Coast Gourmet Food Trail.
She scanned the first paragraphs. They talked about ‘the ever-growing food and wine scene’, mentioning the lush soil, mild climate, and singling out for praise some of her newly sourced suppliers.
Then there was a list of ‘Six Foodie Hotspots’ on the south coast. The television chef’s restaurant was included. But high on the list was also, to her heart-pounding excitement, Bay Bites.
‘Read it out—I’ve read it ten times already but I want to hear it again,’ urged Sandy.
‘I...I don’t think my voice will work,’ Lizzie said.
‘Sure it will; come on—read.’
Lizzie cleared her throat and started to read in a voice that started off shaky but gained in strength and confidence as she read:
‘“France’s loss is the south coast’s gain. Talented Aussie chef Lizzie Dumont has returned home to Oz from stints in top restaurants in Lyon and Paris to bring her particular flair to must-visit café Bay Bites in the charming coastal town of Dolphin Bay. The menu is a clever blend of perfectly executed café favourites and more innovative specials that showcase locally sourced ingredients. Don’t miss: sublime scrambled eggs; rhubarb and strawberry muffins; slow-cooked lamb with beetroot relish. Then there’s the excellent coffee served by the most swoon-worthy barista you’ll see this side of Hollywood.”’
The review was accompanied by a photograph of the café interior looking bright and fashionable and another close-up of a muffin broken open with crumbs scattered artfully alongside. Jesse was there beside the coffee machine but his image was blurred, as if in motion, so you couldn’t readily identify him.
Lizzie sagged with relief. She looked at the by-line of the journalist who had written such a gratifying review. Adele Hudson. She peered closer at the small photo that accompanied it. She blinked then looked again to make sure she hadn’t got it wrong. ‘I don’t believe it. It’s Dell. Adele Hudson is Dell.’
‘Who is Dell and how do you know her?’ said Sandy.
‘She’s a friend of Evie from the dairy farm. She was here for the taste-test and then again on our opening day.’
‘The redhead flirting with Jesse?’
‘Turns out she was interviewing him, in a subtle way,’ Lizzie said slowly. She’d thought Dell had been flirting with Jesse too. She felt sick at the memory of the jealousy that had speared her. The review could have gone completely the other way if she’d acted on it.
‘Wait. There’s more,’ she said. ‘Adele Hudson is also a well-known food blogger with tens of thousands of followers.’
‘Not so well known to us,’ said Sandy. She pulled out her e-tablet from her handbag, scrolled through. ‘Her blog is called “Dell Dishes”. Look, she’s written about Bay Bites here, too.’
Lizzie read it out.
‘“Good food and good books—two of my greatest loves. I got a taste of both with the newly opened Bay Bites café that’s an extension of my favourite south coast bookshop Bay Books.”’
She looked up, her excitement rising. ‘And there’s so much more about how good the food is. She’s picked up on the link between the café and the Hotel Harbourside too and called the hotel restaurant “pub grub at its best”.’
‘We’re on the map now,’ said Sandy with a great sigh of satisfaction. ‘Along with those five-star ratings on the user review websites, I think we’re on our way.’ Lizzie laughed as her sister danced her around in a little jig of joy.
‘I wondered how word of mouth spread so quickly; we’ve got a truckload of advance bookings,’ said Lizzie. The glowing review certainly took some of the sting out of her demotion in status from fine dining to café cook.
Just then the door from the café opened and the man who had been taking up so much of her thoughts emerged. ‘I’m on the hunt for our missing boss,’ said Jesse with great exaggeration. He looked from Lizzie to Sandy and back again. His expression grew serious. ‘Is something wrong?’
‘It’s very, very right,’ said Lizzie exultantly. She wanted to throw herself into his arms and share with him her excitement and relief.
Sandy rolled her eyes heavenward. ‘Better show the review to the “most swoon-worthy barista you’ll see this side of Hollywood”.’
‘What are you talking about?’ said Jesse as he grabbed the newspaper. He scanned the pages then groaned loudly and theatrically. ‘This will do wonders for my reputation. Please let’s hope my mates don’t see it.’
‘Your handsome face is doing wonders for butts on seats in our café,’ said Sandy. ‘Would you consider a full-time career change?’
Jesse laughed. ‘It’s nothing to do with the barista and everything to do with this one.’ He swept Lizzie up in his arms and twirled her around. ‘Congratulations, boss. You deserve this.’
Now Lizzie felt really elated but as Jesse swung her to a halt she noticed her sister’s narrowed, appraising eyes. Sandy’s words came back: ‘Jesse is so not for you.’
She caught Jesse’s eye and, in one of those silent moments of communication they were having more often, he got the message. Keep Sandy in the dark about us.
Jesse immediately swung Sandy up and twirled her around too. ‘The incredible Adam sisters triumph.’
‘I’m a Morgan,’ corrected Sandy.
‘Dumont for me,’ added Lizzie.
Both she and Sandy had been glad to kiss goodbye to their father’s name when they’d married. She’d thought of reverting to her maiden name when she’d divorced Philippe but had decided against it for Amy’s sake. It had been disruptive enough for her without Mummy having a different name. Morgan was a nice name.
She refused to let the thought go further. Anyway, that would be weird. Two sisters marrying a pair of brothers? Never going to happen.
THE STAR OF the fund-raiser for Dolphin Bay Dogs, the shelter Jesse’s mother Maura was involved with, was the cast of dogs, ranging from cute puppies to venerable senior citizens with grey around their muzzles.
They sat in a row along the raised platform that acted as a stage for the ballroom of the Hotel Harbourside. The volunteer carers who kept the dogs in check were busy either soothing the nervous ones or calming the excitable ones who just wanted to be part of the action.
It was clever marketing on his mother’s part, Jesse thought. He was sure people would be more inclined to open their wallets when they saw those pleading canine eyes.
But, appealing as the puppies were, Jesse’s eyes were only for Lizzie. They’d agreed she’d arrive with Sandy and Ben so as not to draw attention to the way their ‘friendship’ had escalated into something so much more.
And now she was here. As she made her way across the room to him he was literally lost for words. His heart thudded into overdrive and his mouth went dry.
Last time he’d seen her she’d been wearing her chef’s jacket and black pants, her hair pulled tightly back from her face and her cheeks all flushed from the heat of the kitchen. He’d thought she’d looked lovely then. But the transformation from chef to seductress was nothing short of sensational.
Her dress clung to her slender shape and left her shoulders bare, with a tantalising suggestion of cleavage, and its colour was a tint of aqua that glistened like the underside of a wave on Silver Gull beach. Her hair puzzled him for a moment until he realised it looked so different because her wild curls had been tamed into a style that was straight and sleek and falling around her face. She looked sophisticated.