Simone (The Ciprianos of Kellington Book 2) (12 page)

“Salute!” They both
smiled while drinking their tea and he enjoyed the moment with his mother while
they continued talking about the plan for his special dinner.

Chapter Fourteen

“Excuse me ma’am, is
there a Delia Whitney here?” asked the young woman wearing a beautiful floral
dress and holding a large white box with a nicely made silver bow on top.

“Yes, I’m Delia
Whitney.”

“This is for you ma’am,
enjoy.” The woman handed her the box and left Delia standing there completely
confused.

“Wow where did that
come from?” Jaslyn asked as Delia put the box down on one of the tables.

She looked all over the
box but didn’t see anything stating where it came from. “I haven’t a clue where
it’s from.” Carefully removing the ribbon that was wrapping the box she took
the top off and there underneath the silver tissue paper was a letter along
with a beautiful lavender dress. Taking it out from the box to marvel at it,
Delia had never seen anything so beautiful in her life. Putting it up against
herself, she smiled at Jaslyn, asking her, “Can you believe this? I’ve never
gotten anything so beautiful like this before in my life. I wonder who gave it
to me.” She grabbed the note, quickly opening it and began reading it. All she
could do was feel the tears start to well up in her eyes. “I swear, when I see
him I’m going to get him good for this.”

“Well, who is it from?”

“Simone. He’s supposed
to pick me up for dinner at seven.” That’s when it hit her and she looked at
the dress again. Putting it back into box, she went to the calendar and saw
what the date was. “Oh, my dear God.”

“What?”

“Do you know what today
is?” Delia smiled.

“No, I don’t. What is
today?”

“Today is the date of
my and Simone’s first date. Actually it’s our anniversary of that night we
first went out. He got me the same kind of dress too, well it’s not the actual
dress but it’s the same color I wore that night. I can’t believe he remembered
the color of the dress. I’m going to try it on right now.” She ran toward the
bathroom in the back to put it on. Honestly, it was something that she’d never
expected to get, especially on such a special day. How could she have been so
forgetful, not to remember such an important day as this?

Once she got it on and
tied the back of the neck that held up the front of her dress, she walked back
up front for Jaslyn to see. “So...” she twirled around, letting the dress
billow underneath a bit as she found herself a bit giddy. “How does it look?”

“Oh, Delia, you’ve got
to look at yourself in the full-length mirror. You look absolutely breathtaking
in that dress. He sure does know how to pick out something beautiful,” Jaslyn
told her, pulling her over toward a full-length mahogany mirror they had on
display. Once she stood in front of it, Delia literally felt herself catching
her breath.

“Wow, I do look
breathtaking, don’t I?” The maxi dress was amazing, especially with the low-cut
V-neck, open-back but with a corset design. The material and design felt
comfortable against her body. “All I have to do is find the right pair of
shoes, I’ll wear my hair up the same way I wore it that night. Hell, I’m
already excited and it’s not even seven o’clock yet. What time is it, anyway?”

“It’s only noon, you
might want to take off that dress so we can go and grab something to eat. You
don’t want to get it dirty.”

“Oh, right, I’ll be
back.”

After putting her
clothes back on, she walked to the front, carefully putting the dress back into
the box once more, she put it behind the counter on the shelf while grabbing
her purse. “Where are we headed off to for lunch?”

“There is this place
that I’m dying to try. Renzo told me that he went to meet the owner the other
day, really nice family.”

“What do they serve to
eat?”

“Mainly French cuisine,
from what Renzo told me. She gave him this yummy dessert that of course he
didn’t share with me. Told me by the time he got home with it, it was gone.”
They both walked out of the shop as Jaslyn locked up. “All I know is that I
plan to find out what she gave him that was so good. And thankfully, it’s not
too far so it’s within walking distance.” Jaslyn told her while pointing the
way, past the piano shop.

I wonder what kind of
French food they serve and whether it will be authentic or not, Delia thought.

“Well, from what Renzo
said, they are from France. They were living in Florida but didn’t like it
there and wanted to find someplace where it was more comfortable for them. So
they visited a friend who lives here and just like me, they fell in love with
Kellington.” They came upon a chalkboard sign stating
LUNCH SPECIALS FROM $4.99
written in both French and English. Three
sets of small tables and chairs lined the front of the large window, which was
etched with white lettering that said, “Le Jardin Des Cygnes”. The stone walls
were painted gold while the awning above was burgundy.

“Le Jardin Des Cygnes?
I wonder what that means.”

“The Garden of Swans.”
Delia smiled as they walked inside and saw that the décor of the restaurant was
even more beautiful than it was on the outside. A young man on top of a ladder
was painting a mural along one of the walls as they looked down at the tiled
floor which was also in gold and red. “Bonjour, Mademoiselles. Would you like
to sit outside today? Or, if you like, I can seat you at one of our tables
inside?” asked the young lady wearing a white long-sleeved shirt, black pants
and a black apron wrapped around her waist. Her long dark brown hair with hints
of blonde was braided and tossed to the side while she held onto her tray.

“Why don’t we sit
outside, it’s a lovely day.” Jaslyn suggested as they went back outside,
grabbing the first table that was near the entrance. The young lady handed them
their menus said, “I’ll be back with your waters.”

Delia looked over the
menu, noticing it was written not only in English but in French as well when
she heard Jaslyn ask her, “How did you know the meaning of the name of the
place?”

“Well, I learned French
in school, plus we had a foreign exchange student who came to our school who
was from France. Penelope Corte was her name, we became fast friends too. She
taught me the parts of French that most of the teachers didn’t know much of. We
still are good friends after all these years, I write her sometimes and she
does the same to me but of course, in French.”

“That’s wonderful and
everything on this menu sounds so good. Want to share something and then have a
dessert?”

“We can do that but
I’ll have to have my own dessert. I sure don’t plan on sharing a dessert with
you.” Delia chuckled while Jaslyn shook her head. “Why don’t we try the Quiche
Florentine?”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a quiche with
spinach in it and it’s something light so it won’t fill me up too much for
later on.”

“What do you think
Simone has in store for you tonight?” The waitress came back out with their
glasses of water with lemon and asked, “Have you decided on what you would
like?”

“We will have the
Quiche Florentine, just one slice because we plan on sharing it and I’ll have
the strawberry tart.” Delia told her while handing the menu back.

“And I’ll have the,
um...” Jaslyn pointed to the item on the menu as the woman smiled. “That is the
Religieuse and they are delicious. Would you like something else to drink
besides water?”

“How about some tea, if
you don’t mind.”

With a nod, the young
lady left the two alone once more. “Simone is full of surprises so more than
likely it will end up being just like it was for our first date. Basically that
consisted of us having an intimate dinner, dessert and then dancing by
candlelight. I honestly can’t wait to relive that moment again.”

“I bet it was a
beautiful one, too.” That was when the young lady brought them their tea,
accompanied by an older black woman who had an amazing figure for her age and
was wearing nothing more elaborate than a simple red dress with pearls. Her
dark brown hair was pulled up in a neat bun and had streaks of gray in it. A
smile that showed off deep dimples within chubby cheeks greeted them sweetly.
“Bonjour to you both, and welcome, my name is Jillian and I welcome you to our
café.”

“Thank you, Jillian, I
am Jaslyn and this is my good friend Delia. I own the antique shop down the
street.”

“Ahhh,” she exclaimed.
“So, you are Jaslyn. I’ve heard so much about you and your friend from Renzo.”

They both giggled at
the comment as Jaslyn replied, “Yeah, Renzo told me that he came here to visit
you, also he came to get a pastry which he didn’t share with me, of course.”

“Oh yes, I gave him a
puff pastry with Chantilly cream. Actually the one I gave him was supposed to
have been for you because he had already eaten one while here at the café.”

“Yeah, I’m so going to
get him for that, for sure. Listen, you are more than welcome to stop by our
shop, I have plenty of antiques.” Delia watched while her friend grabbed her
card case from her purse and gave Jillian a business card.

“Merci Jaslyn, I really
appreciate the card. Might I ask, what did you decide to have for lunch today?”

“The Quiche Florentine”

“You are in luck, my husband
just made some and it’s nice and warm and you’ll both love it. But why are you
sharing instead of having one slice for each?”

“Well, my friend here
has a date later on this evening and doesn’t want to fill up on food.”

“Ah, I understand. I
hope your date will be a wonderful one and I hope you enjoy your quiche as well
as your desserts.” The young woman brought out two white cups with saucers and
a steel teapot. “This is my daughter Michelle. Michelle, this is the woman who
Renzo was talking about with us.”

“Hello, it’s nice to
finally meet you. Father is going to bring out your food, he likes to meet
everyone who comes in to eat. Plus, he enjoys watching people eating his food
for the first time.” Michelle told them while pouring tea into their cups.

“We sure are popular
today, aren’t we, Delia?” Jaslyn told her as Delia just shook her head. That
was when a very handsome older man came from inside. He wore a white shirt that
had a food stain or two on it. A white apron wrapped around his thick waist and
he had on a pair of faded blue jeans and some black shoes. On his head was a
black flat top chef’s hat with some blonde curly hair poking out from the
sides. His face was that of a man who had probably seen so much in his life,
for it showed from within the crinkles near his amazing blue eyes that smiled
down at the two of them. Delia swore that when he smiled at them, she was
starting to blush, he was so handsome.

“Quiche Florentine for
two lovely ladies. I hope you enjoy it, I just made it and it’s warm right out
of the oven.” He put the plate down in front of them as Delia and Jaslyn both
grabbed their forks to take a piece. After blowing on it a bit, they each took
a bite and Delia knew that once she started to really taste it, she had fallen
in love. “Oh my God, this is so amazing.”

“I’ve never tasted
anything so good, this is incredible.” Jaslyn said digging into the quiche once
more.

“Darling this is Jaslyn
and Delia, the owners of the antique shop down the street. This is the Jaslyn
who Renzo was telling us about.”

Delia watched as the
man took hold of Jaslyn’s hand, softly kissing it while saying, “
Cette
femme, pas
étonnant
que
votre
copain
vous
admire
tellement
.”

Jaslyn looked at Delia,
confused as she smiled and told her, “He just said, ‘Such a beautiful woman, no
wonder your boyfriend admires you so much.’”

“Oh, why, thank you.”

“I’m sorry for not
formally introducing myself, my name is Philippe Bordeaux and you have probably
met my wife Jillian and daughter Michelle already?”

“Yes, we have, I’m Delia,”
she said, holding out her hand which, of course, he took and kissed softly. “I
have to ask, how did you two meet?”

Delia saw Philippe
smile broadly as he held Jillian’s hand in his for a moment. “Well, we met by
chance one day in Lyon, over forty years ago. I was working at a bouchon on the
Rue des Marronniers. Some of the men had been talking about Jillian, saying how
beautiful she was. I had to find out for myself since I worked in the kitchen
and didn’t come out much unless it was to take my break. When I saw her sitting
by the window, she was drinking coffee and wearing the same dress she’s wearing
right now. I knew I had to pursue her right then and there. I told the others
to back off. I even got into a fight with one of the cooks.”

“I’d lived in France
all my life. My family was from Kingston and I really was into school at the
time. I would come to the bouchon he was working at because I loved the food so
much, especially the yummy quenelles. I would always sit at the same table near
the window and watch the world go by and write in my little book. But soon I
started to get these little notes underneath my espresso cup. Telling me how
lovely I looked that day or ‘hope you enjoy your lunch, I made it especially
for you.’ Honestly, I wanted to say something to the owner because it started
to get a bit weird when he mentioned how lovely I was that day. I would ask a
person who worked there who this person was that was sending me the notes but
no one bothered to tell me.” Jillian smiled as Michelle walked inside, shaking
her head.