Buchanan: Delicious Part 11

Cal winced as Dani slammed her hands down on the table. "Why am I always the last to know?" she asked. "Can't you guys keep me in the loop on anything?"

"Why would you care who's the chef?" Reid asked. "It's not like it's your restaurant."

Cal glared at his brother. "Shut up." He turned to Dani. "I was going to tell you tonight."

Dani stared at him. "You hired your ex-wife to cook at your restaurant?"

"She's good, she has a name that'll bring in customers and she was available."

"Just perfect," Dani muttered. "At least it's late enough that I don't have to worry about my day getting too much worse."

Cal didn't know what to say. He hated that when it came to the family business, Dani always got screwed.

"Penny's a great chef," Reid said. "She'll make the old place a success. Don't you want that? Aren't you the one so interested in seeing the company succeed?"

"That's not the point," Dani said.

Lucy arrived with a ma.s.sive plate of nachos. They dug in and for a few minutes there was only small talk about who had heard from Walker and whether or not the Mariners would have a decent season.

Cal glanced at his sister. He could feel the tension in her and knew she wasn't happy. Maybe it was because he was the oldest and she was the youngest or maybe it was because she was the only girl, but he'd always looked out for her. n.o.body messed with Dani without going through him first, and that went for his brothers as well.

But she wasn't that little girl anymore and he couldn't keep the whole world at bay.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Fine. The new low-calorie selections are doing great. We're getting the dieting mom crowd in. The kids can scarf down on burgers and fries and mom can stay on program."

She didn't sound very enthused. Not that he could blame her. Dani had a master's in restaurant management. She'd returned to Seattle, fully intending to work her way up the ranks. But instead of putting her in a junior position at The Waterfront, or Buchanan's, the family's steak house, Gloria had sent Dani to Tukwila to run Burger Heaven. She'd started as a hostess, been a fry cook and two years ago had been made manager. But no matter how hard Dani worked or how many times she talked with Gloria, the old woman refused to move her.

"You let her get to you," Reid said. "If it doesn't matter, she can't hurt you."

"I don't know how not to care," Dani said simply.

Cal knew that was true. Dani didn't have a choice. She lived and breathed the business. Despite everything, she was a Buchanan down to her bones. With Gloria standing between her and success, her choices were to endure and hope to change her grandmother's mind or walk away.

He wrapped his arm around her neck, pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.

"Life's a b.i.t.c.h," he muttered.

"Tell me about it." She straightened and held out her beer. "Change of subject. To Walker. Stay safe and come home to us."

They drank to their brother, currently serving a tour of duty with the marines in Afghanistan.

"At least we can all be together the next time he's on leave," she said.

Cal nodded. "We'll plan something special."

Dani wrinkled her nose. "Oh, please. Because you guys are so into social planning. I'll be the one in charge of that and we all know it."

Reid looked at him. "When did she get to be so bossy?"

"A few years ago."

"I'm still bigger than you," Reid told her.

Dani grinned. "Yeah, big guy, but you were raised to never hit a girl. Not even your sister. So there's nothing you can do about it."

CAL SAT in The Waterfront's main dining room and waited. Right on time, the door to the kitchen swung open and Penny walked out. She wore checked pants, clogs and a three-quarter-sleeve white coat. A blue scarf held her braided hair off her face.

But instead of a tray carrying various dishes, she held only one plate.

He frowned at the fish and chips she put in front of him. "This isn't the only item I questioned," he said. "I want to taste the others, too."

"Try this first," she said, making no effort to conceal her certainty. "Taste it and weep. I'm going to step back a little so you'll have room to come crawling to me."

Yeah, right. She'd served fish and chips. How good could it be?

He was willing to admit she had the presentation nailed. The cream-colored oval plate contained three pieces of fish, waffle-cut fries and brightly colored coleslaw in a cabbage leaf.

"Got any malt vinegar?" he asked.

"Not a chance."

"The diners may want it."

"Not after they taste the fish. I'll allow them to use it on the waffle fries, if they like."

"How generous. Will you be posting a sign explaining that?"

She grinned. "I thought I'd just put it on the menu. You know, an asterisk by the menu item, then a little note at the bottom explaining the rules."

Her confidence grated on him. He cut off a piece of the fish and tasted it.

Crunchy batter, but he'd expected that. Still, it was surprisingly crisp without being too hard. As he chewed, the flavors exploded on his tongue. The fish was nice and mild, yet fresh. There was also a hint of spice...No, wait. It was more sweet than spicy.

He took a second bite to try and figure out what she'd put into the batter. Something Thai? No, but chilies of some kind. And what was that tang?

He swore silently. This was better than good-it was addictive. He had to consciously hold back so he didn't scarf down the entire plate of fish. Instead he deliberately turned to the fries.

The waffle cut made them look more elegant than other fries and he could see they'd been seasoned. He bit into one. Crispy on the outside, but soft and potato-y on the inside. And d.a.m.n if the spices here didn't add something extraordinary.

He moved on to the coleslaw and that blew him away. He should have known. Penny loved to experiment until she found exactly the right blend of seasonings. No doubt she'd been working on these recipes for months.

He looked at her. She stood just off to the side, her arms folded, her expression patient.

"You win," he said with a sigh. "It's great. I don't know what you're putting in the fish batter-"