Page 4 of The Paris Roommates: Dean
“Nanine has his cookbook.” Sawyer drilled him with a stare. “Which you have probably seen on her shelves.”
Dean threw up his hands, prompting the parrot to flutter its wings. “You know me and books. So many pages. So little time.”
Sawyer muttered again while the proprietor frowned at him. “Youare not the chef, correct?”
Dean almost laughed. The man clearly wouldn’t give the parrot to a philistine like him. God, he loved the French and their standards. “No, we’re talking about our beloved host mother and business partner, Nanine Laurent.”
“Of the famous Nanine’s?”
The hairs on his neck went to high alert yet again.“Oui.”
The proprietor pressed his hands to his cheeks. “Oh, but you must take Pierre! I have loved having meals at Nanine’s, and my heart was broken at the sight of the restaurant being…how shall I say it? Completely destroyed—as if by vandals.”
Dean winced as Sawyer studied his feet. Yeah, few people knew the true story of what had happened at Nanine’s. That had to change, however painful it would be for their friend, whose own daughter and son-in-law were responsible for the destruction. Nanine was finally meeting with a reporter fromLe Mondetoday to set the record straight and announce the restaurant would be back even better after the restoration was finished in late November, only two months away. “Well—”
“A woman of Nanine Laurent’s artistry will appreciate the contribution Pierre can make in the kitchen.” The man extended his arm to the parrot, who hopped on with a delighted squawk. “Heneedsto be a part of this. Come, this is perfect! I will make you an incredible price. You cannot refuse me!”
Sawyer sighed as he pinned Dean with a heavy look. “Your head is going to roll if you bring that parrot home, tingles aside.”
“And yet all my instincts are screaming this can’t be a coincidence. I mean, it’s a cuisine-helping parrot! Who could imagine such a thing?”
“Have you seenRatatouille?” Sawyer scoffed.
Yeah, and he’d loved it. “It’s totally different. Our chefs can cook!”
Sawyer only crossed his arms.
“Okay, I’m about to get trippy on you. Do you know what I ate at Thea’s last night?”
“No.”
“Bœuf bourguignon.The first thing that parrot shrieked when we crossed the threshold. And you can’t deny theoreillon abricotin my pocket.”
“And here I thought you were just happy to see me.” Sawyer shook his head. “How about we come back—”
“The parrot knew! And then there’s the whole chef thing and the timing. I told you we had to come in here, Sawyer. My skin was dancing with energy.”
“You’ve lived in San Francisco too long, man.”
He couldn’t argue with that. He was open to more than so-called physical reality. “The proprietor knows Nanine’s.”
Sawyer rubbed his brow as if his head was starting to pound. “You do know how well known the restaurant is, right? I mean, you worked there, and we’re in business together, but sometimes I wonder about you, Dean.”
He wondered about himself too, but when it felt right, it felt right. “I know this parrot thing seems like a lark, and I get what you’re saying, but I have to trust my instincts, or I’m not Dean Harris.”
“Shit.” Sawyer made a scary sound in his throat before saying, “I love Dean Harris. I don’t want you not to be you, but this is a big decision for us to make without the others.”
The proprietor was already across the room at the old-fashioned cash register, jotting something down on paper as Pierre walked up his arm to rest on his shoulder. But his black eyes were fixed on them, and when he met Dean’s gaze, he began to vigorously nod as if to say,Do it!
“I hear you, but I’m buying him. I have to, Sawyer. If there’s huge resistance, I’ll take him on personally. We aren’t going to be living at Nanine’s much longer because of space issues. King beds—”
“Yet we live there now,” Sawyer reminded him. “Dean—”
“If Nanine says no, Thea can keep him at Jean Luc’s,” Dean blurted out. “She’s usually there anyway, and she’s a total sweetheart. You know she’d do great with a parrot.”
“Except her fiancé might object.” Sawyer groaned before walking to the front of the shop. “Do what you’re going to do, man. Who am I to tell another man not to follow the treatises of his heart?”
That had to be a reference to another famous French quote he didn’t know, but since it was working in his favor, he only followed Sawyer and slapped him on the back. The proprietor looked up and held up a slip of paper with a smile. The man hadn’t been kidding about being generous. The price seemed incredible to Dean, and he’d thrown in pelleted parrot food and the cage for free. So he paid it with a song in his heart. Dean didn’t know much about the parrot industry, admittedly, but the way the man pressed his hand to his heart as he presented Dean with the parrot moved him deeply. So did his earnest wish for the recovery of Nanine and her restaurant.
