Read Online And He Cooks Too by Barbara Barrett - Free Book Online

heading off to war on taping days.”
    Even after Trudy drifted off to another part of the prep area, Reese continued to stand there in front of the cooler, trying to make sense of her discovery. Of course Trudy could dismiss her concern. She wasn’t a food professional. She just followed orders, when she was of a mind to do even that. On the other hand, she, with her chef’s training, couldn’t dismiss the facts that readily.
    “Is there a problem, Dunbar?” The “General” had arrived.
    Reese blinked back to reality. “Problem? Uh, no, Ms. McCutcheon.”
    “Then why are you standing there gazing off into space? Every minute counts when preparing for the taping.”
    “Yes, I’m aware of that. I’m trying to figure out what happened to some of the food items I left here last night. I think someone may be stealing food from you.” She looked directly into the other woman’s eyes. “I thought you should know.”
    The executive producer stared back, although it was into space, not at her.
    “Ms. McCutcheon? Did you hear me?”
    The other woman’s head snapped toward her. “Of course, I did. I’m not deaf.”
    What is with this woman? I’ve just told her someone is stealing her blind, and it’s like I’ve insulted her. “I understand you don’t do a formal inventory before each taping. I thought…”
    Green fire nearly burned through her. “Chef or not, you don’t need to think here, Ms. Dunbar. I do that for everybody. You just prepare the food.” To emphasize her point, she picked up a wooden spoon from the counter and handed it to Reese.
    She got the picture.
    The executive producer added, “Let’s not hear any more talk about disappearing food. It demoralizes the rest of the crew. Do you understand?”
    She didn’t answer. No point, since the harridan had already left. Why doesn’t she want to hear about my suspicions? Is she the thief?
    Trudy materialized out of nowhere. “Do you have a death wish?”
    “I felt she needed to know. I can’t prove it, because I didn’t write anything down last night when I counted.” Which I’ll certainly do from here on.
    Trudy gazed toward the door through which the executive producer had exited. “She’s really taken a dislike to you. More than being miffed because she didn’t hire you.”
    “She seems to resent my being a chef. Do you think it’s a Queen Bee complex?”
    Trudy narrowed her eyes, apparently considering. “Maybe. Other than Nick, of course, we don’t have anyone else with food experience on the crew.”
    “Really?” She vaguely recalled Trudy alluding to that before, but until now, she hadn’t paid much attention to that statement.
    “No one that I know of.” Pushing her glasses up with her left hand, Trudy noted the time. “Whoa! We gotta get movin’. Maybe if we get caught up, we’ll have a little time before taping gets underway to start my cooking lessons.”
    That again. “Sure.”
    Reese returned her attention to the cooler. Something was definitely not right here, but there wasn’t time at the moment to dwell on it further. Pointing out the disappearing food probably hadn’t helped her campaign to get on the executive producer’s good side. But she couldn’t just drop the issue. And, despite the woman’s instructions to leave it alone, she wasn’t about to forget the issue.
    Since all was ready for the taping except the chili peppers Nick’s interruption had kept her from finishing, it seemed as good a time as any to give Trudy her first lesson on the finer points of cooking. Reese used the remaining peppers as her first subject. “Always keep your eyes focused on the food.”
    “Where else would I look? I want to keep my fingers.”
    “And those nice rings. I’m glad you followed my suggestion to don disposable gloves.”
    Trudy pushed the bridge of her sapphire blue eyeglasses higher up her nose, taking great care not to actually touch them with her latex-covered fingers. “Uh, yeah, well, I usually