced up and tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice as she said, “I was starting to worry about you.”
Cory shrugged his coat off and hung it in the front hall closet before coming into the kitchen.
“I had to stay late, needed to finish up a proposal for a client meeting first thing tomorrow morning. Something smells good.”
“It’s veal marsala. When you said you’d be home by seven, I told you it would be waiting for you.” She grabbed two plates and reached for the veal.
“Honey, I’m sorry. I totally didn’t hear you say that. We were just crazed today. Ashley ordered Chinese takeout for the office.”
“Okay then.” Mandy was fuming inside but trying not to show it. “Well, I’m starving, so there’s all the more for me I guess.”
“I feel like an ass.” Cory looked truly sorry, but Mandy said nothing in response, just continued to fill her plate. “How can I make it up to you?”
She smiled back. “Well, there is something I wanted to talk to you about.”
Jill walked into her apartment a little after nine thirty that night.
She was bone-tired and ready to fall into bed.
Billy had wanted to go for drinks and dinner after work to catch up and talk through how they’d manage in the short term, at least until they both got used to her working remotely and probably fewer hours while juggling her duties at the restaurant.
By the end of the meal, he was still apprehensive but supportive and even a little bit excited for her about the whole idea. Especially when she reminded him that Grams’s house had four bedrooms. He’d been there a few times with her, but it had been several years since they’d gone.
“Maybe I’ll have to plan a weekend trip to Nantucket. You can show me around, and I can do a quality check on the food at Mimi’s Place.”
Jill assured him that he was welcome anytime, but she wanted to give it a little time first, for her and her sisters to get their feet wet.
She didn’t admit it to Billy, but she was a little nervous about working in the restaurant.
Aside from some bartending years ago at a college bar, she had no experience.
Emma stepped out of the cab into a seemingly solid wall of heat.
It was one thing about living in Arizona that she wouldn’t miss.
Even though it was a dry heat, a hundred and ten was still hot.
Peter was home. His car was in the driveway, and he apparently had company.
The other car looked familiar, like Tom’s actually, but she wasn’t a hundred percent sure.
She hoped not. She didn’t think she was up to seeing the two of them together just yet.
When she walked through the front door, they were sitting side by side on her sofa.
She thought of it as hers because shortly after they’d gotten married, she’d picked it out, and it was her dream sofa.
A soft vanilla cream shade, it had big puffy cushions that you could sink into.
It was a set of two. The other was a larger version and was where Peter usually sprawled out while Emma claimed the smaller one to curl up on.
That was where Tom and Peter were sitting, on the love seat.
Peter jumped up as soon as he saw her and ran over to give her an awkward hug.
“I didn’t realize you’d be back so soon. I thought you’d stay a few more days to visit with your sisters.” He glanced back at Tom. “We’re heading out shortly. We were just checking the basketball score.” They were both huge basketball fans. Emma had always been bored to death by the game.
“Hi, Emma,” Tom said. “I’m so sorry about your grandmother.”
“Thank you.” She turned her attention to Peter.“I’m actually only back for a few days.” She told him about Mimi’s Place.
“You own a restaurant? On Nantucket? That’s so cool!” Peter seemed genuinely thrilled for her, and Tom, who loved to cook, even seemed enthusiastic.
“What an incredible opportunity. I’ve always dreamed of owning my own restaurant.” Tom was an accountant by trade, so this was news to Emma, though not apparently to Peter.
“If that’s what you really want to do, then you need to find a way to make it happen. That’s what I did. Do you have any idea how many people talk about writing a book someday? I did it myself, for how many years?” He glanced at Emma.
“At least seven,” she confirmed. “Finally, I told him he needed to stop talking about it and sit his butt down in the chair and just do it.”
“I found an hour a day, either before or after work, and that added up to a finished book six months later,” Peter said proudly.
“Maybe I’ll look into an evening culinary school program,” Tom said.
“Great idea!” Peter agreed. “And in the meantime, you can practice anytime on me.” A look passed between them then, and it reminded Emma that things would never be the same again for her or for Peter.
“Did you say you guys were heading out soon?” She was eager to have the house to herself.
Tom jumped up. “Yes, let’s get going. Nice to see you, Emma.”
Emma appreciated his politeness but didn’t feel she could say the same, so she just nodded and watched them walk out the door.
Facing the two of them hadn’t been as much of an ordeal as she’d anticipated, but it was still difficult and draining.
Emma suddenly felt exhausted and just wanted to lie down in the peace and quiet of her bedroom.
The spare bedroom, actually. The moment she’d heard the news about Peter and Tom, she’d moved into the spare bedroom, which was bright and roomy and decorated in soothing shades of dusty pink and mauve.
Sleeping in the bed she’d once shared with Peter was no longer an option.
She collapsed onto the bed and stretched out against the cool satin comforter.
She wondered if there was a support group for women whose husbands left them under these circumstances.
Probably, though she was lucky that she already had a personal support group in Mandy and Jill.
She was looking forward to spending more time with them and was growing more excited about Mimi’s Place.
She’d always had a love/hate relationship with restaurant work.
The things she disliked were the long hours on her feet and the occasional cheap or crabby customer.
And the nights when she was “in the weeds,” when the timing was off and nothing seemed to go right, when all her customers seemed to need her at once.
Yes, she’d had her share of those bad nights, but overall, she’d had many more good ones, when she’d successfully juggled many tables, served food that wowed her customers, and even had regulars who would ask for her every time they came in.
What she was most excited about was the chance to actually do some of the things that she and the other waitresses she’d worked with had talked about, ideas for changes they’d implement if they were in charge.
Emma realized that the timing was a blessing.
She sent a mental note of thanks to Grams for this chance to start over.
Cory poured himself a glass of wine and joined Mandy at the kitchen table.
In between bites of the veal, which was absolutely delicious after she’d warmed it up for a few minutes, she told him about Mimi’s Place and how the three of them were planning to work there.
She wasn’t asking his permission; she was telling him.
But she still hoped for his approval; it would make things easier and less stressful.
The last reaction she expected was amusement.
Cory apparently found the situation quite funny.
“You’re going to run a restaurant? How? You don’t have a drop of experience.” He leaned back in his chair and took another sip of wine before continuing. “Do you know that something like four out of five new restaurants don’t make it to the one-year mark? The odds are against you.”
Mandy knew that there were several restaurant stocks in his hedge fund, so he’d clearly done some research on the market. They always did before taking on any investments, but she still found his attitude frustrating. Clearly, he didn’t think she could do it.
“Mimi’s Place isn’t a new restaurant. It’s been around for years and has a great reputation.”
“Sure, it’s well established, but do you have any idea how healthy it is? Have you seen the financials?”