Aspen. She resigned as chef effective immediately.
Lizzy shook her head. âGeez, not even two weeksâ notice?â
âApparently, she considers that a formality.â Definitely gritting his teeth now, given the tense jaw muscles. âI found that under my door when I came to the office this morning.â
Well, crap. âWhat are you going to do?â
He shrugged. âHire a new chef. But that takes time, and Iâve got a dining room to run until then. And breakfast to get on the table. I canât close the dining room downâIâve got too many guests who bought meal tickets as part of their packages.â He paused, staring at her.
Lizzy bit her lip, staring back. âI can do it.â
Denham raised his chin, frowning slightly. âYeah? What do you need?â
âNeed?â Lizzy tried to get her pulse to slow down. What she really needed was a couple of days to think this through.
âSupplies? People? What do you need to make this work?â
Focus, Lizzy! She took another breath. âWeâll need at least one more person for cleanup. Desi wants to learn the business, so he can do some of the prep work. And he can be a runner in the morning if you want to keep doing the omelet station.â
He narrowed his eyes. âDo you think we should keep the omelet station?â
Crap, donât make me think. âFor now, yeah. This isnât the time to make any sudden changes. Long-term, you may want to consider some readjustments.â
Denhamâs expression turned mulish. âIâm not readjusting anything. I know squat about what people want for breakfast. Youâre the chef.â
Lizzy swallowed hard. âIâm the chef?â
He gave her a long look. âFor now.â
Her heart gave a leap that was two parts elation and three parts terror. âOkay, this weekend Iâll look the menu over and figure out what we can do. But weâll definitely need a dishwasher.â
Denham sighed, rubbing his eyes. âIâll see who I can find. You might ask Desi if he knows anybody since we need someone ASAP.â
She nodded. âOkay. Iâd better get back and start planning for tomorrow.â She pushed herself out of her chair.
He raised a hand. âWait.â
Her heart was pounding again. She leaned against the back of her chair. âYeah?â
âHave you ever done this before?â One of his eyebrows quirked up.
She nodded. âYeah. Iâve run a kitchen before.â
âYou know how to do it all? Budgeting and everything?â
She nodded more slowly. âSince I donât know the suppliers around here, I canât access what the costs would be. But I can put together a budget if I can see the invoices for the last month or so.â
He blew out a long breath. âI can get you the invoices. And I wonât forget this. If you can get me out of this shithole that Clarice has dropped us into, youâll deserve a raise.â He raised his gaze to hers again.
Nice eyes. Sort of greenish brown. Hazel? She wasnât entirely sure what color hazel was. Focus, for Godâs sake! âOkay, thanks.â
She took another breath, then turned and headed back to the kitchen. Her kitchen. At least for the time being.
*****
Clark didnât know whether he was more pissed about Clarice taking off or more concerned about Lizzy Apodaca taking over. She looked about as apprehensive as he felt.
But sheâd said sheâd done this before, and judging from the fact that Clarice had apparently dumped the running of the kitchen in her lap before firming up her new job, maybe he should believe her. He didnât have much choice.
Clark showed up at work a lot earlier than usual the next morning, slipping into the back of the dining room around seven. There was already a good-sized crowd, but everything seemed to be moving fairly smoothly. As he watched, the kitchen door swung open and Desi
Pierre V. Comtois, Charlie Krank, Nick Nacario