Page 66 of Sister of the Bride

I just saw the email from Charlie. I wanted to let you know that we have a position open now, and I’d love to talk with you about it. The most important thing you need to know, though, is that it involves a lot of travel. Mostly domestic, as that’s where our clients are, but we do send our consultants overseas every once in a while to meet with producers and suppliers. Also, Charlie mentioned that you’ve worked in the kitchen at your restaurant, which is great experience, but keep in mind that the job here wouldn’t involve much of that. You’d be meeting with restaurant owners, helping them assess their menus, their procedures, and their administration in order to help them achieve their goals. A lot of people have been interviewing for this job without a full understanding of what it is and isn’t, so I wanted to get that out of the way.

If this position is something that sounds interesting to you, shoot me an email. I’d love to set up a phone interview. Charlie speaks really highly of you, so I’m already impressed. Kelleher doesn’t acquire just any restaurant, so the fact that you’ve already run a place of that caliber speaks volumes.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Nate

Travel? Do I want to travel? I’ve certainly never done much of that. In twenty-six years, I’ve barely left New England. There was the one school field trip to Washington, D.C. and a cousin’s wedding in Chicago in middle school. But other than that… There’s so much of the world I haven’t seen. So much Iwantto see. Even if it’s just metropolitan Orlando.

Do I want to travel?

Absolutely the fuck yes I do.

And when you add that this is an entire job where I’d get to be (gently) bossy and comb through spreadsheets and menus and make checklists for other people? If I were praying person, I’d be running straight to St. Michael’s to light a candle. But none of us have been very Catholic in years, and the last time I was in a church was for Dad’s funeral, so instead I reach for a Marino’s matchbook and light the little red glass votive candle on Dad’s desk. It glows ruby red, and I close my eyes and send a wish up to the restaurant gods—or maybe to Dad—asking them to smile down upon me. Then I blow out the flame and write an email to Nate.

That sounds exactly like something I’d be interested in. I’d love to chat with you. Here’s my number, just let me know what time works best for you.

Pippin Marino

Chapter27

Toby

Did you hear about the restaurant on the moon?

Great food, no atmosphere.

Pippin

Get your ass over here before these jokes make me change my mind

“Knock-knock,” Toby says, leaning against the frame of the office door.Damn, the man can lean. “How’d the meeting go?”

“What?” I ask, temporarily distracted by his forearms, which are crossed over his chest. But then I remember we’ve put a pin in that and shake it off. “Oh, yeah, it was good.”

“Good like you think they’re going to take over?”

“Good like I think they’re going to acquire the restaurant and maybe I also have a lead on a job?”

Toby’s eyebrows shoot up into his hairline. “Here? At Marino’s?”

I shake my head. “No, the guy I met with from Kelleher told me about his friend who runs a consulting company and is looking for someone who can travel around helping restaurants figure out how to be more profitable.”

Toby lets out a low whistle, then drops into the chair across from the desk. “Are you serious? That sounds great!”

I smile. “Yeah, it kind of does, doesn’t it?”

“That would be the perfect job for you.”

“It would, I think,” I say. “Of course, I’m going to have to put together a résumé, which I’ve never done before, and I don’t even know if he’s going to think I can do the job once he talks to me. I’ve only got a first interview, and—”

Toby places both palms flat on the desktop, leveling me with a look. “Pippin Marino, stop talking yourself out of this before you’ve even had a phone call. You’re smart and qualified, and this guy has no reason to blow smoke up your ass about what he’s heard. So please let yourself off the hook and revel in the good news.”

I let out a long breath and realize my heart is pounding. Because while I’ve been busy planning this wedding and orchestrating the sale, I’ve sort of set my future on the back burner. But now it’s here, staring me in the face, and I’m a little bit scared. I’m scared that I’m not good enough. I’m scared that even if I am good enough, this isn’t the right thing. And I’m scared that I won’t know the difference.

“Pippin,” Toby says, his voice a gentle warning. “I can still see you spiraling.”

I nod and lock eyes with him. My best friend, who knows just how to talk me down. Thank god for him. Thank god I haven’t messed that up yet.

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