Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Frankie
The zoo café was certainly grander than my little one upstate. It had a floor-to-ceiling aquarium against one wall and a tube slide for one thing. Plus, dozens of tables and booths that currently all had the chairs flipped up apart from the one where I sat across from a silver-haired woman with warm brown eyes that crinkled as she spoke.
Evelyn Lachlan. The CEO of Prickle Island Zoo had an undeniable warmth. She had a tanned face and sinewy body that looked like she’d been working outdoors her entire life. She was an odd juxtaposition, wearing a blazer, work slacks, and hiking boots as if she couldn’t decide if she wanted to dress like a corporate executive or a park ranger. It was her calm sort of confidence that drew me to her the most. She was the sort of person that everyone would look to in an emergency, the kind who knew a little bit about everything. She made me feel like everything was going to be alright.
“You can contact Aya about all the food ordering,” Evelyn said, ticking off her onboarding check sheet. “She handles all of the suppliers for both human and animal alike.”
I chuckled. “Okay.”
“Only the best for our animals.” Evelyn gave me a smile. “You’ll have a few days to get settled in, get to know the waitstaff and line cooks. You’ll be working closely with the front of house manager, Mateo. He’s lovely, so if you need anything, feel free to reach out to him. The gift shop staff and volunteers will be arriving today so plenty of helping hands. Take this week to learn your way around, practice any new recipes.” She leaned in conspiratorially. “I am sure my kids would all love to be culinary guinea pigs if you need any opinions on baked goods.”
We both laughed. “Excellent. How old are your kids?”
Evelyn waved a hand. “Oh, they’re all grown,” she said wistfully. “I can’t believe it. Seven kids and my youngest just turned eighteen. Where did the time go?” She shook her head. “They all work here at the zoo except for one who moved to New Zealand.”
“Aw, wow, that’s lovely. I didn’t realize this was a family business.” I looked around the space, taking it all in. The place didn’t have the vibes of a little mom-and-pop business. It seemed run like any other state-of-the-art zoo. It was wild to me that it was all run by one single family.
Evelyn jotted something down in her notebook as she said, “I am very fortunate that they all mostly get along. There were a few dicey teenage years with some of them, let me tell you, but they still back each other up. Even more than running a zoo, raising my family has been an adventure.”
“With seven kids, I can only imagine.”
She leaned across the table and patted my forearm. “I have a feeling you’re about to be everyone’s favorite person,” she said. “The last chef, Savannah, was before she retired at the end of last summer. She knew what all keepers know: you can get anything you want with a good food bribe.”
“She left some great recipes. I’ll be sure to include the favorites in the cabinet and menu selections.” I looked around the space again, romanticizing what it would be like filled with eager patrons. “This will be a bigger gig than I'm used to,” I admitted. “We didn't have this number of customers at my café and I only had one employee, but I really appreciate you giving me a chance. Especially so last minute.”
Evelyn’s smile lines deepened. “I’ll be honest, I don’t think I was ready to fill the position until you applied and I realized we only had a few weeks until summer!” Even her laughter was warm and welcoming. She was like bottled sunshine, motherly and warm but confident and astute too. I didn’t think I’d ever worked for someone who genuinely seemed nice. “Besides, you're selling yourself short. Your food has won many awards. I've done my research, Francesca Benedetti. If anything, this seems like a step down for you.”
"A sidestep into something new," I amended, matching her infectious smile. My new boss was instantly buoying my low spirits. This job would be great, things would get better, and I’d have a whole summer on a beautiful island far from Jake to figure out my next move. "I really appreciate this opportunity, more than you know. My world kind of got upended a couple weeks ago and I really needed a change."
"This is a surprisingly wonderful place to reinvent yourself," Evelyn confessed. "And our menu. It hasn't changed in over two decades. I have children younger than this menu.” She chuckled and looked down at the dated, laminated paper between us. "But business is growing, especially in the last year, and I think it's time for an upgrade—new blood. I want you to work your magic over this place.”
I brandished my leather-bound notebook. “I was writing down some animal-themed ideas on the ferry ride over. Some things that’ll work more for kids and things to appeal to the adults. I’ll draft up a proposal?—”
“Free rein,” Evelyn cut in, waving her hands with a majestic little swirl. “I trust you.”
I blinked at her, my brain taking a second to catch up. Unless you owned your own place, having free rein to redesign a menu was pretty much unheard of—let alone a café and a restaurant like the zoo had. My thoughts doubled pace: we could do different themes, seasonal foods, sampler plates, different specials each day of the week . . . This was a great opportunity for me. I had a bunch of recipes I had been testing out when Frankie's Café had closed.
I bobbed my head, feeling for the first time in weeks like maybe my luck might be changing. This would be good. A fresh start. Evelyn seemed to understand how much I needed that judging by her perceptive smile.
"We've set you up with an apartment at the Salty Dog," Evelyn said. "I think you'll like it there. It’s a rustic, nautical bar less than a ten-minute walk along the waterfront from here.” She checked her watch. “But Kirby probably won’t be up for another hour—bartenders,” she said with a playful roll of her eyes. “So I’ll let you have a poke around the café and get settled in. Feel free to go explore the zoo and say hi to the animals too. Now’s the best time, before we’re swarmed with summertime visitors.”
Talk about a job with benefits. Not many people got to go hang out with giraffes and meerkats on their lunch break.
I stood in unison with her and shook her outstretched hand. “Thank you again, Mrs. Lachlan?—”
“Call me Evie,” she said. “Welcome to the team, Frankie. I’m looking forward to working with you.”
I watched her leave and then wandered aimlessly around the café for a few minutes, staring at the aquarium fish and seriously debating testing out the tube slide. Technically, I had two locations to supervise now: the front of house café and the restaurant in the middle of the zoo called the Peckish Peacock. Evie had mentioned in her correspondence that I’d also have the opportunity to do some catering for zoo events. The excitement of everything I could achieve in this place eased some of my nerves. I felt a little more justified in taking this job.
I could do what I did best: feed people. And I wouldn’t have to worry about all the admin of running a business. All the nightmarish paperwork would disappear, and I could do the actual hands in the flour work that I loved.
I shook out my hands and rolled my shoulders. “Okay, good,” I encouraged myself aloud.
Navigating through the chairs and around the cabinet, I went to inspect the kitchen. The room was humid and stuffy, so much so that I could barely take it in. I flicked the overhead fan on and went straight to the back door to prop it open with one of the rubbish bins. When I turned back round, my belt loop caught on the door handle. I jerked forward, almost toppling over.
I glared down at my belt loop. “Seriously?” I reprimanded the inanimate object.
“Need some help there, Goldilocks?” a familiar voice called.
I extracted myself from my entrapment and whirled to the sound. “Goldfinch?"