Page 44 of The Chef's Kiss
“Seafood chowder.” Hudson disappeared behind his prep station again. I was kind of shocked he’d taken my advice about the chowder.
“The locals are going to love it.”
“How do you know?” He returned to set two small steaming bowls on the counter between us.
“Because they love chowder. But also because you’re not trying to compete with Chowder’s chowder.”
“What?” He sat down, shaking his head.
“You haven’t been to Chowders yet? It’s this little diner down by the marina. Best clam chowder and hush puppies you’ll ever have.”
“Well, let’s hope this is the best seafood chowder they’ll ever have.”
“What’s in it?” I took up my spoon, eager to get started.
“Lots of butter, potatoes, onions and celery, seasonings, and a little sherry and clam juice.”
My stomach heaved at the idea of clam juice, but I soldiered on, inhaling the aroma.
“We’ve got chunks of sea bass, shrimp, clams, and lobster. But my two secret weapons are the diced bacon I cooked the seafood with, so you get lots of that lovely bacon grease, and also the roe.”
I wanted to try this dish less and less. “What’s roe?”
“Raw fish eggs.”
“Excuse me.” I clapped a hand over my mouth and stood up to run to the bathroom, but my legs didn’t want to hold me up and the room started to spin as I sank to the floor.
16
HUDSON
I didn’t know what to do, so panic set in. A kind of panic I wasn’t used to. It was no rarity for my kitchen staff to work themselves into exhaustion, but I never saw one drop so suddenly.
When I called 9-1-1, the operator told me to make sure she was still breathing. Why wouldn’t she still be breathing?
I’d held her until the ambulance showed up, keeping her head from resting on the floor. She looked fragile in a way she hadn’t before, breakable. The Jorgie I had grudgingly started to like wasn’t fragile. Something told me she’d been through a lot and came out swinging.
Except now …
I paced the waiting room at the small hospital in Hidden Cove. Superiore Bay only had a clinic, but I didn’t care where we were, only that my one employee was okay.
Day two of the job and she was already in the hospital. This didn’t bode well.
My phone rang, but I shut it off when I saw Jordan’s name. I couldn’t think about her today, or about the million little things I needed to do to prepare for the soft opening, or how Jorgina drove me insane ninety-nine percent of the time. And yet, here I was worried she’d never snap at me again.
But she’d just passed out. That was what the paramedics told me. Her vitals were okay, they said. I wouldn’t believe them until the doctors here checked her out.
A nurse walked through the double doors from the hall, and I rushed forward. As the only person in the waiting room, I knew she must be looking for me.
“Sir, are you with Jorgina Ashford?” she asked.
“Yes, is she okay?”
“You’re her husband, I assume?”
I knew how hospitals worked when it came to information, so I nodded.
“My name is Mackenzie, and I’ve been with Jorgina since she came in. Our doctors have had a look at her, and she’s awake now.”
