A Table for Two Read Online Free PDF

performed an exaggerated salute and clicked her heels together.
    "I didn't mean to sound abrupt or anything. I just don't want to talk about my social life this morning. It makes me very upset and I don't feel like being upset today."
    "That's okay. We don't have to discuss it." Tracy rinsed her cup and set it on the counter near the sink. "I have to run upstairs for a minute. I won't be long and when I get back, I'll get started on the prep work and the desserts."
    Tracy made a quick exit through the back door and once she was gone, Dana took time to feast her eyes on her new kitchen. She'd enjoyed this private indulgence at least a hundred times since the workmen had completed the remodeling. Her kitchen contained professional, top-of-the-line appliances and every gadget and piece of equipment a chef could ever want. As she ran her hand over the mirror-like surface of the stainless steel counter in front of her, she caught a glimpse of her contented reflection and smiled at it.
    Next, she sauntered over to her custom pot-filling faucet on the wall behind the largest and deepest sink and gave it a little push to the right. After opening each of the doors to the double wall ovens and peering inside, she moseyed over to visit the true love of her life, the professional gas range with its ten burners and immense ovens. With her right hand, she reached up to caress the salamander broiler mounted on the wall next to the gas range.
    Three work islands were lined up in the center of the kitchen, one with a cool marble top for working pastry dough, the second with a durable composite stone top and the third with a butcher-block surface. An impressive collection of stainless steel pots and pans dangled from hooks attached to a wrought-iron ceiling rack above the islands.
    Dana wondered what had become of her. She was in love with her kitchen, smitten by her sinks and stoves and thrilled by her pots and pans. Just as she began to contemplate what had brought her to this depressing point in her life, Tracy's voice drifted in from behind her, dug its way into her consciousness and yanked her out of her private thoughts.
    "Earth to Dana, earth to Dana. Are you drifting in outer space or are you listening for the mother ship to contact you?" Tracy burst into laughter at her own joke.
    Dana stared at Tracy until she settled down. "No, I'm telling them to beam you up so they can perform experiments on your cute little body. I told them to start with the anal probe and then work their way up to your brain if they can find it."
    "Did you say anal probe? Ooh, baby, that sounds like fun." Tracy laughed even louder.
    "You're such a riot." Dana waited again for Tracy to stop laughing. "If you must know, I was admiring my kitchen. I'm pleased with how it turned out." A wave of sadness swept over Dana as she thought about the other dreams that hadn't turned out the way she'd wanted them to and she looked away. When she turned to meet Tracy's eyes she was touched by the unspoken sympathy they held within them. Neither she nor Tracy uttered a word about what had happened to Dana in the past. They'd already talked it all out and there was nothing left to say.
    "Your restaurant is perfect, honey and it's a huge success. Remember those reviews we got a month after we opened? They raved about the food, and that one critic said he thought it was the best new restaurant in the city? Remember that?"
    "How could I ever forget?" Dana replied.
    "Who knows? Maybe we'll end up on the front page of the Sunday Inquirer's food section someday," Tracy went on to say. "Can't you see our picture now? Right here in this kitchen with our arms around each other." Tracy closed her eyes and appeared to zone out as if picturing the article. Then her eyes popped open. "I'm assuming you'd let me be in the picture?"
    "Sure I would. I like that fantasy. While we're in fantasy land, here's an even better one. We write a cookbook and it sells millions of copies and then we write a