“Oui. Yes. Please sit. Eat.”
“And stop hitting you. I got it.” Hannah’s face probably matched mine in color as she hunched over her salad.
I leaned forward and caressed her hand. “Really. I’m fine. You didn’t bruise anything, and I’m still breathing. But what is thisabout your boss? Are you having troubles?”
Hannah gave me a twisted smile. “Mmm, nothing I want to trouble you with.”
“My mother always said: A trouble shared is a trouble halved. What’s bothering you?”
Hannah released a heavy sigh. “If you only knew the half of it.”
“So tell me half of it.”
“Lord, you just don’t give up, do you? Fine. I told the salon owner, Kennedy, that I would be takingsome time off—I’ve already arranged it with all my clients, either moving their appointments or recommending other cosmetologists—and Kennedy gave me no end of hassle. That it’s not good for business to have a station sit empty, even though I’ve already paid the rent for my station this month. So I officially gave notice. By the end of the month I’ll be salonless, and quite possibly clientlessafter Kennedy gets done bad-mouthing me to everyone in town. That’s at least half of my problem.”
“That’s a pretty big problem.”
“You’re telling me.” Hannah poked at her salad with an unhappy expression. She blinked a few times as her eyes welled with tears before setting her shoulders with a grim smile. “But hey, at least that toxic bitch is out of my life, right? Anyhow, I’m sorry to bringour night down.”
“I’m sorry you’re going through this. But I am not, however sorry that I asked. So you need somewhere to work? I could ask—”
“No, thank you. I was planning on taking some time off anyhow, so I’m not sure when I’d be able to accept appointments again.”
I wanted to ask about her sudden need to take time off work, but something about her body language made me hesitate. It’d beenlike pulling teeth to get this one worry out of her; I didn’t want to upset her by prying further. Besides, I was only in town one more week—we were the definition of temporary. I doubted she wanted to share more of her troubles with me. “Well, then, I believe it’s time to move onto the next course.”
“Oooh, let me. It’s a bit like being the glamorous girl on a game show. Or a magician.” Hannahstood up and ran to the side table. “For my next trick, I will unveil something we will both enjoy.” Hannah ripped off theclocheand her face fell. “Or not.”
“Not a fan ofoursin,sea urchin, I take it?”
“It looks like snot.” Hannah shuddered slightly. “You really eat that?”
“Oui. It’s one of my favorites.” I watched Hannah’s expression turn pale as she surveyed the spiny brown shell, crackedopen, and the brown and orange sludge decorating the inside. “Maybe you want to try another trick?”
Theclochefell on top of the plate with a clatter as she hurriedly moved to the next dish. “Voilà.”
I waited for her to say something, but she didn’t right away. After a moment she raised her eyes, and I could see her worried expression.
“Please tell me that’s not intestine.”
“We call itAndouillete. It’s really quite delicious. Once you get past the pungent smell, it tastes—”
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
I quickly stood up, but Hannah had already covered the dish and moved onto the next.
“You do enjoy normal food, too? Like chicken or beef? The non-organ bits? You know, like meat?”
I laughed. “Yes, there should be at least one chicken dish and a steak somewhere on the table.”
“It’slike a game of whack-a-mole. Just when I think there can’t be anymore offal—” She uncovered the next dish and made a comically disgusted face. “Come on, tripe? Really?”
“You have something against stomach?”
“Only when it’s not my own and someone wants me to eat it. Ugh. I don’t know if this is gonna work. You clearly like offal, guh, and I’m not a salad-only kinda girl. I need to eat somethingmore substantial than lettuce.”
My shoulders shook with my suppressed laughter. “Keep going.”
“Ah.” Hannah smiled when she unveiled thecoq au vin. “Now this is what I’m talking about. Chicken. Good, edible chicken. And mine. Do you want one of the offal plates, or should I keep going?”
