Page 18 of In Good Company

It’ll either be amazing that he didn’t give me any guidanceon his favorite foods or what he’s craving, or it’ll be tragic. I guess we’ll find out.

Dolores is busy neatly arranging cartons of strawberries when I pull up to the stand. I put the car in park, giving her a warm smile as I grab my mesh produce bags from my passenger seat and open my door. Warmth from the sun heats my cheeks as I walk up to the stand. It’s a beautiful morning with not a single cloud in the sky. The weather’s so beautiful here I try to get outside as much as I can. I’m excited to make stopping by my favorite farm stand a daily routine.

“Lucy,” Dolores croons, giving me the biggest smile. “You’re here early this morning.”

“I wanted to be one of your first customers this morning so I could get the first pick.” My eyes roam over the vibrant colors of the fruits and vegetables. There are many local farm stands here, but Dolores’s is my favorite. The quality is unmatched. Plus, she’s sweet as can be. She reminds me of my own grandmother, who passed years ago.

Dolores puts her hands on her hips as she watches me with a kind smile. “You’re my very first. What are you looking for today?” She tucks her hands into her apron pocket as she waits for me to answer.

I glance at my options, immediately overwhelmed in the best way. Everything looks amazing. Different ideas for meals come rushing to my head as I mull over my choices. “Well, for starters, I accepted a private chef position. I’ll be preparing meals five days a week.”

She gasps, her hands flying to her mouth in excitement. “Oh, Lucy, I’m so happy for you. That’s perfect.”

I let out a nervous breath. “I’m really excited. Just don’t want to mess it up.”

Dolores scoffs and swats at the air. “You won’t. Who are you workingfor?”

She follows me as I peruse the assortment of fruits and veggies. I want to grab one of everything, but that’d be wasteful. Cal’s assistant gave me a credit card to use for food purchases, but I don’t want to overbuy. “Callahan Hastings,” I tell Dolores, picking up a carton of strawberries and blueberries.

“Cal? Really?” she asks, her voice full of disbelief.

I keep a hold of the fruit cartons as I narrow my eyes a little. “Yes…why do you sound so shocked?”

She shakes her head, plastering on a smile as she fixes a zucchini that’s out of line. “I just thought he already had a chef, is all. Ignore me. At this age, I can’t trust my memory half the time.”

I stare at her for a moment, wondering if something happened with Cal’s last chef. Dolores seems so confident that he already has someone. It makes me curious what might have happened. Had he been without a chef for a while before hiring me? Or was the loss of his last chef new?

I guess I could just ask Cal, but I don’t know if that’s something I have the right to know. I haven’t spoken to him since last week at the club when I finally accepted the offer, and he made no mention of another chef. Since then, I’ve only coordinated with his assistant about the job.

“Anything Ihaveto leave with today?” I ask Dolores, changing the subject before I can think too hard about what happened with Cal’s last chef.

She nods her head in my direction. “You’ve got the berries. Excellent choice.” The wind rustles the ends of her white hair as she slowly makes her way to the other side of the stand. She picks up a bushel of asparagus. “We’ve been selling out of these by mid-morning.”

I nod eagerly, my mind already bustling with ideas about how I can shift the menu today to accommodate some of the fresh items from the farm stand. “I’ll take it.”

“How about I take these and set them by the cash register for you?” She nods to the cartons of fruit in my hands.

“That’d be perfect.” While she takes the berries and asparagus to the register, I continue to look around. There’s so much to choose from. I work through my meal ideas for the day in my head, trying to come to a final decision about what I want to prepare.

Dolores and I make small talk as I pick out a few more items and pay for the food.

“Thank you for helping me decide,” I tell her, carefully placing my haul in my bags. I’m eager to get to Cal’s house and get to work. “You’ll be seeing a lot more of me now. Hope you don’t mind.”

She smiles, the wrinkles of her face getting even deeper with the movement. “I hope I do. I can’t wait to hear all about your first day with Mr. Hastings.”

I give her a nervous smile. My stomach flip-flops at the reminder of it being my first day. “Wish me luck!”

She rolls her eyes and playfully swats at the air. “You don’t need luck.”

Oh, but I might.

I’m confident in my ability to prepare mouthwatering meals for Cal and his guests. What I’m not confident about is putting up with Cal. His witty remarks and need to have everything done his way are something I don’t know if I’m equipped to handle. I’m not normally one who likes to argue or toss out sassy comments, but there’s something about the interactions between us that makes me unable not to.

I walk to my car and carefully put my haul in the passenger seat. The drive is short from the farm stand to Cal’s house. I know my way around East Hampton fairly well, so the general directions I was given by Cal’s assistant get me to the correct street. From there, I pay close attention to thenumbers on the mailboxes until I find the one I was given as Cal’s.

“Oh my God,” I whisper, taking in the pristine white gate. I’d been given a keypad entry code, but for some reason, I thought it was to get into the house, not to get onto the property.

Owning a house in East Hampton is expensive. Every house is beautiful and worth more than I could ever dream of, but Cal’s has to be one of the nicest on the street, and I haven’t even seen the entire house yet.

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