The Keeneston Roses Read Online Free Page A

closing when we get there. The chef will be cleaning up and won’t have any customers to distract him. Please, Lily. It’s my dream.”
    Lily let out a long breath. “Okay, but we need to make sure Dad and Mom are already asleep.”
    “They are. I checked before I came to see you. We already said goodnight to them, and they turned off their light twenty minutes ago.”
    “Well, we can’t just waltz out the front door . . .” Lily pondered. “With their bedroom downstairs, they’ll hear any of the doors, and we can’t risk them locking us out.”
    Violet smiled. “It’s a good thing we excel at climbing trees.”
    Lily turned to look out her window at the huge old maple tree in the front yard. This was going to be interesting.
     
    “I see London, I see France . . .”
    “Shut up, Violet, or I won’t help you,” Lily hissed as softly as she could. She slowly made her way down the tree. Violet had climbed out the window first and was almost at the last branch.
    “I don’t know about you, but this is the best view in all of Keeneston,” the deep voice joked.
    “Frank!” Violet and Lily gasped before shushing each other.
    “Catch me,” Violet whispered as Frank held out his arms. Violet dropped from the bottom limb, and Frank set her aside before reaching for Lily.
    “Would you care to tell me what’s going on?”
    “Violet needs you to drive us to Lexington. She wants to meet a chef,” Lily told him as she and Violet dragged him away from the house.
    “Sweet Violet is dating a chef?”
    “No. It’s a secret, but I need to ask him about culinary school in Europe. I can’t tell my parents. They won’t understand. And I don’t want to get my hopes up until I find out if they even accept women and offer scholarships.”
    Frank looked between the two sisters and nodded his head. “Then let’s burn rubber.”
     
    Violet Fae sat nervously in the back of Frank’s car as he sped down small country roads leading to Lexington. She tightened her fist as they passed the Ashton Farm and finally turned onto Broadway in downtown Lexington. She didn’t know what she was doing. Could she really walk into a swanky restaurant and persuade the chef to talk to her?
    Frank pulled to a stop in front of the restaurant, and Violet took a deep breath. She could do this. What did she have to lose? She straightened her hair and pinched her cheeks to put some color into them.
    “Vi, you look great. They’d be crazy not to take you. Do you want us to go in with you?” Lily asked.
    She was a good sister. Sure, they didn’t always get along when they were growing up, but when they turned fifteen everything had changed. They stopped trying to push each other’s buttons and turned into the best of friends. Their mother had been right; they were sisters, and they loved each other.
    “That’s okay. Thank you. It’s something I need to do myself.”
    Frank got out of the car and pushed his seat forward for her to climb out. Wiping her hands on her skirt, she took one last deep breath and walked around to the back of the old brick building.
    She heard the sounds of male laughter first. The back door was open as the men cleaned up for the night. Her heart pounded as she walked through the darkness toward the light spilling out of the kitchen into the alley.
    “I can do this,” she whispered to herself before stepping up to the door. “Excuse me, I’m looking for Chef Nichols.”
    Some of them let out catcalls while others suggested she look for them instead. But a second later she saw him walk from the office. He carried the air of confidence only a head chef had. “I’m Nichols. What do you want, kid?”
    Violet swallowed and then stood as tall as she could. “I’m here to talk to you about your experience in culinary school.”
    “Are you a reporter?” Nichols asked as he hushed the men and sent them back to work.
    “No. I want to be a head chef.”
    “A woman?”he snickered. “Betty Crocker comes out with a