Page 21 of The Second Chance in the Mediterranean
Hours later Clarissa was upset and moaning to Bok. “Can you believe they asked Dom to take down the sails? What is the point of chartering this boat if you don’t want to actually sail her?”
No one answered, but the answer hung over our heads: they could afford whatever they wanted, and if they wanted the most unique, luxurious statement, they hiredThemis.
We got back to work, andThemiscruised off the coast of Croatia while I multitasked like crazy. Bread was baking, pastries were being stuffed, and a red pepper coulis simmered on the stove. I took a deep breath, pausing the first time since the breakfast rush had started.
A throat cleared; Bok stood behind me, wringing her hands. “Marcella, I think we have a problem.”
“Roy, can you keep an eye on this coulis?” I tilted my head for Bok to follow me to the sink so I could wash my hands. “What’s wrong?”
“Mrs. Granger wants another smoothie, but she said the one from yesterday was not the smoothie she ordered. She said it didn’t have spirulina in it, and the ratios were completely wrong for the request she sent in.”
I shook my head. “What request? She sent in no request.Merda.”
Walking over to the cupboard, I pulled out my portfolio and flipped through my notes to her preference sheet. Bok leaned in, reading over my shoulder.
“What’s spirulina?” she asked.
“An algae powder. And something I definitely do not have on board.” I sighed and closed my eyes. “Nor is it something I’ll be able to find soon. Maybe I could have found it in Split, but we’ve already left.”
I flipped over to our itinerary. We were due in Hvar tonight, a resort island off the coast. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay, we have two issues here: one, I don’t have the recipe for her smoothie; and two, we don’t have spirulina. I’m going to go upstairs and talk to Mrs. Granger. If there are more ingredients we need to get, then it would be better not to have to make two shopping trips.”
Talking to Mrs. Granger took all of my best patience. The woman was lounging on the aft sundeck, drinking her way through Will’s painkillers. He nodded at me from the bar, and by the look on his face, I guessed the drinks were being watered down already.
“Chef Trey was supposed to email you the recipe. I have one every day,” she said. Despite that, she couldn’t tell me any of the other ingredients beyond “some whey powder” and agave syrup.
Back downstairs, Roy was still working in the galley, chatting with Seb, who was in for a snack. Bok and Cat were in the lounge, leaning over laptops and papers. Cat looked up. “Any luck?”
“Not really. She doesn’t know much, but I’ve got the number for her personal chef.”
“We’ve been searching for spirulina in Hvar but no luck. There are some health food stores in Split that might carry it.” Cat tilted the laptop my way and I could see the map results.
“How far is Split?”
Cat winced. “An hour and a half by ferry.”
“Merda. Let me call my provisioning company and see if they can run something over.”
“I have a few contacts on Hvar—let me see if any of them have a faster option.” Cat pulled out her phone and started tapping.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Seb rinse his dishes out in the sink and give Roy a fist bump. “Later.” And he was out the door.
My calls were fruitless. Our schedule would get thrown off if we waited too long in Hvar, and I couldn’t allow that to happen. Cat hadn’t been very successful either. Getting ahold of people in the hospitality industry in peak season was hard.
Good news came in the call with the personal chef. Not only did he give me the recipe, while making sure I knew it hadn’t been his fault that I didn’t have it, but he also gave me some advice for Mrs. Granger’s usual menu. There were several tips he mentioned that hadn’t been indicated at all on the preference sheet.
The door opened and Seb strolled in. “You’re looking for spirulina, right?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve got some.” He held up his phone. “A buddy of mine is working on a yacht that’s already anchored in Hvar, and they’ve got spirulina on board.” He turned his phone toward me to show me a picture. “This is the right stuff, yeah?”
“What, really?” I stood up and grabbed his phone. “Oh my God. You are amazing!”
Seb grinned at me, all cocky and pleased.
“How did you manage this?”
“I went up to the pilothouse and Dom helped me check the names of the boats in the area in the identification system. We recognized a few of them that employed yachties who either of us knew from other ports, and we made some calls on the radio.”
