Pushed

Chapter 27

A week later,I sat at the office desk and gazed out the window. My thoughts drifted to Jasper and the time we spent together after the restaurant closed the night before. Sigh.

Since Jasper had taken over for his dad, he came to my place late every night. It had quickly become my favorite time of day and the only way we could spend time together with our crazy schedules.

Sometimes he would help me clean up, and then we’d go upstairs and cuddle on my couch watching a movie. Or I’d cook one of my new creations for him to try. Other nights we’d go for a late night stroll in the moonlight, holding hands and talking as we walked. Then he would give me a soul-searing kiss at my door before saying goodnight.

Is it hot in here? I fanned my face.

Daydreaming was much more enjoyable than trying to figure out what to do with the bookkeeping. I didn’t want to be embarrassed and have the office be a complete mess when Jasper returned. But now I knew there was a reason I avoided accounting like the plague. It wasn’t just because I was more comfortable in the kitchen. Nope. These spreadsheets hated me.

Why did I ever think I could handle everything Jasper was doing here? I’d only been covering for him a little over a week, and I was already out of my mind. I’m pretty sure the numbers on the screen were laughing at me, shoving their thumbs in their ears and shouting, “Neener, neener.”

Handling a dinner rush with half the staff out sick? No problem. Juggling flaming pans and weaving through a chaotic kitchen on a sprained ankle? Child’s play. Facing hangry customers with nothing but a spatula and a smile? My superpower. But ask me to decipher profit margins and expense reports, and suddenly I’m lost in a maze of numbers, like it’s a bad horror movie.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think Jasper had rearranged the numbers and documents to push my buttons. I half expected him to jump out of the corner at any moment and laugh at this outrageous prank.

But it was no prank. Just my ineptitude.

Our new menu and specials had been a huge hit, though. The restaurant was busy pretty much from open to close—a first since I’d started working here. It gave me a measure of satisfaction to know it was because of my new dishes and ideas that the place was thriving. Along with Jasper’s brilliant marketing. The two of us together really were a good team. I could admit that now.

I could also admit that I was wrong about him. He sure knew his stuff when it came to business. I admired him. But more than that, I missed him. One day away from the office, and I ached to see his smiling face. I even missed his pranks. Not that I’d ever tell him that.

Thankfully, Eric was able to pick up some of the slack in the kitchen while I tried to tame this infuriating beast that was our bookkeeping program.

Eric burst into the office. “Do you know where today’s meat order is? I’m prepping our specials for the day but can’t find it.”

“It should have been delivered two hours ago.”

“I know. But I didn’t see it come. Did you?”

“No. Let me check the order.” I pulled up the recent orders. My heart sank. “Shoot. I must have forgotten to place the order. I wrote it up, but I must not have sent it. Let’s see what we have in stock and modify our specials for today.” I rushed to the kitchen to fix the problem that was completely my fault.

We had just gotten everything prepared for the new specials, as well as the regular items, when Mandi, one of our waitresses, approached me. “Excuse me, Chef AJ, but where are our paychecks? They’re usually by the time clock before shift starts on payday. But they aren’t there.”

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t get to that, but I promise I’ll do it as soon as I can.”

“Will you have it ready by the end of my shift? I need that check to pay my rent.”

I sighed out loud. “Yes. I promise I’ll have it ready before you go tonight.” As soon as I figure out what I’m supposed to do with the payroll and how to print the checks. Ugh! I looked over at Eric. “Can you handle things in here for a while? I need to figure out the payroll?”

“You got it, Chef.”

Once in the office, I stared at my nemesis, the spreadsheet. Even the flickering cursor seemed to be mocking me.

Sliding into the chair, I sat up tall and cracked my knuckles, ready to take this on—determined to figure it out on my own. I tried to psych myself up with a good pep talk.

Come on, AJ. You can do this. It’s just a simple thing. You’ve been paying bills for years. This should be no different.

After struggling with the program for over an hour, I was about ready to toss the computer out the window. I’m sure it would be quite satisfying, even if it wouldn’t solve my problem. As much as I didn’t want to admit defeat, and hated having to rely on a man… I needed help.

Me: SOS!! I forgot it was payday and don’t know what to do with the payroll. The staff are ready for mutiny.

Jasper: I’m so sorry. I completely forgot about that too. I’ll be right there. It won’t take long, and I can show you how to do it.

Me: Thank you!

Less than a half hour later, Jasper rushed into the office. “AJ, I’m so sorry this happened. It’s completely my fault.”

“No. It’s not. We’re partners, remember? And I offered to handle everything here so you could focus on the farm. It’s my fault I didn’t get it done.” Or didn’t know how to do it.

“Before we tackle that, there’s something else I need.”

“What’s that? Can I get you some food or a drink?”

“No, that’s not it.” He stepped closer and pulled me into his arms. “This is what I’ve been needing all day.”

I melted into him as he held me. It felt so good to be in his arms. My eyes prickled with emotion. “I guess it’s what I was needing, too. And here I thought all I needed was an accountant.”

He chuckled and held me for another moment. “Okay, as much as I’d like to hold you the rest of the night, we’d better get this payroll done.”

“Yes. The sooner we get that done, the sooner we can revisit this, and maybe add a kiss onto it.”

He winked. “I like how you think, Princess.”

I pulled out the desk chair for him to sit, but he deferred to me. “You sit. I’ll be over your shoulder telling you every step to do. That way, you’ll remember it for next time.”

“Don’t be so sure.”

In about an hour, we had everything entered and the checks printed. He signed them and I put them into envelopes for each employee.

“Phew. Thanks so much, Jasper. I never would have been able to get that done without you.”

“Ah, you’d have figured it out. It just would have taken you longer.”

“I disagree. That computer behaves much better when you’re around. It’s like a petulant child who waits for his dad to leave before bullying his little sister.”

He laughed and gave me a well-rehearsed, innocent look. “I wouldn’t know anything about that. Just don’t talk to Junie.”

“Okay, now that we got that out of the way, we can do something much more fun.”

“Like bungee jumping or whitewater rafting?”

“No, I was thinking more along the lines of you kissing me. I want a kiss so bad it hurts, Princess.”

“Well, we can’t have that.”

Just as his lips met mine, there was a knock on the door. Chelsea peeked in. “Sorry to interrupt, but we have a situation you need to take care of, Chef.”

“I better let you get back to work.” Jasper stepped away from me and picked up the stack of envelopes. “I’ll put these checks by the time clock to stave off the mutiny another week.”

“Do you still want to come by after work?”

“Do bears poop in the woods?”

“Um, yes. I guess so.”

He laughed. “I absolutely want to see you later.” He gave me a quick kiss before I had to rush off to put out another fire. At least I had something to look forward to when this day finally ended.