A few minutes later they were all happily eating in the living room. They laughed and chatted like everything was perfectly normal and his mother stayed clear-minded for the rest of the night. It gave David hope that they could manage this, that it might not be so bad.

Chapter 7

“Table nine wants their filet butterflied and well done. What does that mean?” Caitlin was one of their newer servers, a college student who had spent the last two years bussing tables and they were giving her a shot at serving. She’d been through extensive training, but butterflying was something they hadn’t covered.

Nick groaned. “It should be outlawed. Doesn’t happen often, thankfully. But that means they want the filet split in half so it will cook faster and absolutely ruin an otherwise perfect piece of meat. But that’s how they want it.”

Caitlin made a face. “That doesn’t sound very good to me, either. When I grew up, I thought I hated beef because my mother always cooked it well done. When I went out to dinner with some college friends, they talked me into trying prime rib medium rare and it was an entirely different experience. There’s a reason they call it red meat.”

Nick laughed. “You’re right about that.” He took the order, hacked the beautiful piece of filet mignon in half and tossed it under the broiler.

It was Saturday night, and the kitchen was hopping. The hotel was full, and the restaurant was busy with both hotel guests and the general public. The restaurant’s reputation had grown in recent years, and more and more visitors were making the trip to the other side of the island to dine at The Whitley’s restaurant. Nick liked to think he had something to do with that.

He’d been working there forever, it seemed. He’d started as a dishwasher when he turned sixteen and worked after school and on weekends. He’d moved into other roles after that during college breaks, working every station in the kitchen. After graduating with a business degree, he realized he wanted to keep going as a chef. He worked at a few restaurants in Boston, gained some good experience, and then returned to Nantucket and into his current role about five years ago.

He liked working for Roland, the head chef. He’d learned a lot from him and in the past few years he’d gained the confidence to experiment a bit and do more of his own creations. So, when someone ordered well-done, butterflied meat, it just made him cringe. But as long as the customer was happy, he’d gladly make it.