Page 52 of Sunshine

“Chef Kahele,” Mrs. Cullen said over the muted sound of silverware on plates and quiet conversation in the background. “Such a pleasure to hear from you. To what do I owe the honor?”

“Is this a bad time?” I asked, even though I didn’t care. I knew the woman would be making a point of receiving a personal phone call from me.

“I’m at dinner with some friends of mine, but I can always take a call from one of the best chefs on the California coast.” She laughed.

“Excellent. About your charity gala, I had some menu ideas after Sunshine showed me her mockups.”

“Oh?” Mrs. Cullen was too sophisticated to sound excited, but her voice had a telltale lilt that betrayed her interest.

I grinned, leaning into my role as the eccentric chef. “I know you’re supposed to meet with her tomorrow, but I wanted to ask for your indulgence.”

“This gets more and more interesting. You’ve agreed to cater the event?”

“I can make it work,” I said. “But I want a little time to let my concept come to light. Can I ask you to reschedule your meeting? Saturday evening should give me enough time. Then you can have the concept, venue, and menu presented at once and make whatever adjustments you want.”

Sunshine’s jaw dropped. I gave her a thumbs up.

“Of course I can,” Mrs. Cullen said, sounding delighted. “You know I admire your vision, and having it attached to one of my events is quite exciting.”

Worry snaked through me. I didn’t want to steal Sunshine’s thunder, and make it seem like I’d had all the ideas. I just wanted to use my position to help her. “It was Sunshine’s vision, but her ideas melded so well with the artistry of my culinary palate, I just had to experiment.”

“Of course, of course. I’ll let Sunshine know I’ll reschedule. It’s just a few days anyway.”

I made small talk for another minute and then hung up.

Sunshine was staring at me.

I rubbed the back of my neck. “I hope I didn’t overstep. But if I made it about me needing time for the sample menu…”

“You didn’t overstep.” Sunshine laughed. “You’re usually so quiet, I forget how well you manage people.”

Relieved I hadn’t upset her, I went back to fiddling with random ingredients. At some point they would come together into a menu but I wasn’t sure what I was doing with them yet.

“There we have it.” Luca held his hands up. “You can set some things up in the Villa, Logan will get the sample menu up, and then Mrs. Cullen will see your entire vision, not just a copy on paper.”

Sunshine clasped her hands together, looking at the three of us. “This is amazing. I can’t thank you enough.”

“You can thank me by playing Animal Crossing,” Julian said. “I need you to water my flowers.”

“Of course.” Sunshine laughed, her eyes shining. The worry had left her expression and, with it, so had my own tension.

She leaned over the counter. “What’s your vision for the menu?”

“Something extraordinary,” I said.

Matching a menu with the wonder and nostalgia Sunshine was creating was the perfect challenge to throw myself against. Much easier than figuring out if she wanted more from us.

“Of course,” Luca said, rolling his eyes. “It’s okay if it’s not the most perfect thing.”

Julian paused, fork full of pasta, and then looked between the three of us as if he’d just had a realization. “Oh, no.”

“What?” Luca leaned over Sunshine to brush his hand over Julian’s shoulder.

“I’m surrounded by perfectionists.”

I laughed. Sunshine shook her head. “I’m not a?—”

“Yes, you are,” the three of us said at the same time.

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