The Summer of Everything by Michelle Montebello

Author:Michelle Montebello [Montebello, Michelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780645229639
Publisher: Michelle Montebello

Eighteen

The review wasn’t mentioned again and the next morning, Belle completed her final session in the pantry and at the prep station. Before she left the kitchen, Uncle Benito cast his eye over the clean, organised shelves, as she walked him through the system again and how to maintain it. He looked pleased, rewarding her with an uncharacteristic smile and a pat on the back.

‘Un lavoro ben fatto,’ he said, congratulating her on a job well done. While it pleased her to make him happy, she was disappointed that it didn’t seem to extend to her work at the prep station. Some mountains were just too difficult to climb.

It was already eleven, so she hung her apron, said goodbye to Uncle Benito and Andre, and left Valentina’s. She had the lunch shift off and needed to catch up on groceries and laundry before she was due back for the dinner service.

Later, as she was returning to the apartment with a basket of clean clothes, preparing to put them away, her phone rang. She rummaged through her bag for it and saw Andre’s name on the screen.

He sounded frantic when she answered. ‘Belle, it’s me. What are you doing right now?’

‘Putting laundry away,’ she said. ‘Why?’

‘I think the review has done something.’

‘Done what?’

‘The trattoria—it’s busy. Everyone is asking for the con gamberetti.’

She gulped. ‘Really?’

‘Can you come in? I know you’re not working this shift, but Papà needs you to show him how to make it the way you did last time.’

She couldn’t help the huge grin that had spread across her face. Maybe some mountains weren’t so impossible. ‘I’ll come now.’

She left the basket of clothes on her bed, changed into her uniform, refixed her braids, and raced back across Piazza Navona. The sky was laden with clouds, threatening rain, and the air whipping up around the piazza was cold, but she hardly noticed it as she side-stepped the lunch crowd, turning quickly down Via di Pasquino and into the lane.

There was a group of customers gathered in the entranceway of Valentina’s, Leo trying frantically to seat them all. Belle excused herself politely, traversing around them to get through the door. Avery, Natalya, and Chase were running between tables taking orders, and Josh was behind the bar helping Andre prepare trays of aperitivi. Belle’s eyes widened at the sight. She could only guess as to how Uncle Benito was coping in the kitchen, for she had never seen so many people in Valentina’s before.

Andre glanced up as she approached the bar. ‘It’s gone crazy in here!’ he said. ‘He’s waiting for you in the kitchen.’

Belle nodded and strode quickly to the kitchen doors, pushing through them. Uncle Benito was furiously slicing lemons and chilli while pans of prawns sizzled and linguine boiled in pots of bubbling water.

‘Your con gamberetti,’ he called out, wiping sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his chef’s jacket. ‘It’s all they’re asking for!’

She dropped her bag in the corner near Andre’s backpack, collected her apron still hanging on the hook, and slipped it over her head.

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