Just a Taste

Chapter 1-1

Chapter 1

Liam O’Leary walked through his apartment and peeled off his sweaty T-shirt, one that smelled of grease and onion soup that a clumsy line cook had spilled on him. The kid had no idea what he was doing, couldn’t keep up with the pace of the kitchen, and Liam knew the owner would have to fire him. Exhaustion tugged at every muscle. Thoughts of the line cook—Liam didn’t bother learning names until one proved himself—made Liam shake his head.

He’d asked Jonathan if he could sit in on the interviews for the last round of new hires, but Jonathan refused, saying he wanted Liam to focus on running the kitchen. The man might be a brilliant businessman, but he had no idea what it took to run a kitchen. Liam had been working at Porter’s for more than two years and he still didn’t understand how Jonathan managed to own a restaurant.

Jonathan had graduated from culinary school, but had never taken a job in a kitchen. He bought Porter’s and hired a kitchen staff. Liam had been his fourth executive chef. It didn’t take long to figure out why: Jonathan didn’t want to work the kitchen but wanted the credit for what happened there. He created the menu but rarely listened to new ideas.

Every now and then, though, Liam made small changes without Jonathan’s knowledge. Tonight had been one of those nights. Unfortunately, Jonathan chose tonight to grace them with his presence, and the small addition of some herbs to the soup had turned into an explosive argument.

Liam stepped under the hot spray of the shower and tried to figure out what he wanted to do. He’d been thinking about opening his own restaurant for over a year now, but had yet to make a move. Unlike his older brother Colin, who would jump into anything that looked good, Liam needed to weigh his options.

One thing he knew for sure was that his time at Porter’s was coming to an end.

With a towel wrapped around his waist, he went to the kitchen and popped the top on a beer. He fished his phone from his jacket pocket and checked messages. He’d heard the phone earlier in the evening, but since it wasn’t a number he recognized, he bumped it to voice mail.

He carried his beer back to his room to pull on a pair of boxers while he listened.

“Hi, Liam, this is Carmen Delgado. I don’t know if you remember me, Gus’s daughter. I’m calling to let you know that my dad passed away.”

The barest hitch caught in the girl’s voice. She continued talking, but Liam no longer heard. Of course he remembered Carmen. She’d been a sweet kid who’d always played at giving him a hard time when he’d worked for Gus.

Gus.

Liam sank to the edge of his bed. Gus is dead?

Gus had been his first mentor. He’d given Liam his first real job, understood his love of cooking and food, taught him how to create. Liam’s chest felt heavy. He took a swig of his beer and pushed it past the sudden lump in his throat.

“Here’s to you, Gus.” He lifted his bottle and drank again. He’d been a bad friend in recent years. He couldn’t remember the last time he went to see Gus. How long had it been? Maybe once or twice since Gus’s wife had died. Liam had gotten busy with his own life and few friendships survived his hectic schedule.

When they had spoken by phone, Liam knew Gus understood that. He’d lived a similar life. His last conversation with Gus flooded back into his head. A food critic did a write-up about Porter’s and had said wonderful things about Liam.

Gus had called to congratulate him. Liam had heard the pride in the old man’s voice. That had been over a year ago. Guilt crept into Liam for letting so much time pass. Picking up his phone from where he’d dropped it on the mattress, he pressed the buttons to listen to the message again, needing to find the information to pay his respects to a great man.