Love in the Morning by Meg Benjamin Read Free Book Online Page B

stepped out, carrying a pan full of bacon with two dish towels. He had a white apron wrapped around his waist, and somewhere he’d scared up a white chef’s beanie. He managed to look almost professional. Clark wondered how much Lizzy Apodaca had to do with that.
    Thinking of Lizzy Apodaca, he scanned the room, looking for her. She stood on the far side at the omelet station, shuffling three pans on the burners. He watched her pour eggs into one of the pans, turning it to coat the bottom, then rake through all three with her spatula for a few seconds. She turned to one pan and dropped a handful of something that looked like bacon, then to another pan where she pushed the edge of the omelet slightly, letting the uncooked egg slide underneath. She added two more handfuls of ingredients to the other two pans, then began flipping the omelets in half. Another few seconds and she pushed them onto plates, handing them to guests who were standing in line to pick up their food.
    A considerable line, now that he noticed it. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen a line that long with Clarice. And most of the line was male. He looked back at Lizzy again. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail beneath her beanie and she wore a white chef’s coat. There was something mesmerizing about watching her move from burner to burner with quiet grace.
    He shook his head. Snap out of it.
    It had taken all of maybe four minutes and she’d served three people. Clark was suitably impressed. On the other hand, it was pretty labor intensive. And if she was spending all her time making omelets to order, she couldn’t be back in the kitchen keeping Desi from coming to grief. Clark sidled to the kitchen door, trying not to distract her.
    As he stepped inside, he saw Desi at the stove, cooking a huge frying pan full of scrambled eggs. A timer dinged somewhere and Desi opened the oven door, yanking out a pan of bacon. He closed the door with his knee and turned back to his eggs, giving them a vigorous shake while he poured in what was probably the right amount of salt, although it looked like a lot to Clark.
    He started across the kitchen in Desi’s direction but stopped partway. Another guy who was maybe Desi’s age was scrubbing a pot in the sink. Clark frowned. He didn’t think he’d hired anybody else, but maybe he had. He turned back toward Desi. “How’s it going?”
    Desi glanced up, then back at the eggs he was transferring to a pan for the steam table. “Hey, boss. So far, so good. Lizzy got most of the stuff ready and she showed me how to do this. We’re keeping up.”
    Clark nodded toward the dishwasher, who was regarding him a little nervously. “Who’s that?”
    Desi shrugged. “My cousin Marco. Lizzy said you needed somebody and he’s looking for something part-time. I told him to come in this morning and get started.”
    Marco gave Clark a guardedly hopeful look.
    Clark sighed. “You know how to load a dishwasher?”
    Marco nodded. “Desi showed me.”
    â€œAnd mop up?”
    â€œSure.” Marco’s smile became more definite.
    â€œGreat. You’re hired. Fill out the paperwork when you’re done here, and I’ll even pay you.”
    â€œYes, sir.” Marco nodded enthusiastically.
    Clark wondered just how old the kid was, but he wasn’t inclined to look a gift horse in the mouth. He turned back to Desi, who was picking up one of the pans to transport it to the steam table. “This is what you want to do, right?”
    â€œCooking?” Desi’s grin was almost as bright as Marco’s. “Absolutely. This is great. Lizzy knows her stuff.”
    â€œReassuring since she’s supposed to,” Clark muttered, but then he shrugged. “Okay, I’ll get out of your way.”
    Back in the dining room, he watched Lizzy cook up a few more omelets. She seemed to do it with a little more pizzazz than Clarice