she?â he snapped.
âNo idea.â She hoisted the tray onto her shoulder and started toward the door to the dining room.
Denham stepped beside her, swinging the door open so that she could pass through. âDid you call her?â
She shook her head. âI donât have her number.â
âI do,â Denham said grimly. He strode out of the dining room as she turned back to the kitchen again.
Lizzy half-expected Clarice to show up after that, but she still didnât appear.
Desi seemed oddly elated by the morning, despite the fact that heâd been doing double-duty as a kitchen assistant and a dishwasher. When the last diners had left the room, he dropped into a chair at the side of the dining room. âMan, that was really cool. What a rush.â
Rush was accurate, given the state of breakfast. At least theyâd gotten through it without any major screwups. Lizzy slumped into one of the chairs, letting her head fall back. âThanks for stepping up. I couldnât have handled all of that on my own.â
He shrugged. âNo problem. I asked Clarice to let me start cooking after the last kitchen assistant quit. She kept saying sheâd consider it, but she never did.â
She turned to look at him. âYou want to be a cook?â
He nodded. âYes, maâam. Thatâs why I took this job in the first place. I thought I could get my foot in the door. I guess once Clarice has you doing something she doesnât want you to do anything else, though.â
Lizzy considered just how far she could go in subverting Clariceâs orders. Screw it. If Clarice wanted to run her kitchen, Clarice needed to be around. âYou could help me out with breakfast prep if you want. Lord knows thereâs lots to do.â Maybe she could even put him to work making sandwiches since all that currently involved was weighing meat portions and assembling the pieces.
Desi nodded again, more enthusiastically this time. âThatâd be great. I mean, youâve got a lot of experience, right? You really look like you know what youâre doing around here.â
Danger, danger, danger. âIâve done some kitchen work before,â she said carefully. âI could show you how to prep the stuff for breakfast.â
Desiâs grin was the brightest spot in the dining room. âSuper!â
The dining room door swung open and Lizzy steeled herself to tell some hungry hiker he was just too late until she saw it was Denham. He gave her one of those laser looks she was getting used to. âI need to talk to you.â
She nodded. âRight. Go ahead.â
He glanced at Desi. âLetâs do it in the office.â
Desiâs grin faded a bit.
Lizzy gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. âWhy donât you get started on cleanup? I should be back soon.â She glanced at Denhamâs thunderous expression. Or not.
She followed him down the hall to his office, her pulse thudding like a battle drum, her stomach somewhere around her toes. It doesnât mean heâs found out anything about your past. He could want to talk to you about something else. It doesnât mean heâs going to fire you. Would the fates actually be this cruelâletting her work in a kitchen again for a few weeks and then kicking her in the rear? Well, theyâd done it before.
Denham dropped into the leather chair behind his desk, motioning for her to take the chair across from him, then pushed a piece of paper in her direction. âLook at this.â
Lizzy picked it up with trembling fingers, staring at the handwritten note. Donât be anything bad. Please donât be anything bad. She focused on the words.
And blinked.
âClarice is quitting?â
âApparently, sheâs already quit,â Denham said. He sounded like he was gritting his teeth.
She looked at the note again. Short and not sweet at all. Clarice had a new job in
Ker Dukey, D.H. Sidebottom