bring a glass for yourself.’
‘One soup, one beef, heavy on the roasties, lose the veg,’ she said to Tansy through gritted teeth.
Tansy glanced up from the soup she was pouring into a fresh bowl ready for the fridge. ‘Charlie’s here?’
‘Yep. And he wants me to open a decent red for him,’ Rosie replied, standing in front of the wine rack. ‘He wants decent – I’ll give him decent.’ And she opened the most expensive Chateau Margaux currently on her wine list.
She ignored the request to take another glass for herself. No way was she going to have a drink with him. Carefully she poured a taster into his wine glass and waited for Charlie to take a sip.
‘Nice. Can I afford it?’
‘Sure you can.’
‘Where’s your glass?’
‘I don’t drink with the customers.’
‘I don’t see any customers,’ Charlie said, looking around the empty restaurant. ‘Only me, and I reckon I rate higher than a mere customer anyway.’
Tansy appeared with Charlie’s soup and a basket of bread rolls. ‘Hi, Charlie. Good to see you.’
Rosie glared at her.
‘Thanks for sending Jamie our way. Can you now please persuade Rosie to unsack him? I could do with some help around here and he was good,’ Tansy said, ignoring Rosie.
‘I’ll fire you, too, if you don’t stop interfering,’ Rosie threatened. ‘Kitchen?’
‘You can’t fire me – you need me too much. Okay, I’m going…’ And Tansy disappeared back into the kitchen.
‘I am not having one of your relatives spying on me in my own kitchen,’ Rosie said. ‘Talking of relatives – tell your dad congratulations from me. I hope he’s very happy.’ She liked William and was pleased he’d met someone new. She knew he’d been lonely since Charlie’s mum died a couple of years ago.
‘I’ll pass the message on. But he’ll be down soon and you can tell him yourself. He’s sure to drop in for lunch – if you’re still in business then.’ Charlie paused. ‘I didn’t send James purely to spy on you, He does genuinely need the experience and I thought you could do with someone keen to learn from you. He’s really upset you don’t want him any more.’
‘He should have told me the truth then… What d’you mean – if I’m still in business next month?’ Rosie demanded.
‘Charlie shrugged. ‘Oh, come on, Rosie. You know how prejudiced the French are about “les rosbifs” and their cooking skills. They’re not going to be rushing to support an English woman. I wish you’d talked to me before you took on this place. I could have saved you a lot of money.’
‘Well, I’ll just have to be the exception to that rule, won’t I?’ Rosie said. ‘My cooking will get them in. And if the French don’t come, the English will.’
‘The French don’t care who cooks their lunchtime frites for them, but at dinner they want the whole gourmet experience, which they believe only a Frenchman can give. Nobody English in their right mind opens a restaurant in France – not without employing a French chef, anyway.’
‘I’ll get the staff to call me Fleur and start speaking with a French accent then, shall I? You could be more supportive,’ she added quietly. ‘You know this is my dream. What I’ve been working towards all these years and the reason I stayed working on the boats for the last five years. Besides, I’m thirty-five this year, so if I don’t do it now…’ She shrugged.
‘Cooking on the yachts is a totally different ballgame, Rosie. Sorry, but I just don’t see this place working. I know you’re a good cook but…’ Charlie said. ‘But with Seb Groc right next door.’ He shook his head.
‘Different markets,’ Rosie said. ‘Seb and I have already discussed it. Finished your soup? I’ll get your main course.’ And she snatched the bowl away the instant Charlie replaced his spoon in the empty dish.
‘Main course ready? Good. You take it out,’ she told Tansy. ‘Make sure he’s got everything he needs – and don’t talk about me. I’ll start the clearing up in here.’
Rosie pulled the lever that sent the large, old-fashioned dishwashing machine whirling into action down with a bang.
‘Temper. Temper. It won’t last the season treated like that,’ Tansy said, picking up the roasties and the veg in the serving dishes to accompany Charlie’s beef.
‘Here, you’ve forgotten his favourite horseradish sauce,’ Rosie said, thrusting the pot towards Tansy.
Surreptitiously, she watched the pair of them through the small hatchway between the kitchen and the bar area, envying the way they could still laugh and joke together like she had in another life – before everything had changed between her and Charlie.
Rosie turned away and vigorously set to cleaning the roasting tin until it was pristine and the ends of her fingers could take no more from the sharp shrouds of the shredded-steel wool. Tansy came back as she rinsed the tin and left it to dry on the draining board.
‘No prizes for guessing what Charlie wants for dessert,’ Tansy said. ‘And please, will you join him for coffee?’
Silently Rosie opened the fridge and took out a tiramisu – Charlie’s absolute favourite dessert.
‘I let Lucky in, by the way. Like a true female she made a beeline for Charlie and is now worshipping at his feet,’ Tansy said. ‘You going to take this out to him?’
Rosie nodded. ‘Okay.’ She couldn’t hide in the kitchen for ever, and now Charlie had had his say about the Café Fleur, maybe they could at least be civil to each other.
Have I ever told you, you make the best tiramisu?’ Charlie said.
‘Once or twice,’ Rosie said, determined to keep the conversation on an even keel.
‘I think I might have overreacted last night,’ she said, bending down to stroke Lucky. ‘Tell James if he wants to come back – ten o’clock Tuesday morning.’
‘Will do,’ Charlie said as he spooned the last vestiges of cream from the bowl. ‘Have you still got that beaten-up mini you call a car?’
Surprised by the question, Rosie shook her head. ‘No.’ The car had gone for a few hundred euros to add to her pot of money for the Café Fleur.
‘I figured I could live without one for a while. Working here seven days a week in summer, I’m not going to be going anywhere.’ She was blowed if she was going to tell Charlie the truth – that she couldn’t afford a car until the restaurant was a success.
His eyes narrowed. ‘How about getting home at night?’
‘I walk.’
‘I don’t like the thought of that.’
‘I’ve got Lucky now,’ Rosie said. ‘And it’s not far.’
