Page 47 of Sea Glass Serenade

“Alexis, your order is up!” called a voice, and she groaned and started to rinse off her arms. It wasn’t until she was hurrying toward the counter where the ready plates of food were placed that she noticed Grayson.

She stopped dead in her tracks, her cheeks flushing. In the next moment, she saw the flowers and chocolates in his hands and blushed even more.

“I take it now isn’t a good time?” Grayson chuckled.

She brushed a damp strand of hair back from her face and smiled. “Unfortunately, no. We knew tonight was going to be a whirlwind, but it’s proving to be more of a tornado. We’ve got the Rosewood Ladies Society in the back room, which was expected, and they always order a lot of different things. I swear all of them have at least two different kinds of drinks and so many appetizers—and anyway, then our dishwasher called in sick, which is really turning out to be a nightmare because we’re about five minutes away from running out of clean dishes, and then on top of everything else, a couple of buses full of high school basketball teams decided to stop here for dinner. And I mean, I’m glad they came here, but yikes!”

Grayson couldn’t help grinning. He was sorry she’d been feeling stressed, but he found the way she stopped to tell him all about it adorable and endearing.

“Don’t stress,” he told her, taking a few steps toward her. “It’s okay.”

“Thank you for the presents,” she said, gesturing to them. “They’re beautiful. At least—I assume they’re for me.” She laughed. “If you want to put them in the office? I’m sorry, I have to run.”

She reached out toward him for a second, and he thought she was going to hug him, and then she turned and hurried toward the plates of food.

He watched her go, smiling quietly to himself. He made his way through the kitchen to the office, being careful not to get in anyone’s way, and he left the flowers and the chocolates on the desk. He left his jacket on the back of the swivel chair, and as he stepped back into the kitchen, he started to roll up his sleeves.

Alexis hurried back inside the kitchen a moment later, making a beeline toward the sinks full of dirty dishes.

“Alexis!”

She turned to him in surprise. “Grayson! Did you?—”

“I can stay and help.” He smiled at her, admiring the way her eyes were bright with energy and her cheeks were flushed. “I used to be a dishwasher many years ago. I was pretty fast.”

Her jaw dropped, and she stared at him, dumbfounded, for a few seconds. “I—well, I mean—yes, that would be amazing. We absolutely need it.”

“Perfect.” He grinned. He felt a thrill over being useful that almost surprised him. “Any type of dishes you need more than the others?”

“Glasses! Those ladies have been downing iced tea and lemonade and those teenagers have been downing soft drinks like nobody’s business. Thank you, sweetheart.”

“You got it.” He grinned at her, and his heart thumped to hear her call him “sweetheart.” He wondered if she really meant it, or if it had just slipped off her tongue because she was so frazzled. “Go take care of your tables, I’ve got this handled.”

She darted off, smiling at him gratefully, and he jumped into the task at hand. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant job, especially since many of the plates were particularly greasy or sticky, but he soon got the hang of it. He remembered to soak the extra dirty plates in hot water before trying to scrub them clean, and before long he had settled into a rhythm.

“I’m so sorry,” one of the waitresses said as she set down another stack of dirty dishes next to the sink. “They’re going to keep coming for a while.”

He laughed. “It’s okay. I know what I signed up for.”

Soon he was beginning to enjoy himself. The cooks, both of them seeming to be perfectly cheerful despite the rush, kept up a steady stream of banter and soon were including him in it.

“I bet we get fifteen more orders of tea before the end of the night,” joked Allison. “But that won’t be my problem—all I’ve got to worry about is the food. It will be your problem, sorry, Grayson.”

He chuckled, shrugging. “Doesn’t sound too hard to clean out a teacup.”

“No, it’s the teapots you’ve got to worry about. That spout is hard to wash out.”

After he’d been working for about half an hour, Vivian appeared at his side, looking tired but smiling.

“Oh, it’s a madhouse out there.” She laughed. “Thank you so much for stepping in, Grayson. I don’t know what we’d do without you.”

He grinned at her. “Happy to help. I’ve made quite a dent in the mountain, if you can tell.”

“I certainly can, and I’m sorry the mountain keeps growing. You’re taking breaks, right? Take five minutes every once in a while. I’ve been a dishwasher myself plenty of times, I know how overwhelming it can get.”

“Thank you. I’m okay for now, but I’ll take a break soon. I know we’re still low on glasses and plates, so I want to wash more of those before I take a break.”

She nodded, and then called to the cooks, “Isn’t he a treasure?”

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