Chapter Two #4
Hayes hung up the phone and said, “Boss wants you to meet her at Lucky Lane in an hour.”
“Why didn’t Pauline call me?” Kelley frowned, stashed the calculator back in the side drawer of the metal work desk and checked her cell phone. No missed calls.
“Pauline misplaced her cell phone,” Hayes explained.
“Again?” That seemed to be a common occurrence for the diner owner.
And it explained why Pauline had not replied to Kelley’s texts about approving invoices for payment and signing off on purchase orders for the weekend supply delivery.
“That must be the fifth time this week she lost her phone and it’s only Wednesday. ”
“Pauline has been booked up going on all sorts of dates,” Hayes explained. “It seems she recently put herself back in the marriage mart.”
“What does that have to do with her lost cell phone?” Kelley snapped her fingers and grinned. “I got it. Pauline left it when she was sneaking out on an awkward blind date. If she went back to get her phone, she would have been stuck on her date.”
“Pauline has better manners than that,” Hayes countered.
“When was the last time you were on a blind date?” Kelley tapped her chin and considered Hayes. He was a father of two and claimed to be friends with his exes. Kelley added, “Or any sort of date for that matter.”
“I’ve been on my fair share of dates. Now, never mind all that.” Hayes braced his hands on his hips and eyed Kelley. “You need to focus. This is your chance.”
“My chance for what?” Kelley asked slowly. Because she was not joining Pauline back on the marriage mart. Been there. Divorced that.
“This is your chance to pitch your ideas to Pauline and fix this place.” Hayes pulled a small worn notebook from the wide pocket in his apron and handed it to her.
“What is this?” Kelley asked.
“I wrote down your recipes,” Hayes said unapologetically. “Although I guessed at some of the ingredients. Not that it matters. These are your creations, so you know full well what goes in them.”
Kelley flipped through the lined pages and scanned several recipes.
“But this was all in fun.” A few weeks ago, at Pauline’s request, Kelley and Hayes spent an entire weekend deep cleaning the walk-in refrigerator and freezer and then inventorying the entire restaurant from top to bottom.
Hayes challenged Kelley to create her own diner menu while they were reorganizing the walk-in refrigerator. Kelley explained, “I wasn’t serious.”
“Well, it is serious now,” Hayes replied, his words firm. “We need more customers around here. We gotta give the locals a reason to come back for more than just your Wednesday mystery bakes.” Hayes pointed at the notebook and said, “There are more than a dozen reasons right inside there.”
Kelley hedged, “But don’t forget Pauline wasn’t all that interested in my ideas for rearranging the cookline to improve the service flow.”
“That was bad timing,” Hayes mused.
“Pauline accused me of wanting to change everything and erase her mom’s very essence from the entire place,” Kelley said dryly.
That would have been near to impossible.
Trudy Riggins had always been the heart of the Galloping Fork Diner.
It was Trudy who had hired and trained Kelley back when Kelley was a freshman in high school.
Trudy had been demanding of her employees and particular about every detail of her diner.
However, she’d recognized Kelley’s passion for cooking and never stopped nurturing it.
“You’d been working here less than a week.” Hayes brushed his hand through the air and continued, “Pauline was still in the worst of her grief from her mom’s death and couldn’t see nothing else. It’s been six months.”
“And time heals,” Kelley said mildly. At least it was supposed to.
“That and it’s time to show Pauline what you can really do,” Hayes said. “This place needs a refresh, and you need to be back in the kitchen doing more than rolling out dough for a limited pastry run once a week.”
It had been over a year since her divorce and since the last time Kelley ran a full dinner service.
She’d come home and taken a much-needed step back.
It was for the best while she and Pauline found their new normal; at least she hoped it was.
Otherwise, she might be concerned she was going backward in life.
Kelley smiled at the older cook. “I appreciate the vote of confidence. Now, let me finish up some paperwork so I can meet our boss on time.”
“Trudy would tell you that if you see an opening, take it and make your pitch.” Hayes turned and walked out, adding, “Swing for the stars. And you will go places you never imagined.”
That was just it. Kelley had swung for the stars and the moon. And believed she had it all, too. A dream job working beside the man she loved. It was everything her heart ever wanted.
Yet love, she knew now, had an expiration date. After all, she had ended up back where she never imagined she would be. Home in Gold Finch.
So when she swung again, she would use her head and not follow her heart. Surely then she would get everything she needed.