Page 134 of Small Town Firsts
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“What? I pay attention. You’re important to Ronan.”
“That’s sweet.” I picked up a fork. “I’m only eating because I have a long night ahead. Not that you’re handling me like a certain someone.”
He sat across from me. “I also wanted to talk to you.”
I forked in a bit of rice and pork with a sigh. “Good.” I quickly dabbed my mouth. “About what?”
“My hot sauce.”
“Not that again.”
“Nah. I’m not crying about it. I found something else to work for now until my new order comes in. But it’s a high end sauce.”
“Aren’t all your sauces?” I stabbed at the pork. My budget could use a few of his billions, the way he made his orders.
“Yes, but it elevates the food. However, I did find the missing shipment, and it went to a local address.”
“Can’t you just get it from them? It was a mistake, right?”
“Maybe.”
I put my fork down. “What?”
“Normally, I’d just think it was an error. We’ve all been rushing around in here for the last few weeks.”
“Right.” My belly tightened, but at least it wasn’t going to revolt. I hoped.
“Matt has been helping me doing orders, since my big fingers are always messy with making food.”
My heart sank. “Oh, no.”
I had a flash of memory. Matt had been really upset when we’d given him his new keycard as well. That should have been a clue.
“The address was a glorified PO Box, just with a regular looking address. A lot of people use them to get around the rules of ordering from certain places.”
“Right. Restaurant supplies especially need a physical address.”
“A few of my orders have gone missing, and the more I went through the paperwork, the more I didn’t like it. Distributors are a pain in the ass, but they will jump through hoops to find a way not to send you free product if it’s not their error.”
“So they gave up the address.”
“Bingo.”
“Can I have the paperwork? I need to go to Ronan.”
“Eat first.” He sat back and crossed his arms. “We can fire him in twenty minutes.”
I picked up my fork. Surprisingly, my stomach allowed it. I’d rather know who it was than keep wondering. Even if it would break Annette’s heart to find out.
After eating, and drinking a bottle of water, I went back out to the dining room. A few of my waitstaff had set up a silverware station and were wrapping them with our black napkins. Others were wiping down tables and hitting the windows with glass cleaner.
We would be spick-and-span by tonight. I just had to believe everyone would do their jobs while I did this hard one.
I found Ronan in his workshop and knocked on the door. “Got a second?”
“For you? Always.” He smiled and set down his tongs and blowtorch.
