the steamer, the roar of the grill and the chatter of the staff, but a glance at the clock told her the cocktail party had been underway at least thirty minutes.
“I have to go,” she muttered, unbuttoning her coat as she headed to her office.
“Yes,” Edouard called after her. “If you do not go now, we won’t get any of the credit for the food. Go. Mingle. Come back and tell us we are brilliant.”
“Sure thing,” Penny said, then slipped into her office. She closed the door behind her and shrugged out of her coat.
Underneath she wore a low-cut silk sweater and a black jacket that matched her slacks. She’d traded in clogs for high-heeled boots. Her long hair hung loose, which made her a complete disaster for the kitchen, but her job tonight wasn’t about cooking—it was about making nice with Cal’s definition of Seattle’s beautiful people.
She checked her makeup, then stepped back as her door opened. Naomi stuck her head in.
“There are two waiters I’m considering,” her friend said. “I need your help in picking. I’ll point them out to you and you can let me know what you think.”
“Okay.”
Naomi smiled. “You look nervous. Don’t be. It’s going great.”
“You’ve been in the kitchen. You can’t know that any more than I do.”
“I have a feeling.” She paused. “Wasn’t that a song from the movie Flashdance? ” She hummed for second. “Or is it ‘What a Feeling’? I’m dating myself, aren’t I? Would it help if I said I was twelve when I saw the movie?”
“Were you?”
“I honestly can’t remember.”
Naomi had turned forty last December and had celebrated with a long weekend in Mexico and a string of hunky cabana boys. Penny had always admired her friend’s ability to make her own fun.
“Nice sweater,” Naomi said, nodding at the emerald green fabric.
“I figure I’ll show off cleavage while I’ve got it.”
“Good plan. You hardly have any tummy at all, but the jacket hides the little that is there. Come on. You can’t stall here forever.”
Penny nodded and let Naomi lead her out into the main restaurant. As they walked out of the kitchen, a young blond waiter walked by. Naomi grabbed his arm.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
He grinned at her. “Ted.”
“Good.” She turned to Penny. “That’s candidate number one.”
Penny was still laughing when she turned to face the crowd.
Her humor faded as she took in the sheer number of people milling in the main dining room. They’d sent out over five hundred invitations and from the looks of things, everyone had decided to show up.
Soft music was barely audible over the general din of conversation. People stood in groups, chatting and laughing, while waiters in white coats circulated with trays of food.
The bar was doing a brisk business, hardly a surprise when the liquor was free. Penny had a brief urge for something to steady her nerves, then braced herself and tried to pick a direction in which to wander.
Just then the crowd shifted and parted, allowing her to see into the center of the room. Cal stood there, tall and studly in a dark suit. Her body reacted, getting all hot and weak and needy.
She used her kitchen experience to call herself several bad names and when that didn’t decrease her very inappropriate desire, she reminded herself that she and Cal had already tried the relationship thing and it hadn’t worked. He’d let her go without a whimper, leaving her to wonder if he’d ever loved her at all.
“So it’s just you and me, kid,” she whispered as she lightly touched her stomach. Then she squared her shoulders and plunged into the crowd.
“Nice to see you. Thanks for coming.”
Penny smiled, greeted and generally made nice with the prospective clientele. She made her way toward Cal, who came and collected her before she reached him.
“It’s going great,” he said. “Big crowd showed.”
“Sure they did,” she murmured into his ear. “The food is free. Let’s see how many of them are willing to pay on another night.”
He chuckled, then introduced her to several government officials.
“We used to come here all the time,” a petite, pretty lawyer said. “Lately, though…” Her voice trailed off.
Penny waved away the comment. “You can say it was really bad. I wasn’t the one cooking.”
The woman laughed. “I guess not. I’ve sampled most of the food. It’s terrific.”
“Thank you. Obviously we want to offer traditional favorites while helping people branch out.”
Cal put his hand on the small of her back, which caused her nerve endings to make a few Flashdance moves of their own.
“Have you tried Penny’s fish and chips? They’re incredible. I made the mistake of saying they weren’t important enough for our menu. She won me over with one bite.”
Penny glanced at him. “I didn’t think you’d admit that.”
“I was wrong.”
The lady lawyer grinned. “Care to embroider that on a pillow? Women everywhere would love to see it.”
“No, thanks.”
Cal excused them and they moved to another group of local business people. He introduced her and then let her explain about her philosophy as far as using local ingredients whenever possible.
“We live in a wonderful part of the country,” she said. “Why not take advantage of that?”
A reporter from the Seattle Times moved closer. “Are you going to be featuring Washington wines?”
“Of course. And those from Oregon and British Columbia. Obviously, we’ll have selections from California, France and other places, but our focus is regional.”
The next two hours were a blur of introductions and sound bites to sell the restaurant. Cal stayed close except when she ducked into the kitchen to check on things. When she returned to the dining room, it was to find Naomi leading Gloria Buchanan toward her.
They were an odd couple. Gloria was small, with white hair and piercing blue eyes. Her clothes cost more than the national debt of several small island nations. Naomi towered over her, six feet of Amazon beauty. Her wavy dark hair fell down her back, and her green eyes seemed to laugh at the world. But it was the heart tattoo on her bare shoulder and the way her breasts moved in the black halter top that really caught one’s attention.
“Lookee
