Chapter 3
M iles walked into the restaurant, which was at full capacity.
While he loved a full house, he didn’t love it so much when they were short-staffed.
Walking into the lobby showed the mess his parents were having with the leaks in some rooms. The lobby was packed as the front staff worked to address any issues.
Savannah spotted him from across the room as she was setting plates down at a table. She smiled brightly at the customers, said a few words, before hurrying across the room toward Miles.
“Thank God. You are a sight for sore eyes,” she said.
“That bad?” Miles asked. They walked quickly toward the kitchen.
“Oh, you know how it goes. When it rains, it pours.”
Miles walked through the double doors and looked around. His staff was working quickly to prep plates and get them out the door. While they all knew how to make the dishes, he was the main person in charge, who handled a good portion of the prepping and kept things in running order.
Brian, a line cook, glanced up and looked visibly relieved. “Hey, boss. We’ve been trying to keep things in order, but we aren’t as good at managing things as you are.”
Miles walked by and clapped a hand on Brian’s shoulder. “You guys are doing a great job.” He looked up at the upcoming orders and conferred about where everyone was, and then he pulled on his apron and got to work.
By the time the breakfast rush ended, they went straight into the lunch rush. Miles kept his head down and focused on getting through the food so there wouldn’t be a huge delay on meals.
“Hey, bro,” Ethan said as he walked into the kitchen. Miles glanced up just as he was finishing the nachos he promised Jessa.
“Hey, man. Hike over?”
Ethan nodded. “Yep. I’m going to help Mom and Dad with the pipe leak. I wanted to stop in here to see if you needed anything first.”
“Would you mind running by my house and dropping off lunch for Jessa and Emma?” Miles placed the container into a carryout bag along with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich he made for Emma with a side of fruit.
“Of course. I can do that real quick.”
“Thanks. I’ll make lunch for you too. What do you want?”
“Burger?”
Miles handed the bag to Ethan. “You got it. I’ll have it ready when you get back.”
“Thanks, man.”
Ethan left with the food, and Miles got to work making a burger and fries for him, along with one for himself. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was. The staff had already taken turns eating, and he was the last.
When Ethan came back in, he sat at a table in the back of the kitchen with Miles while they both ate quickly.
“How did things seem to be going at my place?” Jessa had watched Emma before, so he wasn’t worried. But he was curious about what Emma was talking Jessa into.
Ethan snorted. “Jessa had very colorful makeup on. She said they were going to do their nails after lunch.”
Miles chuckled. “Sounds about right.”
They finished their lunches, and Ethan went to take food for their parents that Miles had prepared. Then Miles went back to work cooking for guests. It would be an incredibly long day at this point.
The staff changed out for dinner, and his line cooks went home looking exhausted. He thanked them for their hard work and reminded himself it would only be like this temporarily. He only hoped no one else in the kitchen would get the flu. But that was something he would deal with if the time came.
His parents, Ethan, and the local plumbers fixed the leaks, but some rooms needed to be renovated from water damage.
They managed to find new rooms for every guest and adjust some reservations in the meantime, but it was crunch time to fix it all.
They had a wedding booked in their ballroom next weekend, and they couldn’t bump wedding guests.
Miles stayed to help through the dinner rush, but when most of the crowds had died down, he left for the evening, leaving the kitchen staff to handle the rest. By the time he got back home, Emma was asleep on the couch with her head in Jessa’s lap while a cartoon played on the TV.
Noah sat beside them with a beer in hand.
“Hey,” Miles said quietly. “I’m sorry I’m so late.”
Jessa smiled. “It’s all right. Ethan brought the lunch you prepared, and Noah came by and brought the dinner you made. Thank you for that.”
“Of course. It’s the least I could do.”
“Everything get taken care of? It seemed like it was all under control by the time I left,” Noah asked.
“I think so. Mom said they got the repairs done. Now it’s just fixing anything that was damaged. It’ll be all-hands-on-deck for a while,” Miles said.
“It’s unfortunate so many people are out sick. It’s going to be messy for a bit,” Noah said.
“Flu going through the mountain staff too?” Miles asked.
“Unfortunately,” Noah said.
“All I’ve got to say is I hope it’s a mild one,” Miles said.
He looked at Emma. Flu season was horrible for many reasons, but the worst one was his own daughter getting it.
Having a sick child was hard, especially when you were also responsible for running a kitchen and would have staff out for the same reasons.
“I can come by again tomorrow to watch her if you need the help,” Jessa said.
Relief coursed through Miles. He knew he would be needed tomorrow and was already planning to go in. Jessa volunteering to watch her took something off his plate.
“Thank you so much. Just let me know what you want for food, and I’ll get it here for you.”
Jessa smiled widely. “Do you even have to ask?”
Miles chuckled. “The nachos will be here for lunch.”