Page 6 of Caught in a Christmas Conundrum

“No problem.”

I can do that. It’s not my goal in life to make things harder for her. In fact, I’ve always thought Kate and I would make a pretty good team.

We could open a restaurant together pretty easily. I’d do the barbecue, and she could make meals to go along with that. We could end up having a bunch of different restaurants. But this is the first time in years I’ve got her to sit and have an actual conversation with me. Maybe the idea of us teaming up and having restaurants together is a little bit of a dream right now. Iprobably should focus on just getting along and maybe turning our cool relationship into a warm friendship.

She bites her lip, and my eyes are drawn to that, while she points down at notebook sitting on the counter.

I’m listening, but I’m watching her lips move and only hearing about every other word.

She looks back up and says, “Will that be okay?”

Three long seconds go by before I realize that she was talking to me and wants me to comment on what she was saying. While I, like the junior high boy I am in my heart, was staring at her lips, not paying the slightest bit of attention to what she was saying.

I drag my eyes away, close them for a moment, and then say, “I’m sorry. I was…thinking about a restaurant idea and totally spaced out there for a moment. Would you mind repeating that?”

She laughs a little. “I have a dream of opening a restaurant one day too. So, I totally get that. I’ve been known to get distracted by the smallest thing, whether it’s food, desserts, or the menu, and completely lose the train of the conversation.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

So she does want to open a restaurant someday. Man, if I can only convince her to do it with me. I really would not mind being in business with someone like Kate. She’s a hard worker, honest, and serious about making sure that things get done right.

I would like to have more than a business relationship with her though.

She repeats what she said before. This time, I stare at the counter, keep my eyes off her lips, and manage to hear what she says.

Basically she’s going to go shopping, and she’s going to put me to work here with Phyllis. That’s not what I signed up for.

“Seems to me like you should have your assistant doing the shopping, and you and I do the actual food prep.”

She blinks a bit, as though surprised that I’m going to give a suggestion and not just blindly follow her advice. Surely she knows I’m a business owner too, not an employee, and I’m used to calling the shots. I’ll do what she wants me to do, but if I see a better way, I’m not going to sit on my thumbs and wait and let it pass.

“Okay. I guess that does make sense,” she says, a little uncertainly.

I put my hands up. “You don’t have to do it my way. It just seems to me that if you and I are best at being in the kitchen, we should send other people to do the errands.” I hate shopping, so my assistant always does it. And he does a lot better than I do.

“Phyllis loves shopping,” she says, giving me another uncertain glance before she turns around and looks at the woman who was working behind her.

Phyllis pulls an earbud out of her ear and looks up. “Did you want me?”

“Yes. Would you mind going to the box store where we usually shop and getting this list of groceries?” She holds up the notebook that she had sitting on the counter.

“I’d love to! I need to grab a few things for myself, and this will be perfect.”

Kate nods. “I have quantities beside each thing. You also have to stop at the poultry outlet and grab those Cornish hens. I’ll call to make sure they’re ready.”

“Gotcha. I’ll do that and be back in an hour and a half.”

“Sounds good,” Kate says, turning back around to me. “Thank you. I appreciate the idea. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. But it just makes sense.”

“Sure. Anytime. I’ll throw in my two cents, but take it for what it’s worth.”

I’m honestly impressed that she listened to me. Considering that we have such a rough relationship, I kind of expected her to dismiss me out of hand, but she didn’t. That shows a strength of character that’s impressive. Of course, I didn’t need anything more to admire about Kate.

five

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Kate

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