Page 95 of Make Me Swoon

“Apparently the Cajun Chicken Gnocchi isn’t a big hit,” she says, trying to make a joke but I can hear the pain in her voice and I can’t stand it.

“Well, it smells really good.”

“It’s too spicy. That’s been the complaint all night but I marinated the chicken last night and I can’t really change that now. I’d have to make more of the cream sauce to go with it to tone it down a bit but I can’t leave to go get more ingredients.”

“Let me help. I’ll text Rooney to run to the store. You cook and use more of the cream sauce for now and I’ll help you make more once Rooney gets here.”

“You don’t have to do that, Harvey. I know that you’ve been working all day.”

“I want to help you, Coraline.”

“Why?” she asks as the crowd starts to grow more annoyed.

“Because I like you and I can’t stand to see you upset. Now, what does Rooney need to get?”

She eyes me for long seconds and then she rattles off a few ingredients and I text Rooney. He tells me he’ll be there in twenty minutes and I climb into the truck and head to the window. The checkout system is pretty easy and I pick it up quick.

We were together in unison, making a good team as we clear the line. We’re just finishing with the last customer when Rooney pulls up and heads over with a few grocery bags. I let him in and hurry to show him how to work the credit card machine before I move to help Coraline at the back counter.

I wash my hands, sliding on a pair of gloves and a baseball hat before I take my spot next to her at the counter.

“Can you keep stirring the sauce? I don’t want it to burn. I’ll cut up the onions and green peppers.”

I take the spoon from her and start stirring, watching as Coraline quickly slices and dices the onions and green peppers. She’s a master with that knife, the blade moving so fast that it starts to blur. She adds the vegetables and some herbs to the pan that I’m stirring and then has to get back to work when a few more customers walk up.

We finish the sauce and I start helping Coraline box up the food. The three of us work together in tandem for the next two hours. I didn’t realize that her busiest hours seemed to be right as Eye Candy Ink was closing. There’s more people out, club hopping or heading to bars and so there’s a lot of hungry, slightly drunk club goers out and they all seem to gravitate to The Culinerdy Cruiser, probably drawn by the delicious smells.

We don’t close down until one a.m. and by then I’m beat. I don’t know how she does this every day. And by herself most of the time.

“Thank you so much for helping me out tonight,” she tells Rooney and me, and we both nod.

“Anytime,” I tell her, leaning over and giving her a side hug.

“Do we need to clean anything up? I was trying to wipe down the counter when I could,” he says, looking around the truck.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that. I can take care of it later.”

“Let us help you,” I tell her. “Then we’ll walk you to your car.”

She nods, giving us a grateful smile before she asks us to take care of the condiments outside of the truck and to wipe down the counters. She cleans the grill and Rooney heads outside, so I grab a towel and start to wipe down everything in sight.

By two a.m., we’re finally done and I follow Coraline outside and wait while she closes the truck door and locks up.

“You know, if you want to work later hours, for less pay, I can totally hire you two.”

Rooney and I laugh and then Rooney yawns, I can tell that he’s exhausted too and I definitely owe him one for spending his night inside the food truck with us.

“See you later, Coraline. See you at home, Harvey,” Rooney says before he waves and heads toward his car.

I turn with Coraline and head in the other direction toward an older model Ford Edge.

“Thanks again for helping me out tonight,” she says sweetly and I nod.

“Anytime, Coraline.”

We reach her car and she digs her keys out of her pocket. We both shift and I like to think that it’s because we both don’t want to say goodbye to each other.

“Do you ever take a night off?” I ask.

---