Prologue
Peppa
“Great job tonight, guys.”
At the sound of the unfamiliar masculine voice, my head whipped up. When I spotted the executive chef of the restaurant where I worked, my eyes widened in surprise. I’d known Armand was on-site tonight, but I hadn’t expected him to come into the kitchen and congratulate the team. In the two years since I’d been at Castagna, he’d only spoken with anyone other than William, the head chef, a handful of times. I’d never been offended by it since Armand was at the top of the kitchen hierarchy and hadn’t been around since I’d been promoted. His role at Castagna was primarily managerial, the same as it was at the four other restaurants owned by the hospitality company we all worked for. He didn’t spend much time in the kitchen anymore, which was where I was for at least ten hours a day.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at Armand, as shocked by his compliment as I was. Not that we didn’t deserve to be recognized for our hard work. As one of the only restaurants in the United States to earn two Michelin stars, Castagna was expected to provide nearly perfect food, service, presentation, and décor. The dining area was impeccable and the waitstaff well-trained, but the perfectly crafted plates sent out from our kitchen earned us those stars.
“I apologize for the interruption. I know you’re all looking forward to finishing up your duties so you can get home, but I wanted to share with you the wonderful news we just heard.” Armand clapped William on the back. “As you all know, the newest Michelin guide will be released soon.” My heart raced as he paused, and his lips curved up in a rare smile. “And when it does, the entire world will learn that Castagna has earned its third star.”
After a moment of stunned silence, the kitchen staff erupted in cheers. Only fourteen restaurants had three Michelin stars in last year’s guide, so this was a significant accomplishment for all of us. I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I was second in charge of the day-to-day running of a kitchen that had just earned its third star. My promotion to sous chef had already been a major accomplishment, but this would take my resume to a whole new level. Unfortunately, my enjoyment of the moment didn’t last long.
William looked over his shoulder as Martin Branch walked into the kitchen. He had been the sous chef at Castagna before Armand asked him to move to Balthazar, the new restaurant he was opening, and he hadn’t been thrilled I replaced him. Although he’d had no issue with my work on the sauté station in the year and a half I’d been the saucier, he wasn’t happy about being replaced by a female chef. Judging by the smug expression on his face, I wasn’t going to like the reason for his visit.
When Martin reached William’s side, our head chef grinned and stuck out his hand. “It’s great to have you back.”
I clenched my jaw to stop myself from asking what he meant about Martin being back, but I didn’t need to give voice to it because the answer came after Armand greeted him too. Turning back to face the kitchen staff, he announced, “It’s been too long since William has taken a true vacation because he’s insisted he couldn’t get away from the kitchen for more than a day or two at a time. But with the awarding of Castagna’s third star, he’s finally decided that it’s time to take a two-week trip.”
My eyes squeezed shut as I began to understand why Martin was here. William confirmed my suspicion, each word feeling as though it was a stab in my chest. “Lucky for me, things are going smoothly at Balthazar, and Martin was willing to pitch in for me here while I’m gone so we won’t be down a chef.”
“Stepping in as the head chef at Castagna while you’re on vacation is an honor.” As soon as I forced my eyes back open, Martin flashed me a superior grin.
Most of my coworkers flashed me sympathetic smiles during another moment of stunned silence. Our pastry chef, Larken, and I started our jobs at Castagna only a month apart and became good friends during our time here. I wasn’t surprised when she was the one who gave voice to some of what I was thinking, “The menu has changed over several times since Martin has worked at Castagna, and we have a new pantry chef and legumier who have never worked with him before. ”
Martin crossed his arms over his chest, scowling at her. “Are you trying to imply that I’m not up to the task of running Castagna’s kitchen for a couple of weeks while William is away?”
“I’m not saying anything of the sort.” Larken jerked her thumb over her shoulder, pointing in my direction. “I just don’t understand the need to bring in a sous chef from another restaurant to step in as the head chef when we have our own sous chef who just helped us earn a third Michelin star.”
William’s brows drew together, and a wrinkle popped up in his forehead. “You cannot seriously think she’s qualified to run my kitchen.”
Several shocked gasps echoed around us as I glared at William. When I’d been hired as the saucier here, I was aware that he had a huge ego. But working under him in the kitchen of a Michelin starred restaurant had been too big of an opportunity to pass up. Plus, I was used to dealing with vain men—some of whose heads were literally too big to pass through the doorway when they were in their lion form. Growing up with three older brothers taught me what I needed to know when dealing with guys who thought they knew better than I did. The number one rule was to never back down. Refusing to show any sign of weakness, I stepped forward and muttered, “Damn straight I am. While you’re busy creating menus and supervising staff, I’m the one who’s ensured your kitchen runs like a well-oiled machine. Odds are more than good that the last Michelin star we earned was on a night when I was running the pass since I’m there four out of five nights when I’m working.”
He sniffed and looked down his nose at me. “I hope that’s not a complaint since being involved in the day-to-day operations of my kitchen is a part of your job.”
“And so is filling in for you when you’re not here.” I threw my hands up in the air. “Like when you take a vacation.”
“You’ve only been my sous chef for six months. While I’m willing to concede that you’ve done a satisfactory job when you’ve been on the pass, you’re not ready to take over for me for two weeks.”
Satisfactory job?
I felt as though my head was about to explode, making it that much more challenging to hold back my lioness. Too many humans were in the kitchen for me to allow her to las
h out with her claws to make the jerk pay for trying to convince me that I wasn’t good enough to replace him while he was gone. Not to mention he wouldn’t survive an attack from me since he was human.
Several members of the kitchen staff moved to stand behind me. Having them take my back took some of the sting out of my boss insulting my skills. “I disagree. I think I’ve more than proven that I’m capable of running this kitchen.”
Armand’s gaze was considering as he registered how much of the team was on my side. Stepping between William and me, he held his palms up in a gesture that I assumed was meant to appease me, judging by the smile he aimed my way. Unfortunately, he missed the smug smirks on the other two chefs’ faces that completely negated his olive branch. “I’ve heard great things about the work you’ve been doing at Castagna, Peppa.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I lifted my chin the tiniest bit as I murmured, “I somehow doubt that, considering the only chef you speak with here apparently doesn’t think much of my abilities to run a kitchen even though he’s the one who promoted me to be his second in charge.”
“I understand your frustration with the situation, but I’m asking you to set this issue aside for now. Tonight is for celebrating an accomplishment very few restaurants around the world achieve.” His shoulders relaxed when I forced myself to give him a jerky nod in agreement. “When William returns in two weeks, the three of us can sit down and talk about your role here and what we can do to ensure that you’re ready to step up the next time he takes a trip. And Martin will run the kitchen this time since he came all the way out here as a favor to me.”
Working under Martin for the next two weeks wasn’t going to be fun, but I knew things would be even worse when William got back. He wasn’t going to appreciate me calling him out in front of Armand. I had a feeling that our third Michelin star came at just the right time because I was going to need to update my resume soon.
1
Cason
I heaved the ax over my shoulder and split the hunk of wood with one powerful chop. The rustic log cabin I’d been staying in for the past month or so had a wood-burning stove for heat. There wasn’t much to do out in the wilderness, so chopping wood had quickly become one of my favorite pastimes. Not that I needed as much as I’d expected since the cast iron stove put off a fuck of a lot more heat than I’d thought it would. I’d only ever used a fireplace before and had thought I’d freeze my ass off since I was up here in the dead of winter, but the inside of my cabin was almost too warm sometimes.
That didn’t stop me from stacking wood along the side of the cabin until it almost reached the roof, though. Neither did the fact that I’d never get through even a fraction of the wood I’d split since I was leaving next week. I got so much satisfaction from chopping it that I was planning to look into what it would take to have a wood-burning stove installed at my place in Timber Ridge when I got back to civilization.
After sticking the blade of my ax in the chopping block, I wiped my brow with my forearm and heaved a deep sigh. Even though it was below freezing outside, I’d worked up a hell of a sweat. It felt damn good, and the only reason I’d stopped was because I heard footsteps coming close. Glancing over my shoulder, I spotted Keane, the grizzly who was alpha of the small pack I’d been staying with. Giving him a chin lift, I said, “Hey.”
“If you want to keep going, feel free to drop some logs off at my place.” He jerked his thumb toward my stack of wood. “Since you’ve already run out of room.”
I grinned and chuckled softly. “That’s very generous of you.”