“Oh,” I said, feeling heat rising up my throat. I glanced sideways at Dauphine, and she looked at me with interest. Last night she had thought that we were laughing at her. I looked nervously back at the four sets of curious eyes. “Um,” I stammered. “It was just something silly. I hardly remember.”

Andrea and Chef looked disappointed and unconvinced at my non answer.

“What happened?” Rod asked.

“Something Ms. Marin said made Mr. P lose it.”

“Call me Josie, please,” I said.

Rod quirked an eyebrow as he slathered butter on a piece of baguette and laid a circle of salami on it. “It’s been a while since he’s had something to laugh about.”

“Well, whatever it was,” said Andrea, “It was lovely to hear him laugh. Right, Dauphine?”

Dauphine nodded with her mouth full.

“So how did each of you end up working for Monsieur Pascale?” I asked, desperate to divert their scrutiny.

“Moi,” began Paco. “I used to captain for the older Monsieur et Madame Pascale. I have known Xavier since he was a boy.” He let out a gruff chuckle with a shake of his head. “I could tell some stories, but non. All I can say is I’m very grateful to the family. And it has been an honor to work with Xavier.” He paused, suddenly looking somber. “There is no finer man,” he finished and picked up his glass of sparkling water, staring at it as if he could see distant memories within it.

“Well.” Rod cleared his throat. “For me, let’s just say I was a rather naughty boy, got myself arrested a couple of times, and Evan who’s a mate of my older brother just pulled me aside one day and gave me a bit of a shake. ‘What you gon’ do with your life, Roddie,’ he says. Or something along those lines. Told me I needed to man up, like. He helped me get back on my feet and gave me a job. I’ll always be thankful Mister P trusted Evan enough to give me a fair shake. So, you could say I’m dedicated to never letting either of them down.”

I chewed my piece of salami, and then forked some salad as I turned to Chef.