Page 55 of The Chef's Kiss
“That never stopped you from getting to know Carter,” Jorgina snapped.
Emery met her glare. “Carter never wanted to be just like his daddy. Mom, you know Dad won’t be okay with this.”
Still, her mother thought. “Lena Contreras and her family have a long-standing relationship with us. We won’t be partnering with your uncle, Emery. She is the girl who robbed him of his greatest prize.”
“What’s that?”
“Conner.”
A laugh burst out of Jorgina, and her aunt smiled.
“Any restaurant connected to Selena is one I am happy to do business with.”
19
JORGINA
We rode the high of our contract with the meadery for days, using that confidence to secure everything else we needed. Except for wait staff. Most of the kitchen staff was in place, but who cared about the food if there was no one to serve it.
I leaned against the counter in the kitchen, watching Hudson chop carrots. He wouldn’t cook anything with them right now. I’d learned chopping soothed him. Something about the rhythm of it.
“Check out this one.” I pulled up another application on my phone. “It’s someone from Hidden Cove, and all they say is that they don’t need to answer the questions because we need them more than they need us.”
Hudson shook his head with a grin. “They aren’t wrong.”
“I’ll schedule an interview. Oh! Here’s a good one. This girl, Shonda Kane. She had experience working at the resort in Hidden Cove. Oh, but—” I couldn’t take my eyes from her application.
Hudson stilled his knife. “What?”
“She was fired for sleeping with the chef.”
“Oh, really?” His eyes lit up.
I shoved him. “Don’t be a guy.”
“Did they have a policy against that?”
I suppressed a laugh. “Um, no, but it seems they were caught during the dinner rush.”
His hand paused mid-air as a rush of breath left him. “That’s … interesting.”
“At least she’s honest.” So far, we’d only gotten really bad applications from the ad Hudson placed. “I’ll reach out to some of the people I mentioned before. We’re going to have a good staff if I die trying to find them.”
“Don’t do that.” He resumed his chopping. “Then, I’d be without a manager too.”
Rolling my eyes, I left him in the kitchen to get ready for the next interview I had scheduled. I’d never been in charge of people before, but I was ready for this.
I was seated at the back booth I’d claimed as my office when my phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, so I picked it up.
“Finally,” Cara said. “I guess it takes me borrowing someone else’s phone to get my best friend on the line.”
All the laughter of the last few days, all the lightness I’d felt, faded away. Cara didn’t deserve what I was doing to her, what her fiancé had done to her.
“Hey.” My voice was quiet. “I was going to call you back.”
“Sure you were.” She didn’t sound angry, only worried. “Jorgie, please tell me what’s going on. I miss you.”
I missed her too. So much. My hand went to my stomach, strengthening my resolve. I’d tell her. I had to. I couldn’t let her marry a man like that. But it needed to be in person.
