Tropical Holiday Tails - Zoe Chant Page 0,23
he stood politely with her. “Thank you for your help tonight, Jack.”
Chet winced as he shook her strong hand. “It’s not Jack. It’s…” He thought about the old cook’s slip. Chef. “Chet,” he said rather miserably. Not Guard Chet. Just Chet.
“Chet,” Scarlet repeated warmly. “Thank you.”
“I’ll let you know what I decide tomorrow in time for dinner preparations,” he said firmly. Then he considered. “But…breakfast?”
“We’ll pull the menus and have a pancake spread,” Scarlet said. “We have several pounds of mix.”
She must have seen Chet flinch at the idea of pancake from mix, and swiftly added, “Fresh strawberries from our gardens will cover many sins, I hope.”
Chet gave her a slight bow, chiding himself for already considering the kitchen his own domain. It wasn’t his. They weren’t staying.
Chet was singing again, something in Italian, and Magnolia found herself smiling up at the sunshine with relief in her heart.
It didn’t feel much like Christmas, despite the decorations and the holly. The holidays in Valtyra had been snowy and filled with the smells of pine and cider. Here, it was as blazing hot and sunny as ever, and all the twinkle lights in the world could not transform a palm tree into a Christmas tree.
“I am going to be sad to see you go,” Scarlet said frankly and Magnolia squinted at her against the light.
“Oh, sit, darling,” Magnolia invited. “I will be devastated to leave. I haven’t seen Chet so happy in years as he’s been helping you out these last few days.”
“I have been hoping he would reconsider my offer for long-term employment,” Scarlet said as she sat elegantly across the table from Magnolia. “I am already spoiled for any other cook.”
“Long-term?” Magnolia was not used to being caught off guard. “He made it sound as if he was only helping you out for a little while until a new cook came in.”
“A new cook I’ve been unable to find,” Scarlet admitted. “I was wondering if I’d be able to sweeten the deal in some way and persuade you to stay.”
“What kind of terms did you offer?” Had the deal been that terrible?
“I had hoped to negotiate a long-term lease for your cottage at a stiffly discounted rate,” Scarlet said. “I usually pay in room and board, but of course, you are staying in one of our most luxurious cottages, not in the usual staff quarters, and the cost to me is considerably more.”
Magnolia looked at her in astonishment. How was this not the perfect arrangement? Chet, so clearly happy with his new work, and the two of them living in this gorgeous paradise indefinitely—it was everything she had longed for.
She had to laugh after a moment, and fan herself with her hat. “Oh, what a fool I’ve been, darling,” she confided to Scarlet. “All these years of moving us along when I saw him getting bored…he would never ask me of course, but I could always tell. He must have thought that I was the one with wanderlust, that I was the one wanting to constantly go somewhere new. Oh, I’ll have to scold the dear man.”
Then an idea occurred to her. “No, not scold…surprise. Scarlet, my dear, let’s talk terms. I won’t let you bankrupt yourself for something I would pay every penny I have to buy.” She chuckled, and shook her head. “I suppose that is a poor way to start negotiations.”
Chet had learned more about food service in the five days since he’d taken over the kitchen than he even knew there was to learn.
He had to scale dishes and time multiple meals at once. He quickly figured out that limiting the menu choices to two was all he could handle. He had to learn which tasks he could pass off, and to whom, before he floundered under the sheer number of things to be done. Hardest of all, he had to accept some level short of perfection, simply in order to serve. He was grateful that the resort was nowhere near capacity; if he’d been thrown into such a job with many more guests, he was humble enough to admit he may have failed.
Breck and the rest of the staff did their best to fill in the gaping holes of his knowledge, and he worked harder than he’d ever worked in his life, and felt more alive. He got to the point where he could wander the restaurant himself during the lulls, and the delight on the faces of the guests was a salve to a