“That’s right,” Patrick continued. “Our sponsors, Gemini Foods, Caldwell Meats, and North Star Food Products, have devised suitable menus for both our food trucks. You’ll make the foods in your trucks as you have since Charlotte—I’ll bet that seems like a long time ago to all of you.”
Uncle Saul patted my hand. “It’s not gonna matter. You can still win this thing, Zoe.”
There was a bevy of prizes for the loser of the contest tomorrow. Of course, we both had our eye on the big prize. No one wanted to be the loser.
Bobbie sat several places up from me at the long table. I wondered what she had in mind to do with the money if she won. We hadn’t really talked despite spending a lot of time together the past few days.
I knew it wasn’t a good idea to start questioning if she deserved to win more than me, I realized as I finished my soup—delicious—and had to hold onto my arugula and peach salad so the waiters wouldn’t take that plate away.
Chef Art’s food was wonderful. His service left something to be desired.
The rest of the meal went without disruption. The main course was pasta with white dill sauce, vegetables, and fish. A small salmon pâté followed. Dessert was a surprise cherries jubilee. The flaming dish was brought into the always excited oohs and aahs of the appreciative diners.
Nothing says excitement like food that’s on fire. I’d have to remember that for my own restaurant.
Like the old-time Southern tradition, some of the men retired to their cigars and brandy in the library. The big difference was that the women retired to the garden behind the mansion for cocktails.
I found myself in the lighted garden seated beside Bobbie Shields. The sound of the water cascading into the beautiful, clear pool was a perfect foil for the perfumed blossoms that filled the night around us.
“You know my little girl won’t mess you up tomorrow, right?” Bobbie was frank and to the point, like always. “She’s not that way.”
“Of course. Delia and my uncle won’t do that to you, either.”
She grinned up at me after a long pull from her whiskey sour. “I didn’t know that tall fella was your uncle.”
“Yes. He used to be in the restaurant business. I’m sure he’ll do a good job for you.”
She nodded and lit up a cigarette. “What about that other fella with the tattoo? Will my baby be safe with him? I suppose you’ll send the two of them out to sell your biscuits.”
“She’ll be fine.”
“What happened to your outrider? I didn’t see him tonight.” She grinned at me. “He’s a good-looking fella. I wish he was coming with me tomorrow. He’s my type.”
“That’s Miguel.” I bit my lip to keep from saying something I might regret later. “He had to go back to work. He’s a lawyer here in Mobile.”
She whistled. “How’d you get him to hang around like that?”
“Oh, he wasn’t very busy. This is his slow season.”
“That’s funny.” She blew smoke into the air above her. “Either you’re blind or crazy if you think that. I never met a lawyer who’d give up billable hours to follow a food truck race and run for supplies. That fella is sweet on you, isn’t he?”
I laced my fingers together and pulled them apart again. I’d thought I was through with talking about Miguel. The universe was against me.
“He’s with someone,” I explained.
“Yeah. You. I’m telling you, he wouldn’t have gone through this stupid race with you if he was taken by any other woman. You can believe it or not.”
I didn’t respond. I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. The garden was beautiful around us. A few of the guests had decided to strip down to their underwear and get in the pool.
“What are you gonna do if you win the race tomorrow?” I asked the question I’d promised myself I wouldn’t ask.
She finished her whiskey and put out her cigarette in the empty glass.
Eww.
“I’m gonna send my daughter to college. She’ll be the first one in our family to ever graduate past high school. How about you?”
“I’m going to remodel my diner into a world-class restaurant that people come to from all over to eat my food.”
“Sounds like we both have big dreams.” She shook my hand and got to her feet. “Good luck tomorrow, Biscuit Bowl.”
I laughed. “You, too, Shut Up and Eat.”
I could hear her smoker’s wheezing laugh for a few minutes as she walked back toward the mansion.
“Hey, Zoe!” Delia called from the pool. “Why don’t you come in, too?”
“I don’t think so. Thanks anyway. I have somewhere I have to be.”
“Going to find Miguel?” she asked.
“You got it.”
“You go, sister.”
I stalked back to the mansion as I called Cole. I went in front to wait by the circle drive. Uncle Saul was out there, still smoking his big cigar. He moved over on the bench where he was sitting so I could join him.
“Leaving so soon?” he asked. “Not inclined to jump in the pool?”
“No. Not now. I’m mad, and I need closure.”
He nodded. “Going to talk to Miguel?”
“Yes. He owes me an explanation. I’m all done crying. I want to know why he led me on.”
“That’s the spirit.”
“If I pushed him into acting like he wanted to be with me when he really didn’t want to, all he had to do was say something. I thought I was very careful since I knew about his dead wife. Maybe I was wrong.”
“I think—”
“What do you think?” I turned to him. “Did I seem too pushy? Maybe he wasn’t ready.”
“Since he’s dating Tina—”
“That’s exactly what I mean. If he wants to be with her, that’s fine. He shouldn’t have acted like he wanted to be with me. At least he could’ve called me and not left me hanging.”
“Yes.”
Cole arrived a moment later. Uncle Saul held the door open for me. “Okay. Don’t do anything too crazy. I don’t want to see you get kicked out of the race.”
I hugged him. “I won’t. I’ll see you in the morning.”
THIRTY-ONE
I gave Cole the address of Miguel’s office. I figured Miguel might still be there trying to get caught up with his work. Or with Tina.
Traffic wasn’t too bad getting across town. It seemed to go even faster when I suddenly got cold feet.
“What am I going to say to him?” I asked Cole after filling him in on what had happened. “If he doesn’t want to be with me, he doesn’t want to be with me.”
He shrugged. “Sometimes you have to hear it from the horse’s mouth, I guess.”
“I feel stupid. I should probably just go home.”
But that didn’t sit well, either. I had a powerful need to see Miguel’s face and look into his eyes as he told me that he loved Tina. I had a sense about these things, or at least I always thought I did. That sense was telling me that Miguel had been genuine with me while we’d been gone.
Or were my emotions clouding my judgment?
We got to Miguel’s legal office, which was located in a run-down building in a bad part of town. The lights were still on inside. I sighed as I looked up at the building.
“Maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”
“You’ll never know if you don’t go in,” he said. “You’ll wonder about this moment the rest of your life. Want me to come with you?”
I smiled at Cole’s words of wisdom, and his offer of help. How could I turn away now? I had to go through with it.
“Thanks. Will you wait for me here?”
“I got nowhere else to be, Zoe. You take your time.”
I thought about the old days when knights and soldiers put on their armor and went off to war. That’s how I felt. I wished there were some magical armor that could protect my poor heart, but it was only me and my silly desire to make Miguel tell me to my face that he didn’t want to be with me.