We followed him into the kitchen. Esmeralda was whisking something in a bowl and Juana was directing the culinary efforts of two men and a woman who were dressed in white kitchen uniforms.
“Yes, exactly like that,” she told one of the men, and patted him on the butt. He just grinned and kept working. She turned to us and smiled. She was dressed elegantly in a dark blue dress that was styled in a manner that hinted at her Mexican heritage.
“Esmeralda,” she said. Her daughter turned and put down her whisk and smiled at us. She was dressed in a white miniskirt and white high heels and a large white apron that said “Kiss the Chef.”
“Juana, Esmeralda, I’d like you to meet my guests. I’m sorry, I know Johnny and Jay already but I’m afraid I can’t introduce you two lovely ladies by name.”
“This is my girlfriend Mary Beth, and this is my niece and lover Dawn.” Nobody so much as raised an eyebrow at that. Everyone shook hands and Juana hugged Jay.
“It is good to see you again, Jay. I have missed you.”
“And maybe for the last time I’ll introduce the lovely Juana here as my live-in cook and maid, and Juana’s beautiful daughter Esmeralda.” Esmeralda blushed and smiled but Juana turned on Thomas with a scowl.
“We have talked about this, Thomas. You will have a fight on your hands if you attempt to relieve me of my job.”
Uh-oh.
“Juana, you and Esmeralda are family now. I can’t have you slaving over the stove and cleaning our toilets any longer.”
Ah-ha.
“I will not abide living here without doing the job that I was hired to do,” she said. “You see to our needs and you pay me a salary and you put my daughter through college. I will do my job.”
They stared at each other. Thomas blinked first.
“Okay,” he said. “How about a compromise? I’ll get a maid to clean the house. You continue to cook. I don’t think I could live happily without your cooking anyway.”
Smooth.
Juana’s face softened and she smiled at him. “That is acceptable to me, Thomas. Cleaning was the least fun. Cooking for you all is a joy. But please get an ugly maid. You already have too many women. And you are not getting any younger. ”
Thomas stared at her, then burst into laughter. “Deal,” he said, and they hugged.
“Juana, I think I need your help here,” one of the men said, and she walked quickly to the stove where he was stirring something.
“No,” she said softly. “Once you have a roux you cannot simply add more liquid and flour. If you need more, you must start a new roux. Let me show you.”
Thomas chuckled. “Since there are so many of us for dinner I offered to have the event catered or to bring in a crew of chefs for Juana to supervise. But she wanted to use friends who work in kitchens and need the extra money. I think we’re safe as long as she stays on top of them.”
I thought so, too. The fine aroma of cooking was making my tummy growl. “Juana,” I said. “I know my way around a kitchen. Can I help?”
Mary Beth said, “He doesn’t just ‘know his way around a kitchen.’ He should probably be a chef instead of a cop.”
“Thank you, but no,” she said. “You are our guests. Please have a drink and relax. My staff here has things well in hand and dinner will be served on schedule.”
Thomas smacked his forehead. “Drinks. What would everyone like?”
“Whatcha got?” said Dawn.
“He has everything,” said Juana.
“Everything?” I said.
Thomas led us back through the dining room to a massive mahogany bar. A multitude of bottles lined the shelves above and behind the bar sorted by type of liquor or liqueur. I guessed that more bottles were underneath the bar. Two Danby coolers were built into the wall.
Thomas stepped into the classic bartender’s position and looked at me and said, “What’ll you have?”
It felt like a challenge. “Plymouth gin,” I said.
He turned and climbed up onto a step stool and reached into the white liquors and pulled down a sealed bottle of Plymouth gin and set it on the bar in front of me. He looked at me. It was a challenge, all right.
“Highland 25,” I said.
Back on the step stool and into the brown liquors. And back to the bar with a sealed bottle of Highland Park 25 year old Scotch. He looked at me.
Shit.
“Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve 23,” I said. He kept looking at me. I was all in and he knew it. He bent down and I heard bottles clinking.
“No way,” I said.
And of course, up he came with an unopened bottle of Pappy Van Winkle.
“I fold,” I said, and he laughed and shook my hand.
“If you guys are done playing ‘Who’s Bigger?’ I’m pretty thirsty,” said Mary Beth.
Thomas poured champagne for Mary Beth and a glass of Pinot Noir for Dawn and looked at me with an eyebrow raised.
“Pappy, neat,” I said.