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Sandy. The photos hadn’t
been there the last time he’d been into the house.
    Slater studied the photo of the older woman and
Sammy. He could see the love that shone from the woman’s eyes as she hugged her
daughter. He stared at the picture of Sammy with her friends. She was laughing
and had her arms around Jane and Susie. Sammy looked carefree. He wanted to see
that look on her again.
    “That’s a pic of a girls’ weekend we had away before
my mum got sick.”
    Slater turned to see Sammy with her hair in a braid
and light makeup on. She had her handbag on her shoulder. “Are you ready to go?”
he asked. “Do you have any idea where you want to go for lunch?”
    “Yeah, I’m ready. I’d love to check out Glaser. I
hear it good, and it’s one of yours, isn’t it?”
    “Yes, it is. Are you sure you want to go?”
    “Yes. Do you not want me to see one of your
restaurants?   Or do you not want to go to
work?”
    Slater stroked her cheek. “Of course I want you to
see my restaurant. I just thought you might want to go somewhere different.
Everyone is eager to meet you.”
    Sammy beamed up at him and held his hand as she
walked to the door. “Well let’s go see this restaurant everyone raves about.”
    The drive to his restaurant was uneventful. Sammy
talked about the driving lesson and everything they did. Slater told her he
would be teaching her tomorrow. He walked through the front doors of his
restaurant instead of the back employee entry he always took, so Sammy could
get a look at his top restaurant.
    Anna, his maître d’, greeted them with a smile. “Hi,
boss. You like work so much you can’t stay away.”
    “Hi, Anna, I’ve come to show my mate my restaurant.”
    Sammy stood forward. “Hello, Anna. I’m Samantha.”
    “Hello, Samantha. We are eager to meet you. Slater
talks about you quite a lot.”
    Sammy shot a wide eyed look at him and turned a
light shade of pink.
    “Anna, I’m going to show Sammy around, and I’ll take
the corner table twenty. I’ll tell Richard while we’re in the kitchen what
we’ll have to eat.”
    “Sure. Nice to finally meet you,
Samantha. You have come at just the right time. The lunch crowd has died
down.”
    “You, too, Anna. I
look forward to seeing you again.”
    Slater placed his hand on Sammy’s back and steered
her to the back of the restaurant to the kitchen, his pride and joy.
    “It’s almost full, Slater. I thought Anna said the
lunch crowd had died down.”
    He glanced quickly around to see it was quiet, well, quiet for Glaser. “This is quiet for Glaser.” He moved
closer to her and held her hand.
    They walked back to his kitchen, and his head chef,
Richard, waved him over.   He watched as
Sammy seemed to take everything in. She slowed to a dawdle as they walked over to Richard.
    “There are so many people back here, and it’s so
big.”
    “When I designed this kitchen, I wanted it bigger
than most, so nobody was stepping on anyone and everyone had room to do their
magic.”
    “I haven’t seen many restaurant kitchens, well
besides on TV and movies, but I think it’s fantastic.”
    Bringing the hand he held up to his lips, he kissed
it. “Thanks, beautiful.”
    They stopped next to Richard, who stood at the front
directing people and checking quality. “Richard, I’d like you to meet my mate,
Samantha.” He said her full name as he noticed with Anna she didn’t use the
name he’d gotten to know her by.
    “ Hiya , Samantha. It’s nice
to put a face to a name we hear so often.” Richard held his hand out, and Sammy
took it turning a shade of pink at Richard’s words.
    “Nice to meet you, too, Richard. I have no idea what
Slater could have told you, but I hope it’s all good.”
    Richard let go of Sammy’s hand. “Everything he’s
said is positive. He told us what a strong, brave woman you are.”
    Sammy looked extremely embarrassed, so Slater took
over. “We’re here for lunch, and I’d love for you to cook your creamy