Hungry Heart: Konigsburg, Texas, Book 8 Read Online Free PDF

“Meaning what?”
    “Meaning if you can make a potato salad that doesn’t make me shake my head, I’ll consider taking you on as an apprentice. Assuming LeBlanc doesn’t get a stick up his ass if I do it.” His grin narrowed. “That’s the other part of the deal. You make sure LeBlanc doesn’t decide to get himself another barbecue man on account I stole his sous chef.”
    Darcy shook her head. “He won’t care. And you’re not stealing me. Working with you isn’t going to get in the way of what I do here.”
    He sighed. “Maybe not. But I want that spelled out. No hard feelings later on.”
    Darcy folded her arms, nodding. “Agreed. Give me a couple of days to put the salad together.”
    He smiled again. “Sugar, I don’t want a salad that takes days to put together.”
    She gritted her teeth again. Apparently that was going to be a sort of chronic condition when she was around him. “I need a couple of days to find a recipe and get it right. Once I’ve got that down, I can do it in record time, believe me.”
    “I do believe you. Just remember the French’s. Yellow. Gotta be yellow.” He tipped his hat, dark eyes shining, and then strolled back across the lawn toward his smokers.
    “Oh yeah,” Darcy muttered, “this is such a good idea.”
     
     
    Joe shook his head. “I still don’t see why you want to do this, Darce. I mean, good ’cue is precious stuff, but it’s not exactly rocket science. You could probably figure it out on your own with a smoker and a couple of books.”
    Darcy managed not to grimace. He had a point, after all. She settled down in the battered leather chair opposite the desk in his office. “Look, we both know cookbooks don’t tell you enough. I’ve got a chance to watch a pro pit master do his stuff. Then I can take what I learn from him and apply it to a regular kitchen.”
    “You’re not thinking of taking over the barbecues we do here, are you?” Joe shook his head. “I can’t spare you for that. Plus, the arrangement with the King works out for everybody.”
    Well, scratch that idea. “I don’t want to do it here necessarily, but I might do it somewhere else sometime.”
    Joe gave her a dry smile. “Thinking of moving on, Darce?”
    She shrugged. “Nope. But who knows what’s going to happen here in the future? You might take a job in New York or something. I might get an offer I can’t turn down— chef de cuisine in Las Vegas or San Francisco.”
    “I’m not going to New York, Darce. I’ve done that, and I’m not doing it again. I’ve got a home here.”
    She sighed. “Okay, neither of us is going anywhere at the moment, but I’d still like to know how he does what he does.”
    Joe leaned back in his chair, frowning. “If you do this, and I haven’t agreed to anything yet, how can you keep from screwing up service at the Rose? I need you here full time.”
    “I thought about that.” She rested her elbows on the edge of the desk. “Most of the work at a barbecue pit takes place in the late afternoon or at night, right?”
    Joe shrugged. “Maybe. Depends on the pit master, but yeah. A lot of it usually takes place at night since you want to leave the meat on to smoke for twelve hours or so.”
    She gave him a triumphant smile. “So I do brunch like I usually do, then switch with you and do a couple of lunches instead of dinners.”
    He frowned again. “One of the reasons I wanted you on dinner in the first place was so I could take some time off. I don’t necessarily want to go back on that.”
    “It would just be a couple of days a week. And I’ll take Friday and Saturday so you can go off and listen to MG.” Darcy tried for a winning smile, but it wasn’t really something she was good at. “And it’s only for a few weeks, so help me.”
    He sighed. “Okay, we’ll try it, assuming the King buys in. But no promises, Darce. If things start going to hell here, you’ll have to quit.”
    “Right. Got it.”
    He settled back into