CHAPTER EIGHT

 

Violet pushed open the glass doors to her culinary school and walked into the lobby. She passed students studying at the round tables and headed upstairs to Luc’s office. Nadine, the other woman in her class, came hurrying down the stairs with a cake balanced precariously in her hands.

“Nadine, do you need help?”

“Oui! I am afraid I will drop this beautiful cake Monsieur Luc helped me with. I just could not get the frosting to taste correct, but Monsieur Luc had just the right touch to fix it.”

Violet smiled at her friend and grabbed the books she was carrying in the crook of her arm along with her bakery kit. “Let me take these to your locker for you.”

“Merci! I am going to run this cake home real quick. I’ll see you in class.”

Violet watched as a rumpled and harried Nadine raced out of the building and down the street as fast as she could with her cake. Violet turned and walked down the stairs to the back of the building where their lockers were. She would see Luc soon enough to tell him the good news.

 

“That’s fantastic, mon chouchou!” Luc smiled from behind his desk. “I wish I could kiss you, but there are too many people around. Tonight I will make sure to kiss you everywhere.”

Violet blushed and tried not to giggle. Even though she was not so innocent anymore, his candid talk always heated her face . . . and other places.

“Now that I don’t have to worry about a job, I can focus on my final exams and be completely prepared to make my dishes for the teachers.”

“As if you need much practice. You’ll do wonderfully,” Luc told her as he stood up and slid into his white chef’s coat.

“Oh, I forgot, I wanted to see if you would like to join me this weekend at the film festival. It looks like great fun.” Violet had the festival article she had cut out of the paper in her purse. It would be so romantic and carefree. They could just be boyfriend and girlfriend there. No cooking, no worrying about school . . . it would be perfect.

“I am sorry, mon chouchou, but I’ve warned you this last month of school is always crazy for me. Everyone needs help on their dishes in preparation for their exams. Unfortunately, I will be here all weekend, handling confectionary calamities and duck disasters.”

Violet tried to remain smiling, but she was sad that they never seemed to be able to be together in public. Less than a month, she told herself over and over again as she went to her first class.

 

* * *

 

Violet was deader than a doornail. The next day was her crêpes exam. She had to prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner crêpes in both sweet and savory. If the pan was too hot or the batter too thick, she would fail her exam. And right now she didn’t know what was going on, but her practice crêpes were completely wrong. There were bubbles and tears and . . . they were just a disaster.

Violet looked around for Nadine, but the kitchen was empty. She had been so engrossed in her work she hadn’t even heard her friend leave. Everyone else had perfected their dishes and had gone home. That made Violet feel even worse about her crêpe catastrophe. She glanced at her watch and was surprised to find it was after midnight.

She grabbed her cast-iron crêpe pan with the mangled crêpe still on it and went in search of a teacher. She just hoped someone was here. The hallway was lit for the custodians to polish the floors. Her heart dropped as she passed darkened office after darkened office.

Tears formed in Violet’s eyes as she walked farther down the hallway that housed the teachers’ offices. She was going to fail. A year of hard work and some flour and eggs were going to be her demise.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Violet audibly gasped as she saw a sliver a light coming from under Luc’s door.

Hurrying the rest of the way down the hall, Violet didn’t stop to knock on the closed door. She turned the knob and burst in.

“I need your help, Luc,” Violet called out in panic as she looked miserably down at her crêpe pan. “I can’t get my crêpe to—”

The woman’s shriek broke through Violet’s harried plea for help. “Nadine?” Violet managed to stammer. Her friend hadn’t left after all. Instead she was naked and splayed out on Luc’s desk with Luc’s mouth feasting on her.

“Oh hell,” Violet cursed as Luc’s head popped up.

“Violet,” Luc and Nadine cried at the same time.

“Please, Vi, don’t tell anyone. We’re in love and—”

“And you’ll be together once you graduate,” Violet finished for Nadine. She watched as Luc’s eyes went wide, and Nadine shot a glance between them.

“Mon chouchou,” Luc cooed.

“Yes?” Violet and Nadine responded at the same time. Nadine turned red and spouted a slew of rapid-fire French cuss words before kicking Luc in the nose.

“I’m so sorry, Violet.”

“So am I,” Violet said as an angry and tearful Nadine made her way out of the office with her clothes clutched against her chest.

Luc stood and grabbed his shirt from the floor to press against his bleeding nose as he turned on Violet. “Mon chouchou, it’s always been you I loved. She bewitched me,” Luc pleaded.

Violet held out her pan. “What did I do wrong with my crêpe?”

Luc froze in the act of pulling up his pants and with wide eyes stared at her in confusion.

“My crêpes? What did I do wrong?” Violet asked again as she shoved the pan under his nose.

Luc looked down at the pan and touched the crêpe. “Too much butter and too high of heat.”

“Thank you,” Violet said with a nod before turning for the door.

“Ah, mon chouchou, don’t leave. I love you. I didn’t want her. I want you. Please, don’t you have anything to say?”

Violet felt her hand tighten on the handle to her crêpe pan. “Yes, I do. Kiss my grits!” Violet swung the pan and was rewarded with a resounding thunk. Luc stood so still Violet thought he was stunned. For a moment she thought about swinging the pan again to erase the stupid grin stuck on his face. But then his eyes rolled back into his head, and he crumpled to the ground.

“Good riddance,” Violet said as she sauntered back to the kitchen.

 

* * *

 

With a flick of her wrist, the crêpe folded perfectly as she presented it to one of her teachers. Violet held her breath as the serious-looking teacher cut into the dessert crêpe. She’d received pleasant nods from the other teachers who had scored her breakfast, lunch, and dinner crêpes, but it was well known among the students that Chef François was the toughest nut to crack.

Violet bit down on her lip as Chef François fingered the texture of the crêpe and then wrote something down on his pad of paper. He held the fork up to the light and studied it from all angles before taking more notes.

“And what makes your crêpe any different from the others I have tried this morning?” Chef asked with something akin to a sneer on his face.

Violet smiled nervously as she wiped her hands on her apron. “It has a little bit of home in it.”

“The United States?” he asked with a snort of disdain.

“Yes, sir. Kentucky.”

“I fail to see what Kentucky can offer fine dining, Mademoiselle Rose.”

Violet gulped as he finally put the forkful of crêpe into his mouth. His eyes closed as he worked his palate. Chef narrowed his eyes at her and slid his fork back onto the crêpe before cutting off another bite. He chewed and his eyes rolled upward in contemplation.

“Interesting. The chocolate is very smooth, but there is an interesting bite to it. I though it was cayenne pepper, but it’s not.”

“It’s Kentucky bourbon, Chef.”

Chef François’s lips thinned as he stared at the now-offending crêpe. “Humph,” was the only sound he made before walking away.

With shaking hands, Violet set the plate aside and cleaned her station. She was going to fail. She was going to lose her job and go home with her head hung low. Not to mention she was no longer virtuous. Golly jeepers, she was done for.

“Attention! Your grades will be posted tonight in the lobby for this portion of your exam. Tomorrow you will prepare us a breathtaking duck. Dismissed.”

 

Violet hurried from the kitchen before Nadine could catch up with her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Nadine with bags under her eyes, trying to get her attention. Violet pretended not to notice as she bolted out the door. She was not going to talk to the woman who inadvertently crushed her dreams and her heart. Violet knew Nadine was just as much a victim as she was, but that didn’t make the pain in her chest ease.

Violet turned left out of the school and wound her way back to the apartment with hopes that Nadine had given up and had gone back to her place. Sighing with relief when no one was standing by the door, Violet dug into her purse and pulled out her keys. There was only one person she could talk to right now.

She picked up the phone and asked the operator to place a long-distance call. Violet crossed her fingers and hoped her sister picked up. She didn’t feel like talking to her parents right now.

“Rose residence,” Lily’s voice said from an ocean away.

“Oh thank goodness it’s you,” Violet said before great sobs broke forth.

“Vi! What is it?”

“It’s my heart. I thought he loved me,” Violet wailed into the phone.

Lily sucked in a breath, and Violet heard her curse. “I’m so sorry, Vi. So Luc broke up with you?”

“No! I caught him with his head between Nadine’s legs! He told her everything he told me—that he loved her and after graduation they could be together. I’m such a fool.”

“I am so sorry, Vi,” Lily whispered.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Violet yelled at her sister.

“Tell you what?”

“How much love hurts,” Violet said, curling up on her bed and crying.

“It’s how you know it was real.”

“I’m never doing it again then. It feels as if the whole world is pressing on my chest while every person in it is laughing at me. How could I have been so stupid? Well, never again. I will never trust a man, let alone love one again.”

“You’re not alone, Vi. I’ll be right there with you as we get old together. Are you going to come home?”

“And let him win? Never. I have my dream job lined up, and I’ll be home when I am good and ready.”

“Good for you, Vi,” Lily cheered. “Are you done with your exams?”

“One more. Duck. So far I’ve gotten all A’s except for one B. How are you doing?”

Lily chuckled as if thinking of something. “Good. I miss you. Our new neighbor is very entertaining. She’s our age, but married an older man. She seems to really love him, but she always likes to act younger. We went skinny-dipping at Lovers Pond and were almost caught by the sheriff.”

“Skinny-dipping! That sounds terrifyingly free. I just might have to try it.”

“You should. And I’m letting my hair grow out more. Daisy loves UK. She’s been dragging me along on all these double dates, but my heart isn’t in it. And honestly, neither is Daisy’s. She’s just having a great time learning and doing charity work.”

Violet smiled as the tears slowed, although now she was feeling a bit homesick. “How is work going for you? What’s it like working with Dad?”

“It’s not bad. He’s been giving me more and more responsibility. I’ve started working with the doctors to make sure prescriptions are right, and I’m now completely in charge of the soda fountain. Oh . . . and I’m a bridesmaid in another wedding coming up. I fixed up Donald and Suzie. Now they’re getting married.”

“It seems you are quite the matchmaker,” Violet laughed.

“I think it’s easier when your heart is no longer in it. You can see the way couples look at each other and know if it’s real or not.”

Violet looked at the clock and gasped. “We’ve been talking forever! I’ll need a second job to pay for this. I better go, but thank you for being there, Lily. I love you.”

“I love you, too!”

 

Violet hung up the phone and grabbed her cooking supplies. She raced out the door and almost barreled into Nadine. “Jeez Louise!”

“I’m so sorry, but I had to talk to you. Luc is in the hospital.” Violet just snorted at Nadine’s announcement. “I went to see him, and his wife was there.”

That got Violet’s attention. “Wife? What wife? Luc wasn’t married.”

“He used us, Violet. He was married the whole time with three kids at home.”

Empty. That’s what Violet was. She was empty. She would never allow another man to take advantage of her. From now on she would be in charge. “Well, I guess we shouldn’t really be surprised. Although now I don’t feel bad about hitting him with a crêpe pan.”

Nadine laughed. “So, that’s what happened to him. He told the doctors and his wife he fell down the stairs at the school. I giggled, and his wife narrowed her eyes at me so I left.”

Violet let out a deep breath. Nadine was still a friend. And boy, did she need a friend who understood what she was going through right now. Violet laced her arm through Nadine’s and smiled at her. “Come on, let’s go get our grades and then do a practice run on our duck for tomorrow.”

Nadine smiled back, and while Violet’s heart was still broken, at least she had a friend to help her through it.