Bunny blinked, unsure as to whether she should feel insulted. George’s eyes widened, but before he could think up a clever reply to what was an amazingly personal question, Madison raised her voice. “Waiter! This steak is, like, way underdone.”

  Robbie was closest and he hurried over. “Everything okay here?”

  “No, it is not okay,” she said. “Take this away. I can’t eat this. I’ll get E. coli or something.”

  Andy was beside our table before Robbie had reached for the offending plate. “Is something wrong?”

  “Like, yeah. I asked for my steak to be well done.” She poked at it with her fork. She did have a point, the meat in the center was a light pink. “I can’t take chances. I have a very delicate stomach.”

  Audrey snorted. “Like a horse.”

  “Robbie,” Andy said. “Ask the chef to prepare another plate.”

  “Never mind,” Madison said. “I’ve lost my appetite.”

  Robbie took the plate and looked at Andy. Andy grabbed it out of his hand and jerked his head toward the kitchen. Robbie scurried off, glad to be away from the drama. Madison stood up. “I’m going out for a smoke. Audrey, ready for a ciggy?”

  “Not right now, dear. My steak is perfectly done.” Hers was so rare, red juices leaked from it. “No need to ruin a good piece of meat by overcooking it, as though one has to throw it on an open fire and leave it there until it burns.” She tossed a small piece of meat into her mouth.

  Bearing the unwanted meal, Andy headed for the kitchen, his expression furious. I got to my feet and looked toward the table where Jayne was sitting with her mom and Andy’s parents. She was watching Andy, and she did not look happy. She caught my eye and threw me a silent request to check up on him. I nodded and followed him.

  The swinging doors were still swinging as I reached them, and I pushed my way through.

  Chapter Five

  A kitchen is not my natural habitat. Not even in my own house. On the rare occasion I visit the heart of a restaurant, I’m always impressed. Knives flashing, pots of water boiling, burners glowing red, fire leaping from gas elements. Everyone working calmly and professionally, shouting orders, dodging laden plates, hot soup, open flame. Most of the main courses had been served and the staff was stacking pots and pans, wiping down counters, organizing dessert plates. A huge, elaborately decorated cake stood on a far counter, waiting to be presented.

  The kitchen was small, almost tiny, for the number of people and the amount of activity. I’ve been in home kitchens twice the size. Twice the size and barely used.

  Andy stood in the center of the space, gripping the plate bearing the unwanted steak in his hands. A young man dressed in the chef’s uniform of gray-checked trousers and white jacket faced him. His looks were what might be called “ruggedly handsome”: a fashionable degree of dark stubble on his chin, prominent cheekbones, large eyes under black lashes, thick dark hair tied back into a knot and stuffed under a hairnet. He was taller than Andy, slightly more than my height of five-foot-eight, thin and wiry.

  “The lady at table five asked for her steak to be well done. And she got this.” Andy shoved the plate toward the chef.

  “I don’t do well done,” he replied. “That’s no way to treat a piece of meat of that quality.”

  “You’ll do what the guest wants.” Andy threw the plate into the sink, food and all.

  “That was a waste, don’t you think?” the chef said. “I could have heated it up again. Made it even worse.”

  The other staff had stopped what they were doing. People shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another. All except one: Robbie had tucked himself into a corner, where he watched the two men with a smirk.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “Madison’s that sort. If it hadn’t been the steak, it would have been something else for her to make a fuss over.”

  Andy spoke to me without turning to face me. “That’s not exactly unusual in a restaurant, Gemma. Is it, Martin? We accommodate their whims and their fusses. That’s our business. Right?”

  Martin shrugged.

  “Right?” Andy repeated.

  They faced each other. No one else said a word. Ashleigh took a half step forward, thought better of it, and stepped back.

  We all waited for one of them to be first to back down.

  If Martin quit, I didn’t know what Andy would do. His wedding was due to be celebrated in less than one week. He and Jayne were going to a Caribbean resort for their honeymoon. Andy would have to leave his restaurant in the care of someone.

  “Yeah, okay,” Martin said. “The customer’s always right, right? It woulda broke my heart to ruin that steak, but …”

  Andy’s shoulders relaxed. “Don’t let it happen again. Not in my place. You get your own place someday, you can do whatever you want.”

  “And I will,” Martin said. “Want me to fix her another?”

  “No,” I said. “She’s happy to have had her moment as the center of attention. She’s gone out for a cigarette.”

  Andy addressed his watching staff. “What! You people think the night’s over? Nowhere near it. Robbie, people need drinks. Get to it. Ashleigh, top up water glasses. Someone get that coffee on, now!”

  He pushed his way past me and stalked out of the kitchen.

  “Cheerio!” I called. “By the way, I had the sole and it was great.”

  “Thanks,” Martin said.

  “Careful everyone,” Robbie said. “Little Martie’s hand’s been slapped and he’ll be looking for someone to take it out on.”

  “Shut it,” Martin snarled. “I’ve had about enough of you.”

  In the hallway, I almost bumped into Andy and his mother.

  “—doing here?” Trish Whitehall whispered, clearly agitated.

  “Not now, Mom, please. Let it go. I can’t throw her out, can I?”

  “No, but I can.”

  “Do not do that. Please, Mom.”

  He walked away.

  “Problem?” I asked Trish.

  “Oh, Gemma. I didn’t see you there for a moment. That woman who came in late. She sat at your table. She’s … I’m not happy to see her here. Not tonight, of all nights.”

  “You mean Tina? I noticed some, shall we say, tension between her and Andy.”

  “They were together for a long time, in a relationship I mean. Before he met dear Jayne.”

  I assumed that was the case. People rarely react so strongly—whether positively or negatively—to someone unless they once had romantic feelings for the person.

  “And?” This was obviously none of my business, but I’m the curious sort. The thought crossed my mind that I might have made a highly successful gossip columnist, if I’d been born fifty years earlier.

  “We never liked her, Pete and I. But we knew better than to interfere. They started dating in high school. They graduated: Andy went to New York to culinary school, and she went to theater school. She wanted to be an actress. They continued dating for another couple of years while Andy was at school and then in his first restaurant jobs. Over that time, when he came home for a visit, we could tell he was increasingly disturbed.”

  “Disturbed in what way?”

  “Not happy. You know how unremittingly cheerful he is?” Trish glanced over my shoulder toward the kitchen. “Other than in his work, if things go wrong.”

  “I do.”

  “He wouldn’t talk to us about it. At first, Pete and I were worried he was failing his courses, and then he wasn’t doing well at his job, but he said he was loving living in New York, immersed in the food scene and learning the restaurant business. Matters came to a head when he and Tina came home for the Christmas holidays. Separately. Andy had broken up with Tina, and she was not happy about it.”

  “Why? I mean, why break up with her? Did something happen between them?”

  “Several somethings happened, Gemma. Or should I say several someones.”

  “That doesn’t sound good. How was her career going? Did she finish theater school?”

  “She did. She got a few small parts in plays off Broadway. She was starting to talk about moving to Hollywood and she wanted Andy to come with her, but that wasn’t the issue.”

  “What was the issue?”

  “Some of this we only know from Angie, you understand. That Christmas, Andy confided in his youngest sister that Tina had been … seeing other men in New York.”

  “Definitely not good.”

  “No. When Andy found out and confronted her she told him she didn’t have any feelings for those men, but she hoped they would be able to get her good auditions and even some roles, if she was … uh … dating them. That’s even worse, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah. That might be worse. Is it possible she was being coerced? Some young women don’t know how to refuse.”

  “She never claimed so. When Andy finally told her he knew what was going on, she tried to laugh it off. Saying it was how the game was played, and it wasn’t her fault if men wanted to help her in her career, now was it.”

  Trish and I had stepped out of the way of the kitchen door. Waiters were bringing the last of the used dishes back. Few were not scraped down to the pattern on the plates. I thought of my sole and hoped it wouldn’t be cleared away before I could get back to it.

  “Obviously, they broke up and stayed that way,” I said. “That had to have been some time ago.” I met Andy not long after I moved to West London, around seven years ago. He’d been in love with an oblivious Jayne even back then. I’d never heard of this Tina until less than an hour ago. “Does it matter if she’s here tonight?”

  “I don’t know, dear. I saw my son’s face when he noticed her, and it didn’t leave me with a good feeling. You’re right that they broke up, but it wasn’t pleasant, and it wasn’t easy. Not for Andy. Of course, he didn’t tell his father and me the details, but one hears things in a town like West London. No, I’m not happy to see her here. I fear she has an ulterior motive. Tina always had an ulterior motive. Doesn’t help that she appears to have had a couple of drinks earlier. Stoking her courage, likely.”

  “I’ll take a guess her acting career didn’t reach the heights she wanted. It’s immaterial that I don’t recognize her, but no one else seems to either.” No one had openly recognized her, but Audrey had shown a spark of interest, which made me wonder if she’d met Tina previously or had heard about her. Hollywood is, so they say, a small town, and Audrey admitted she tried to keep herself appraised of as much of the gossip as she could.

  A smile touched the edges of Trish’s mouth. “Last I heard, Tina’s taken an apartment in West London and is studying for her real estate license. Times are tough these days for a great many people.”

  “She’s still very beautiful.”

  “Perhaps, but that beauty is all on the surface.”

  “That scar isn’t an old one and she has a limp she tries to hide. Can I assume she didn’t have them when she and Andy were together?”

  “I’ve never seen the scar before, Gemma, and she didn’t limp the last time I saw her. I heard she’d been in a serious car accident in Los Angeles a year or two ago. I don’t know if that had anything to do with her decision to return to West London.” Trish gave me a weak smile. “Fortunately, my dear son found a woman whose soul truly matches her looks. I might have told you too much, Gemma. Please don’t share this with Jayne. I don’t want her to be concerned.”

  “I won’t, but there’s nothing for her to be concerned about. Andy’s the least shallow person I know, and he loves Jayne beyond measure.”

  “He’s very lucky in that. As long as we’re on the topic, I couldn’t help but notice Detective Ashburton isn’t with you this evening.”

  “He’s away. For work. Should be back the day after tomorrow. He’ll be ready to do his duty as best man.”

  Andy’s mom patted my arm. “I’m glad to hear it.” From the main room came the tinkling sound of a spoon being tapped against a glass, then Andy’s father bellowing, “Seats everyone. Let’s have a toast!”

  “I was on my way outside for a smoke,” Andy’s mum said. “No time now. Pete doesn’t approve of me smoking, and if I miss Andy’s toast to Jayne, I’ll hear about it. Let’s take our seats.” She bustled off.

  I slipped back into my own chair. All the other plates at my table had been cleared away, but to my infinite relief, mine had not.

  “I told him to leave it,” Mrs. Ramsbatten said.

  I picked up my knife and fork. “Thanks.”

  Madison had returned, the scent of tobacco hanging heavily around her. Tina watched me through those gorgeous eyes. She’d seen me following Andy and was clearly wondering what he and I were to each other. I gave her a steady look, and she flushed and turned away.

  Waitstaff began placing champagne flutes in front of the guests. “Everything okay back there?” I asked Ashleigh.

  “All good. Robbie tried to get in a dig at Martin, but no one was on his side, so it fizzled out. Martin made a crack that when he has his own restaurant, people won’t come there because they want to eat what they want to eat, but because they want to eat what he wants to cook for them.”

  “We all have our dreams,” I said. “Not often do they turn out as we initially hoped.” I’d once dreamt of owning a chain of mystery bookstores in the south of England in partnership with my ex-and-late husband. In reality, I owned half of one bookstore and a quarter of a tearoom in Cape Cod, and I wouldn’t have my life any other way.

  I caught Tina’s eye across the table. “We grow up, life happens, and we make other dreams, wouldn’t you agree?”

  “Some people might dream.” She held her glass to one side so Robbie could fill it with champagne, but she didn’t even look at him. Instead, she said to me, “As for me, no, I don’t dream. I do. Some of us make things happen.”

  “What do you intend to make happen?”

  She took a sip of the drink. She didn’t answer my question but said, “Andy’s looking terribly handsome tonight, don’t you think? He’s going to make a speech. Isn’t that sweet? He’s always been so adorably shy.” She lifted her glass in a toast—to me or to him, I couldn’t tell—and she drank. Perhaps she’d answered my question after all.

  Chapter Six

  Andy did make a speech, but in true Andy fashion, he kept it short and sweet. He thanked everyone for coming and asked us to toast Jayne.

  Everyone lifted their glasses, and cheers and cries of “To Jayne” rang out. I touched my glass to my lips and studied the room. Robbie was standing against the bar, looking between proud Andy and beaming Jayne, his expression alternately envious and furious.

  I decided to have a quiet word with Andy. Keeping Robbie around was not a good idea.

  Tina finished her champagne in record time and raised her hand to ask for another. Someone else who was having trouble controlling their feelings tonight. I wouldn’t have to have a word with Andy about her. He pointedly avoided looking in her direction, and he was clearly not happy she’d come.

  Jayne got to her feet, eyes only for Andy. Mrs. Whitehall was right: Jayne was as beautiful inside as she was outside. She adored Andy and he adored her. They were made for each other.

  “Thank you so much for coming, everyone,” Jayne said. “Thank you to my darling Andy for inviting you all and giving me such a wonderful party. Now, I think there’s cake. My mom always said a party without cake is just a meeting. Isn’t that right, Mom?”

  “It most certainly is,” Leslie said to another round of cheers.

  At an almost invisible nod from Andy, Robbie and Ashleigh carried the cake ablaze with candles to their table. I braced myself, preparing to get up quickly in case Robbie “accidently” dumped the whole thing onto Andy. But accidents did not happen, and Jayne, blushing and grinning, took an enormous breath, held it for a fraction of a second, and then blew all the candles out in one go.

  The room erupted.

  When the cheers began dying down, Andy said, “The night is still young, although some of us are not.”

  “Speak for yourself,” his father yelled.

  “I am speaking for you, Dad,” Andy replied to much laughter.

  Pete Whitehall grinned, enjoying being the center of attention. Beside him, his wife watched Tina through narrowed eyes. Was she expecting a scene? In the same way I was keeping my eye on Robbie?

  Why did life have to get so complicated? Why couldn’t the likes of Robbie and Tina admit they’d lost and slink away to lick their wounds in private?

  Another waiter presented Jayne with a big shiny silver knife with a red ribbon tied around the handle, and she began cutting slices of cake. While she did that, Andy announced that the bar would be serving brandy and liqueurs for people to enjoy with their dessert. Guests began getting to their feet. Some went to the bar, some approached Jayne to offer their best wishes, some crossed the room to chat with friends. Men loosened ties and women kicked off too-tight shoes. A few people headed for the doors to the deck, either for a breath of clean, fresh night sea air, or to suck noxious fumes into their lungs.

  “Can I get you a drink, Bunny?” George asked.

  “A brandy would be nice, thank you.”

  “I haven’t spoken to John Alexander in months,” Donald said. “He once told me he’s interested in Sir Arthur’s spiritual life. I must tell him about that new book coming out soon.”

  Audrey reached for the cane resting beside her chair and pushed herself to her feet. “A trip to the ladies’ room for me. Madison?”

  Madison’s fingers were rapidly moving under the table. “I’m good, thanks.”

  “I meant, will you put that thing down, and escort me?” Audrey said sharply.

  Madison’s head jerked up. “Don’t have a fit, Audrey. Jeez.” She put her phone on the table and stood up. She made a big deal of taking the older woman’s arm and leading her across the room. I didn’t think Audrey needed any assistance at all. She seemed to get around perfectly fine. Making a point, I assumed. Particularly if she was paying Madison to be her companion on this holiday.