A Kitchen Affair Read online

  "I will have to have a deposit to take care of that," she said, embarrassed.

  "No, I meant for you to use my credit card."

  "Oh, of course. I'm sorry for the confusion," she said, very relieved.

  "Great. Come by my office tomorrow and I'll give you a corporate credit card to do the shopping. Is there anything else we need to discuss about the dinner?"

  Jenny hesitated now. "Well, there is my fee."

  "At this point, I'm so happy to be able to pull this off, you can charge me anything," he said.

  "Normally, there is a contract that we both need to sign with everything spelled out," she said, remembering the magazine article she read.

  "I'll tell you what, you type up something and bring it with you in the morning and I'll sign it. Put any price down as long as it's reasonable. Does that sound good?"

  "I suppose so."

  "Great. Now, anything else?" he asked.

  "The only thing I am worried about is being able to get a couple turkeys at this late date. Frozen won't work because there isn't enough time to thaw them. I'll have to try and find fresh ones and then come straight to your home to start baking. You only have one oven, so I can only bake one at a time."

  "If you can't find turkey's, then get something else. Alter the menu how ever you need to make it work."

  "Okay. Well, I had better get going. I have a lot of planning to do tonight."

  They both got up and Derek showed her to the door and helped her on with her coat. "Thank you for doing this."

  "I should be thanking you for trusting me with something so important."

  "I'll see you tomorrow at my office. You know where it is too, right?" he asked.

  "Yes, I do." She grinned.

  "Great. I usually get to work around eight-o'clock, but any time is fine."

  "I'll be there in the morning." Jenny pulled her coat close around her neck as she walked to her car. The wind whipped around the evergreen trees on the James' estate chilling her.

  Once inside her car, she quickly started it, hoping the heater warmed up soon. Then, the panic set in. What in the world am I doing? Two days to prepare a Thanksgiving dinner for nineteen people all by myself! I must be crazy.

  She couldn't back down now. The fact that Derek had the most gorgeous eyes she'd ever seen made it a little too easy to agree to do the job. After arriving at her house, she stayed up most of the night making out her grocery list and assembling her recipes for the dishes she decided to prepare.

  * * * *

  The next morning, Derek sat at the desk at the James Corporation. His thoughts were on Jenny. She had made an impression on him. Not so much from her knowledge of cooking, but her personality and her eyes. Her dark brown eyes sparkled like none he had ever seen before.

  He looked at his watch. Nine-thirty, I thought she would have been here by now.

  Just then, his secretary buzzed him over the intercom. "Derek, there's a Miss Marshall here to see you."

  He immediately sat up in his chair and straightened his tie. "Thank you. Please show her in."

  Only a few seconds passed before the door opened and Jenny walked in. She stood tall, about five-nine, he guessed, taller than any woman he had ever been interested in before. A question suddenly popped in to his head—Am I interested in her? He stood when she walked in.

  "Mr. James, I'm here to pick up the credit card for the groceries and I brought the contract for you to sign," Jenny said.

  Snapping back from his thoughts, he said, "Yes, of course. It's right here. Please sit down." He opened the drawer to his right and brought out the gold card.

  "I will need for you to sign this form."

  She picked up the document and glanced over it. "What's this?"

  "It's just a technicality. I'm giving you permission to use a corporate credit card and this is your agreement to repay any unauthorized purchases you might make."

  "I don't intend on making any purchases other than for you dinner," she said.

  "I know, but it's something the legal department requires."

  She took the pen he held out to her and signed the form, and he handed the credit card over to her.

  "Here's the contract. It's pretty much a boilerplate that I found online."

  He looked over the contract and then signed it. "This looks fine." He turned behind his desk to his copy machine and made a copy for himself handing the original back to her.

  "Will someone be at your home to let me in after I get the groceries?"

  "No, no one's at my home right now. I live alone." He stuck his hand in his pocket and brought out a set of keys. Removing one from the key ring, he handed it to Jenny. "This is the key to the kitchen door. Pull your car around to the rear of the house to unload it there. You won't have as far to carry the bags that way. There's no security system, so don't worry about an alarm."

  "You don't have an alarm at your home?"

  "I do, but it's inactive right now. What time do you think you'll be there?" he asked.

  "I hope to get there around noon so I can start getting things set up to start cooking tomorrow morning." She stood. "I should be getting to the market."

  Derek came around the desk to walk her out. He rushed to the door and opened it for her. "If you need anything, or have any problems, this is my personal cell phone number. Don't hesitate to call me." He handed her a card and their hands touched. He felt it and wondered if she did too, that sense of warmth and trust that he had never felt before.

  "I'm sure I'll be fine, but I'll call if I need anything. Thank you," she said, taking the card. She turned and left his office.

  As soon as Jenny left, Derek's secretary came in carrying a couple folders. "Here are the purchase orders you wanted to look over. I need to get them out by noon."

  "What?" Derek said, not paying attention and still staring toward the door.

  "Who was that?" she asked.

  "Her? Oh, that was my personal chef. She's cooking the dinner tomorrow evening."

  "What happened to Louise? You didn't fire her too, did you?"

  "No. Louise had a family medical emergency and had to go back to Chicago. And, I don't fire all my cooks." He took the folders, opened them and started signing on the lines marked by the secretary.

  "Derek, you know you're too much of a perfectionist to keep anyone around very long. You'd probably fire me too, if I weren't your sister."

  Pumpkin Pie

  2 - 15 oz. cans of pumpkin

  4 eggs

  3/4 C. evaporated milk

  3 T. flour

  1/2 t. nutmeg

  1 t. cinnamon

  Separate egg yolks from egg white and set whites aside. Mix all of the other ingredients well and set them aside. Beat the eggs whites until fluffy. Add them to the pumpkin batter and mix well by hand. Pour into 2 deep-dish piecrusts. Bake at 350° f. for about an hour.

  Chapter Two

  Later that day when Derek walked into his house, the aroma of turkey baking led him directly to the kitchen where he found Jenny drying a large pan. "Something smells fantastic."

  He clearly had startled her because she dropped the pan making a loud banging noise. "I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was in the house," she said, picking up the pan.

  "Things were wrapping up at the office, so I decided to come home early." He lied. He actually came home early to see her. "The turkey smells wonderful."

  "I'm just getting ready to carve the second one. If you would like to eat something right now, I could make you a plate."

  "That sounds great. I'm starved."

  "Sit down and I'll bring you a plate," she said, motioning to the table in the kitchen where they had sat the night before.

  He took a seat and she brought him over a plate of turkey, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce.

  "Wow, you made all of this already?"

  "The turkey and cranberry sauce are for tomorrow night, but I went ahead and made the potatoes for your dinner tonight. What would you like to
drink?"

  "A bottle of water would be fine. You made this for my dinner? Why?"

  She brought two bottles of water from the refrigerator and joined at the table with him. "I knew you would be hungry when you got home. I actually thought I would be gone by then and was going to leave you a note that there was a plate in the refrigerator for you."

  "Thank you so much. I appreciate that you did this for me."

  "You're welcome." She smiled. What a smile.

  He took a bite of the turkey." Oh my gosh." He chewed and swallowed. "This is fantastic. It's so moist and full of flavor."

  Her eyes glistened at the compliment. "Thank you. I found some fresh hens. I think they have the best flavor and I'm baking a ham too. I hope you don't mind."

  "No, I don't mind at all. That's a great idea. More choices for the guests, right?"

  "Right." There was that smile again. "It should be out of the oven soon. I'll slice it and store it until tomorrow and then I'll warm everything up before setting it out to serve. I found some warming trays in your pantry and thought I would use them so the food will stay warm all through dinner."

  "It sounds like you've thought of everything," he said, taking another bite.

  "What time will the servers arrive to serve the drinks and hor d'oeuvres?" she asked.

  He sat silent for a few seconds, realizing he hadn't hired anyone to serve. "I didn't even think of that. Maybe my secretary can call an agency or something."

  "Your dinner's tomorrow night. I don't think an agency will have anyone available on such short notice."

  "Jenny, I know you're doing all the cooking, but would it be possible for you to serve too? I would pay you extra for it."

  "I can help serve, but there's too much for me to do with cooking. I wouldn't be able to do both. But, I have an idea. I have some friends at the culinary school that might be willing to help out. They can always use the extra money."

  "That would be fantastic. You set it up and I'll pay them whatever they want." He took a drink of water.

  "I'll see what I can do. Minimum wage is usually good." She got up and took the ham out of the oven and placed it on top of the stove to cool. "They've served at dinner parties in Cincinnati before so they have the experience. You probably can get by with three people."

  He sat at the table and watched her while she carved the cooled turkey with such skill. After filling a platter, she wrapped it with aluminum foil and slid it into a spot in the refrigerator. Before slicing the ham, she sharpened the knife with a sharpening hone. Back and forth she slid the knife against the steel rod. In no time, she had finished slicing the ham, covered it in foil, and placed it into the now crowded refrigerator.

  I don't think I could get another thing in that frig," she said.

  "If you will need more room, I can have a new one delivered," Derek said.

  You would go out and buy a new refrigerator for one dinner?"

  "No, but I would rent one."

  "Or, maybe you should clean out this one. I think I saw something move in the back earlier today." She laughed.

  Her laugher sounded like heaven to him. There's never much laughter in this house, he thought.

  "Perhaps, I should. That might be something to get someone to do after the dinner party is over."

  "Don't you think you should do it? I mean, only you would know what's good and what's bad in there?"

  "Not really, my cook did all of that. I'm sure she was planning on cleaning it out before she got called away."

  "Well, maybe I can go through it a little tomorrow when I get here and before I start preparing the other dishes."

  "Speaking of that, when will you arrive tomorrow?"

  "Let's see, you said you told your guests that dinner will be at seven, so I will probably be here around noon to start getting things ready. If I can get my friends to help serve, I'll ask a couple of them to come early to help me in the kitchen and then the rest of them will get here around five to be ready to start serving drinks and hor d'oeuvres at six when your guests start arriving."

  "You've thought of everything. I believe I made a very good decision in hiring you for this," he said.

  "When you're finished with your meal, just put the dish in the sink and I'll wash it tomorrow," she said, starting the automatic dishwasher.

  "Aren't you going to eat before you leave?"

  "No, I sampled as I prepared everything today and I'll grab something once I get home."

  She picked up her coat from the chair next to him. Being a perfect gentleman, Derek quickly got up to help her with it.

  "Thank you. I guess I'll see you sometime tomorrow. You'll be here, right?" she said, flipping her ponytail out from under her coat.

  "I have to go into the office in the morning, but I'll be here well before the first guest arrives." He followed her to the door. "Do you still have the key to the house?"

  "Oh yes, I almost forgot." She fished the single key out of her coat pocket and handed it out to him.

  "No, you'll need it to get back into the house in the morning. Please keep it," he said.

  "You're a very trusting man." She put the key back in her pocket.

  "I've been told I'm a very good judge of character and I think your character is very good, Jenny Marshall." He liked saying her name. He liked her.

  She blushed. "Thank you, Mr. James. That's very nice of you to say." She opened the door to leave.

  "Please, call me Derek."

  "Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow, Derek." With that, she walked out the door.

  Derek stood at the door watching out the window until she drove her car around the house and out of view. He wasn't sure what it was about her, but he knew that Jenny was a special person.

  The next morning Derek walked into his office just in time to find his secretary going through his desk.

  "Ellen, I know you're my sister, but you're also my secretary and should not be rifling through my desk without permission."

  "Derek, you know I'm more than your secretary. If it wasn't for me, you'd never get your work done," she said.

  He didn't argue; he knew there was some truth to that statement. "What are you looking for?"

  "The Distribution Department needs that order they sent over yesterday for you to sign," she said, looking through a stack of files on his desk.

  "You won't find it in there." He sat his briefcase on this desk, opened it and pulled out the order. "Here, all signed and ready for the Department Manager."

  She took the form and started to leave the office, but stopped before she got to the door. "Do you have a date for your dinner this evening?"

  "No, why?"

  "Well, I was thinking."

  "No! Don't even think about it." He sat down at his desk and Ellen came back and sat in the chair opposite him.

  "What?" she asked.

  "You were going to suggest that I take one of your friends and I don't want to date one of your friends." He got up and went over to the coffee pot on the right side of the room and poured himself a cup.

  "For your information, I was not going to try and fix you up with one of my friends."

  He walked back to his desk and sat down. "Well then, I'm sorry. What were you going to say?"

  Sheepishly, she replied, "I was going to see if you would be interested in taking that new manager from Distribution to your dinner tonight?"

  "Ellen, please, I am perfectly capable of finding my own date, when I want to. Tonight, I don't want to. I'm the host and it wouldn't be right to bring a date that I would end up ignoring all evening because I have... hosting duties to attend to."

  "Bullshit."

  "Ellen!"

  "Oh Derek, at this rate you're never going to get married, especially if you don't start dating." She got up to leave.

  "What makes you think I want to get married?"

  She stopped just before going out the door. "You're one of the most eligible bachelors in the tri-state area and you never go out on a date. Hell
o, you're not getting any younger. Don't you want to produce an heir to pass the company down to someday?"

  "That's my business. Now, stop trying to play matchmaker."

  Ellen laughed and walked out the door, closing it behind her.

  Derek started thinking about what Ellen had said. At thirty years old, he knew he should be thinking about settling down with a wife and kids, not that he didn't think about that often. Unfortunately, he'd never found any woman he thought he'd want to spend the rest of his life with.

  Then, the image of Jenny standing in his kitchen popped into his head. He found himself smiling at the thought of her in his kitchen all the time. Wait a minute, what am I thinking? I just hired her. I don't even know her. For all I know, she might be married. He quickly shook that thought from his head.

  Just before lunch, Ellen buzzed Derek over the intercom. "Wesley Forbes is on line one for you."

  "Thanks, Ellen," he said, picking up the receiver and pushing the line one button. "Hi Wes, what's up?"

  "Hey buddy, just wanted to check in about tonight."

  "You're still coming, right? You have to be there to keep me from going nuts."

  "I'll be there. I'm bringing Cynthia Snow as my date," Wes said.

  "Cynthia Snow, the news anchor from Cincinnati. I'm impressed."

  "No, she's the one that's impressed to have me ask her out."

  "You're not bragging, are you?" Derek joked.

  "I would only brag to my best friend."

  Derek laughed.

  "So, who is your date tonight?" Wes asked.

  "I'm not bringing a date. I'm the host."

  "What do you mean you’re not bringing a date? If you need help finding a lady, buddy, I have a whole book of names and numbers. I'd be glad to help your dry streak come to an end."

  "You sound exactly like Ellen. No, I don't need any help getting a date and I certainly don't want any of your hand-me-downs. I prefer taking care of my guests tonight," Derek said.

  "But, who will take care of you after your guests leave?"

  That image of Jenny appeared in his head again. "I don't need anyone taking care of me."