Page 39 of Moonlit Harbor Nights

She shook her head, pulling her phone out of her pocket and quickly calculating the correct amount. She made a mental note to not let anyone besides herself do the inventory unless she could be sure that they’d been properly trained.

She continued her work, moving product by product. Much of their stock had been miscounted, and she was dismayed to find that they were dangerously low on bags of salt. It was something they needed not only for cooking, but also for the salt shakers that were placed on every table. She made herself a note to go to the general store the next day so that she could pick up a few extra bags of salt right away.

This is going to take me a while,she thought with a sigh, glancing at her watch.Oh well. The life of a restaurant manager is hardly a glamorous one. Sometimes it means being stuck in a closet at nine p.m.

She chuckled to herself as she continued to work. She kept up a steady pace as she continued to count the stock. It was something she’d done countless times, and she was able to do it at a fairly impressive speed.

After she’d been working for about half an hour, she paused, listening intently. She thought she’d heard a faint knockingsound, but she wondered if it had been her imagination or maybe the pipes making odd noises.

She heard the knocking sound again, a little louder this time. Frowning with surprise, she left the storage closet and made her way to the front doors of the pub.

“Terrence!” she exclaimed in surprise when she saw the health inspector standing there. He waved to her through the glass of the front doors, and she hurried to unlock them. “What are you doing here?” she gasped with surprise. “You know we’re closed, don’t you?”

“I know.” He smiled. “But I saw that the lights were still on, and I figured that you might still be here.”

“Is there something wrong?” she asked, feeling worried. Her mind jumped to concerns that he had seen something wrong with the pub, and he was there to inform her that they were violating a health code of some kind.

“No, not at all.” He grinned and held up a tote bag. “I brought more coffee for you to try. A light roast this time.”

She burst out laughing, and he smiled at her a bit sheepishly. “Terrence,” she said, “you realize it’s nine p.m., don’t you?”

He chuckled a bit awkwardly. “I just wanted to make sure that you have it for tomorrow morning. I know that other stuff I brought you didn’t work out, so I thought you could sample this tomorrow instead of drinking your regular coffee at home. These blends are more on the mild side. I thought about what you said about diner coffee needing to have a more, shall we say ‘polite’ taste. And I picked these out.”

“A ‘polite’ taste?” She laughed again, delighted by the way he’d put it. “That’s a good way of describing it. I’d love to sample these blends. Thank you, Terrence. And you know what—I’m here for at least another half hour anyway. Our inventory is a bit of a mess, and I want to make sure to get it all straight before I go home tonight. Why not drink some coffee?”

He smiled, the corners of his mustache curving upward in an almost playful expression. “If you don’t mind, I can stay and drink some with you.”

“Sure.” She smiled at him. “That would be nice.”

She held the door open wider for him, and he stepped inside the pub.

“Still smells deliciously of dinner in here,” he said, inhaling the wonderful aromas that lingered in the dining room.

“It does at that.” She glanced over at him as she relocked the front doors. “Are you hungry? We’ve got some leftovers in the refrigerator.”

“No, I’m quite all right, thank you. I ate dinner not too long ago.”

“What did you have?” she asked him cheerfully as they walked across the dining room together.

“I’m not much of a cook,” he admitted. “But when you can purchase frozen, ready-made meatballs, pasta sauce, and noodles, it’s not too hard to make one heck of a meal.”

She laughed. “You’re right. What brand of meatballs did you buy?”

They continued to chat in a friendly manner until they reached the kitchen doors.

“I know you have a rule about customers not touching your coffee machine,” he teased, “but how about I make us the coffee while you finish your work?”

Her eyes twinkled at him. “I think that would be very nice. I guess I can let my rule slide this once.”

“Perfect. You go ahead and finish your inventory work, and I’ll make us some coffee.”

Vivian smiled at him before walking through the kitchen doors. As she went back to the storage closet to continue her work on the inventory, she thought to herself how remarkably comfortable she felt with Terrence. He wasn’t someone she knewall that well, and yet the fact that he was about to make coffee in her coffee maker without her supervision didn’t bother her in the slightest.

I guess it’s because he’s the health inspector,she thought with a chuckle.I trust him to be respectable and reliable. And I have to admit, we get along very well.

She began to hum a little as she worked in the storage closet. She enjoyed knowing that she had a friend there in the pub with her. She was looking forward to trying the coffee he’d brought with him, and she liked the idea of having company. Even though Terrence was too far away to talk to, it felt pleasant to know that she wasn’t alone anymore.

In not too long, she got the inventory nearly finished and decided to take a break. With a sigh of satisfaction, she clicked her pen shut and turned out the light in the storage closet. She made her way back out into the dining room, where the air was filled with the alluring, rich aroma of coffee.

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