Hope bit back an angry retort and immediately walked over toward Angelica to lift up the front wheels of her scooter.

  “There you go,” Hope whispered.

  “Thanks,” Angelica answered with a small wink.

  Had she really just done that? Hope’s entire body warmed as Angelica scooted on by her, their shoulders brushing. It was then that she noticed the camera where Angelica had just left and Rex staring at her with wide eyes that had a sheen of hurt in them. Hope frowned instantly and turned around to move away from him. She didn’t want to touch that one with a ten-foot pole.

  She moved to stand by Angelica and the owners, wincing when Leanne sidled right on up. Cadence wiggled her eyebrows in Hope’s direction, which told her that they all knew exactly what Leanne was doing there. Hope wasn’t going to say a damn thing though. She was going to let Leanne dig her own grave.

  “We have twelve dishes laid out for you, and we want you to do a taste test and let us know which ones you think are the best. The top three.” Hope smiled at everyone. “Mel, why don’t you go first?”

  Hope snagged Angelica’s wrist and pulled her a little closer, leaning in so that her lips brushed against Angelica’s ear as she spoke so quietly that Angelica would have to strain to hear her.

  “You need to avoid several things, but it’s fairly obvious which ones. They have bright red tomatoes on them.”

  Angelica leaned in, her shoulder pressing into Hope’s chest. “Thank you.”

  “Of course. We don’t need you poisoned again.” Hope let go, but as soon as she stepped away, she knew something was missing. When she turned back, Cadence was staring directly at them. Hope furrowed her brow in Cadence’s direction and then rolled her shoulders and ignored the sense of unease settling over her.

  Mel and Jess made humming sounds as they ate all of the food, and then they talked together quietly while Angelica and Leanne went through each one. Hope shook her head when Angelica reached a plate that she absolutely couldn’t eat, and Angelica skipped it with a smile.

  Clapping her hands, Hope stood in front of everyone. “Well, what’s the verdict?”

  “We like these three.” Mel pointed to three of Katherine’s dishes.

  Hope furrowed her brow, cold rushing through her. But she tried to keep it so that everyone thought she was still happy. She couldn’t have them thinking anything else. But there was Angelica, staring directly at her with that discerning eye she could never escape.

  Angelica cast her vote. Two of the dishes being Hope’s and one being Katherine’s.

  And then there was Leanne.

  “Ange, you didn’t try them all.”

  “No, I didn’t.” Angelica frowned so slightly that Hope was sure no one else would even notice it.

  “How can you cast a vote if you don’t try everything?” Leanne cut off a piece of the one dish Hope had told Angelica she couldn’t eat.

  Angelica flicked her gaze to Hope, her cheeks hollowing and paling slightly.

  “Come on, no skipping out just because there’s something you don’t like on the dish.” Leanne’s eyes glinted.

  “She doesn’t have to try everything,” Hope stepped in, trying to shut Leanne up and give Angelica an out.

  “Stop playing favorites, Hope.” Leanne’s lips quirked up as she handed the small tasting plate over to Angelica. “If she wants to participate and be a leader, then she needs to be a part of everything.”

  Angelica again looked directly at Hope. She took the plate. Hope silently begged Angelica not to do it, not to even test it. The more she ate the food, the worst her allergy would get, and she didn’t want Angelica to suffer more than necessary. Especially with everything that she’d already been through this season.

  Don’t do it. Do NOT do it.

  Hope couldn’t say the words out loud. Angelica was a grown-ass woman, and she could make her own decisions, but seriously, she needed to be better than this. There was nothing wrong with having an allergy. Angelica just needed to admit it.

  Angelica paused, looked down at the plate, and then set it on the table. “I know I didn’t try every dish, Leanne.”

  The tightness in Hope’s chest released.

  “You’re being ridiculous. Just because you don’t like⁠—”

  “I’m allergic.” Angelica stared Leanne down. “It’s not that I don’t like it. I’m allergic to the eggplant. See this here—it’s all eggplant.” Angelica pointed to it with her fork. “And that’s only one of the things I’m allergic to, amongst many foods, actually. So no, I’m not going to eat it.”

  Angelica crossed her arms and squared her body.

  Leanne’s jaw dropped. “You never… I worked for you for years, Ange, and you never said you had food allergies.”

  She shrugged slightly. “I guess you didn’t need to know then. But sometimes, Leanne, observation is the key to learning and it’s the key to management.” Angelica pointed at the dishes in front of her. “I noticed that the six dishes Katherine cooked, while the ones I tried were delicious, are all on the menu. Was that the task?” Angelica tossed a look over her shoulder at Hope.

  “No,” Hope answered, coming closer and standing shoulder to shoulder with Angelica, two women against the world. They could tackle anything together, couldn’t they? She wanted to believe that. Even after everything they’d been through, they still understood each other on such a deep level that they couldn’t escape it.

  “What was the challenge?” Angelica asked.

  “I told Katherine to cook six of her best dishes.”

  “These are my best!” Katherine jumped in.

  “Can you cook any others?” Angelica asked, her voice carrying through the room because she was met with silence.

  And then even more silence.

  Not only had Angelica managed to ask the one question that Hope wanted to know, but there was no response. Katherine didn’t try to defend herself or to explain. She just stared at them, eyes wide, pupils dilated, and lips parted in absolute fear.

  She’d just been called out.

  “All right,” Hope said, putting her hands together. “So, where did you train?”

  Katherine shook her head.

  “Nowhere?” Hope furrowed her brow.

  “I… I’m self-taught.”

  “Wow.” Hope shook her head, tensing. “I mean, wow.” She was honestly speechless. What Katherine had cooked was amazing food and damn good technique for someone who was self-taught. But it also explained the limited menu and why she’d still cooked those same six dishes. “Okay. First, I’m impressed.”

  “Are you?” Katherine squeaked out.

  “Yes. But also apprehensive. You don’t know how to cook anything else, do you?”

  Katherine shook her head.

  “All right. I need… a minute.” Hope looked wildly around the room.

  “Hang on.” Angelica reached for Hope’s wrist to keep her there, letting go after a second. She faced Mel and Jess. “Were you aware of the lack of training?”

  “No,” Jess said, crossing her arms. “Katherine told us she had years of experience.”

  “I do!” Katherine’s voice rose in defense.

  “You told us you went to culinary school.” Jess gave her a hard look, betrayal in her gaze.

  “I… couldn’t ever afford it.” Katherine bit her lip. “Please don’t fire me.”

  “I don’t know that we can keep you on. Certainly not for what we pay you, if you don’t have the training.” Jess shook her head as she took a step back. “I’m sorry, but I can’t justify⁠—”

  “Don’t make any decisions yet.” Angelica put her hand up to stop everyone from talking.

  Hope’s entire focus settled on her, and she stayed right in this moment. This wasn’t what she’d expect from Angelica, ever.

  “Hope and I are going to discuss, and Jess and Mel, I suggest you do the same.” Angelica looked at Katherine. “And I need you to be fully honest about what your skillset is, how you got to this point in your life, and where you want to go from here.”

  Hope knew that Angelica meant more than whether or not Katherine wanted to quit, but she was also positive that Katherine didn’t hear that in the question. She almost jumped in to say something, but Angelica was already dismissing everyone.

  “Katherine, will you clean up and continue with prep for tonight?” Hope couldn’t tear her gaze away from Angelica. “And where are we talking?”

  “I could use some fresh air. How about you?” Angelica pursed her lips, eyebrows raised, eyes wide, and she looked like she had a secret she wanted to tell.

  “Sure. Outside it is. I’ll follow you.”

  That was a bad choice. Because Angelica chose to walk toward the front door of the hotel instead of taking the knee scooter with her, and that meant that Hope got the best view of her ass.

  Once they were outside, with Rex there along with Sy and the camera, Hope had to keep herself together. Rex had already noticed far too much.

  “You didn’t know, did you?” Angelica asked, crossing her arms and leaning against a picnic table and taking weight off her foot.

  “No, but I suspected. I was going to ask her why those six dishes, but you beat me to it.” Hope wiggled her eyebrows at Angelica.

  “That would have been a nicer way to maybe get to the answer we were seeking.” Angelica sighed.

  “You always are far more direct than I am.” Hope sat next to her, their thighs brushing, though neither one of them commented about it. “Style difference.”

  “Amongst many.” Angelica wrinkled her nose. “What do you want to do about it?”

  “The kitchen’s a mess, but I’ve seen worse. Katherine can cook. I think she has the ability to learn the skills needed to run a kitchen like Jess and Mel want—well, to cook like they want. Management is a different conversation.”

  “What do you mean?” Angelica frowned.

  “That kitchen’s dead silent.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Hope bit her lip and closed her eyes briefly. “Remind me to take you on a tour of one of my kitchens when we get home.” Hope rubbed the back of her head again. “Kitchens should be loud. Katherine should be calling orders, telling people what to do, and they should be verbally calling back to her their affirmation of what she says. It’s how kitchens communicate. There’s a shorthand, for sure, but if she’s never worked in a restaurant before, then she wouldn’t know any of that.”

  “So you think that’s part of the issue.” Angelica turned slightly, pressing her hand down onto the table where she put it on top of Hope’s and then immediately pulled back. “Sorry.”

  “I, uh…” Hope’s heart thundered. She lost her train of thought. “I, uh… yes. Um… that’s a huge part of the issue.”

  Angelica nodded, putting more space between them. “Okay. Now that we know what the problem is we can start to work on solutions.”

  “Yeah, we can.”

  “Good.” Angelica nodded sharply.

  They stayed there a bit longer, talking with Rex and Sy about a few more scenes they needed to shoot, or rather Angelica needed to shoot with Leanne. Which raised the question… where had Leanne gotten off to? Surely, she would have followed them out there to try and be in the moment, wouldn’t she?

  Rex’s shoes crunched on the gravel as he turned to leave, but Hope snagged Angelica’s arm to keep her back.

  “Where did Leanne run off to?” Hope asked.

  Angelica shook her head. “Don’t know, and frankly, don’t care.”

  Hope bit her lip, waiting a second. “You’re not…” Hope again hesitated. This wasn’t like her, but she was trying to be more careful with what she said and did. “Do you think she’ll replace you?”

  Sighing, Angelica sat back down. “I know it’s what she would like.”

  “But do you really think they’ll do it? You helped build this show.” Hope curled their fingers together, finally out of the sight of cameras. It felt good to be this relaxed in Angelica’s presence again, almost like the other morning in the cafe.

  “I did.” Angelica pursed her lips. “But it might be time for me to step away. I’m not sure if I want to continue beyond this season.”

  “I won’t.”

  “You won’t what?” Angelica furrowed her brow.

  “I won’t sign on for a season four without you.” Hope said it and she knew it was impulsive, but she meant it. “I don’t want to do this with anyone else.”

  Angelica didn’t seem fazed by that comment. “Don’t make hasty decisions.”

  “It’s not hasty. I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I only came back this season because I had to, but I found something here that I know I won’t find with her.” Hope squeezed Angelica’s hand hard, willing her to hear what she wasn’t saying.

  I found you.

  “And it’s not something I want to lose. Not again.” Hope smiled briefly. “So, no, I won’t sign another contract unless you’re working opposite me. Trust me on that.”

  Angelica said nothing.

  Not a single word.

  She stared across the alley, the sunlight in her hair making the golden strands shine even brighter. “We should get back.”

  Angelica broke the physical contact and stood up, brushing her pants off with her hands.

  “Come on. We have an episode to film.”

  Chapter

  Twenty-Three

  “Jess and Mel still want to fire Katherine.”

  Angelica turned at Hope’s voice, glancing toward the camera that was still rolling. She’d been about to sit down, something she’d desperately wanted for the last hour as she stood over reception and talked with Jess and Mel about organization, promotions, and how to better train staff.

  “I know they do,” Angelica answered, crossing her arms and putting as much weight on her good leg as possible. The doctors hadn’t lied when they said she needed to ease into bearing weight on her leg again, but it was so hard to use her knee scooter in this hotel that she abandoned it more often than she should.

  Lyric had actually brought it to her several times that day just to give her a break.

  “What are we going to do about it?” Hope crossed her arms back, staring directly at Angelica as if she had all the answers to the asked and unasked questions.

  Why did everyone always think that?

  She didn’t know what to do all of the time, and lately, she’d felt more and more as though she didn’t have answers.

  “I think they should fire her.” Leanne stepped into the conversation, putting herself almost directly in between Hope and Angelica.

  Angelica looked at Leanne directly, realizing far too late that she was once again front and center of the camera, and she was using it to her advantage to create the tension and arguments that Josef was always looking for from Hope and Angelica.

  She could do something about this.

  She could make Leanne vanish from the show and no one would remember her. And she knew exactly how to do it too. Looking directly at Hope, Angelica made sure that they had eye contact when she said the next thing, because Hope had to understand where this was coming from.

  “Why don’t you do your damn job? Then we won’t be standing here talking about problems that should have been solved days ago.”

  The silence was deafening.

  Hope’s lips parted, as if she’d been directly attacked. Her eyes widened. Her jaw went slack. She hadn’t been expecting that, and Angelica had no way to even convey what had been about to happen. Angelica stepped even closer to Hope, wrapping her fingers loosely around Hope’s wrist to keep them physically connected in case Leanne tried to pull anything else.

  She didn’t look at Leanne. She didn’t even bother to act as though Leanne was standing right there.

  Angelica looked straight at Hope, moving her body between the camera and Leanne to put herself front and center as that coal of jealousy burned faster and hotter. She’d been thrown for a loop last week by Josef inviting Leanne onto the show to film. But she wasn’t going to stand down anymore. Hope was right.

  They’d built this show together.

  And it was theirs.

  No one else’s.

  Angelica lowered her voice to nearly a growl, but she kept her hand light on Hope’s wrist, making sure the contrast of touch and tone was as obvious as she could make it. Because she didn’t want Hope to be hurt by this.

  “I have my own problems to solve, Hope. Pull yourself together and figure out yours.”

  Angelica turned on her good foot and spun around, leaving Hope behind her. It didn’t take long for Hope to snag her upper arm and jerk her back around, Leanne officially gone from the camera’s view entirely. Angelica had to hold back the sick sense of satisfaction that rolled through her.

  “What the hell?” Hope furrowed her brow, trembling as she let go of Angelica and put a small amount of space between them.

  “I don’t have time for this.” Angelica crossed her arms, keeping her tone the same as before, filled with a harsh reality that neither of them wanted to face. “I have my own problems I need to solve to whip this place into shape and eliminate the debt. I’m creating programs and processes all at the same time. You’re supposed to handle the kitchen, and if I have to remind you that you’re more than capable of that, then I will.”

  “I…” Hope stopped. She bit her lip and jerked slightly. “I don’t think firing Katherine is the answer to the problem.”

  “What problem? This place is riddled with problems.” Angelica threw her hands up in the air defensively. “And here you are, trying to force me to solve your problems for you. Are you a chef or not?”

  That should be reminiscent of past arguments they’d had. Hope should understand now, shouldn’t she?

  “I don’t know what crawled up your ass today, Ange, but I deserve to be treated better.” Hope pointed at the ground, as if to make her point that much more poignant.

  “Don’t we all.” Angelica’s voice was gravelly, filled with unshed emotion that she hadn’t intended to be there. But Hope was brushing up against the entire reason why she had to do this.