White Offerings by Ann Roberts

Author:Ann Roberts [Roberts, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Lesbian, Contemporary, Romance, General
ISBN: 9781594931215
Google: wLDwLAAACAAJ
Amazon: 1594931216
Publisher: Bella Books
Published: 2008-07-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Tuesday, October 17th

4:18 PM

Ari learned more information about Aspen through her search on the Internet. Aspen’s journey west to Phoenix from a little town in New York was dotted with many stops along the way, each city a little larger and each opportunity more prestigious. Ari was surprised at the number of restaurant reviews that mentioned Aspen as the chef, and all were complimentary, exclaiming her talent and praising the establishment for hiring such a culinary wonder. She clearly didn’t shy away from the spotlight, and Ari opened several picture files featuring Aspen in her white chef coat with various local power brokers, including the mayor of Milwaukee, the governor of Missouri and several celebrities. Over the years her appearance had changed slightly as she grew her strawberry blond hair out to its current shoulder length, but her face remained youthful and attractive. When she strung together the pieces of Aspen’s bio, it portrayed a woman on the rise looking for advancement and prestige at every turn.

She skimmed the last review in the Albuquerque Journal, another gushing testimonial to Aspen’s talents. It wasn’t until she reached the last few lines that a sentence caught her eye. If Ms. Harper can manage to stay out of the gossip column and concentrate fully on her craft, she will undoubtedly become one of the greatest chefs this city has ever known.

Her eyes narrowed and she checked the date—April twenty-fifth of the previous year. Obviously something juicy had happened that would cause the reviewer to mention it. She scrolled to the top of the column and found the writer’s name, Courtney Belmont. A few more clicks of the mouse and she located the newspaper’s main line.

“Thank God for technology,” she said, dialing the number.

“Albuquerque Journal,” a pleasant voice said.

“Hello, I’m looking for Courtney Belmont, your restaurant critic.”

“Let me check my directory. I’m not familiar with that name.” Ari listened as the woman tapped on her computer keyboard a few hundred miles away. “Huh. I’m not seeing a listing for a Courtney Belmont at this paper. Let me transfer you to the home and living editor who oversees our food section.”

Before she could thank the operator, another two clicks sounded in her ear and a young, nervous voice answered. “Home and living section. This is Mary speaking.”

“Hi. I’m calling from Phoenix, and I read a review by one of your reporters, a Courtney Belmont? I was hoping to speak with her.”

“Um, she doesn’t work here anymore. Is there some way I can help you?”

“Is this the editor of the home section?”

“Uh, no. That’s Mr. McMahon. He’s in a meeting right now. Would you like to call back? I could take a message.”

Mary sounded as though she really wanted Ari to leave a message. Ari smiled. Mary was exactly the kind of person who might divulge more information than she should. “Actually, Mary, you might be able to help me. You said Courtney Belmont didn’t work there anymore. When did she quit?”

“About eight months ago.”

“Did she say where she was going?”

“Um, well .

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