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nervously at Josh, who was staring so intently at Francie that he looked frozen in place. What could possibly be wrong? Even the best chef makes a mediocre dish now and then, but Josh had never cooked anything inedible. Of course, the lamb chops should have been served hot. Maybe the fat had congealed, I told myself. Still, even if the lamb wasn’t at its best, it just couldn’t be as repugnant as Francie seemed to find it. Francie, I told myself, must be a picky eater, someone who whined and complained about everything she tasted.
    “And how’s your dish, Francie?” prompted Robin, who had been so focused on Leo that she’d obviously failed to notice Francie’s grimacing.
    Francie dropped her fork and made eye contact with the camera. “The truth is,” she said emphatically, “it’s just awful.”
     

 
    “FRANCIE! Leo admonished. “There’s no need to be rude.”
    With a vigorous shake of her head that made her dark, wavy hair fan out, she declared boldly, “It’s vile, it’s positively disgusting, it’s revolting, and I simply can’t eat any more. It is by far the worst thing that has ever been my misfortune to taste in my entire life.” After a brief pause, she said, looking at Josh, “I’m not trying to hurt anyone’s feelings, really I’m not, but something has gone horribly, hideously, dreadfully wrong with this dish.”
    Nelson lowered the camera.
    Leo was seething. “Francie, this no time for your damned theatrics. Do you know how lucky we were to be chosen? We’ve got a talented chef in our house preparing a gourmet meal for us. Everything I’ve tasted is better than what we’ve had at most restaurants, so just chew and swallow. And fog once in your life, smile!”
    Belatedly, Robin turned her attention to Nelson. What she saw made her blow up. “Nelson, what the hell are you doing?” she demanded. “What we have going on here is action! Emotion! Conflict! What we have here is reality! And where are you? In outer space!”
    “Sorry,” Nelson said weakly. Clearly, even Nelson’s hear« went out to Josh.
    “Oh, for God’s sake, now we have to do everything all I over again,” Robin complained.
    This time, Marlee and Digger took a turn at fussing over the food in what was now a futile effort to make it look freshly plated. Josh stood silent and watched as other chefs tended to his plated dishes.
    Meanwhile, Robin chastised Nelson for his incompetence. “Could we possibly get through the rest of the meal without further interruption from you? Hit the On button! Hit it once! Hit it now! And don’t touch it again. Is that something you are capable of doing?”
    Nelson practically snarled at Robin. “Well, of course—”
    “Rhetorical question, Nelson! I was asking a rhetorical; question!” Tendrils were beginning to come loose from Robin’s once-tight ponytail, as if her fury at her inept cameraman had somehow electrified her brain and escaped through her hair. “And now, for the last time”—she waved at the dinner plates—“let’s roll!”
    Nelson’s light went on.
    Francie leaned back in her chair. “I really think I’ve had enough of this dish.”
    Leo took a bite of the roasted vegetables and spoke with his mouth full. “Francie, there cannot possibly be anything wrong with your food. Have you even tasted anything? I don’t think you have, because if you had, you’d know that it’s spectacular.” He smiled at Josh and gave him a thumbs-up. Miraculously, Nelson caught the gesture on tape.
    Francie, however, was adamant about not tasting another bite of her food. Having watched her more closely than her husband had done, I knew that she had, in fact, eaten some of what she’d been served, but I had no idea whether she was whining about nothing or whether there was actually something wrong with her lamb.
    “Absolutely not,” she told Leo. “For your information, I have tasted it, and not for anything on earth am I choking it down again.”
    Josh had had