Chef sat back with his arms folded. “Not sure when it became confessional lunch. But you may as well know. I’m an alcoholic. I’ve been sober for six years and one month. I lost a restaurant, my wife, and custody of my son.” He glanced at Dauphine, and words seem to halt in his throat. I surmised he had a lot more to say but felt it was either too difficult or best for Dauphine not to hear. “Anyway, my restaurant was one of Mr. and Mrs. P’s favorites. When he heard what happened to me, he offered me a job if I could get myself cleaned up. He said the job was mine as long as I needed, and that anytime I was ready to start again with a new venture he’d …” Chef cleared his throat as if choking up, “… he said he’d back me. Not sure I’ll ever take him up on that. But for now, I’m happy here, talking to you sorry lot.” He raised his glass of water. “Cheers.”

I reached for my glass, a lump in my throat. “Cheers,” I said.

“Chin chin,” sang Dauphine.

“To Mister P,” added Rod and Andrea in sync.

We all took a sip.

Andrea stood. “Anyone need anything? I just have to run to the kitchen, I put another baguette in to warm up. Be right back.”

We all helped ourselves to seconds and thirds of the delicious salad and cold meats and cheeses. The baguette was warm, crunchy, and delicious, especially when slathered with a little lightly salted butter. I had far more of it than I should have been comfortable with but couldn’t bring myself to care.

A while later, after Paco had regaled us with a story about a run-in with some modern-day pirates early on in his boating career, he sat back with a pat of his belly and a satisfied smile. “Time for a nap.”

Dauphine let out a sound of disappointment.

“You want to watch a movie or something?” I asked her. “You don’t have to sleep, but maybe we should lie down for a bit until the food settles and the sun is not so strong.”

“You can set up a movie on the screen in the main salon,” said Andrea. “I’ll show you how everything works.”

I smiled. “Perfect.”

Everyone grabbed their plate and some glasses from the table, and we had everything cleared up in no time. Before long Dauphine and I were on the couch watching a singing Zac Efron, and it was only then I realized that Andrea hadn’t shared her story of how she came to work for Xavier Pascale.