Catering to Love (10 page)

“No, hang out for a little while. Want to go out for pizza this evening?”

“I have to take a rain check on tonight. I have a date,” Stephanie said, smiling.

“Hold that thought!” Gabi said, and quickly went to hand the mover his check. “Please tell your men thank you.”

“Good luck to you, Ms. Johnson. I hope you do well.”

“Me too. Come over and try out the restaurant sometime.”

“Oh, I will. My wife and I love the food here at Carters’.”

“Good, I’m glad.” Gabi smiled and waved as Jimmy walked down the hall. She turned to Stephanie excitedly, “So, who is your date with?”

“A former classmate of mine. He’s back in town. Funny thing is, he’s staying at the motel, so we see each other quite
a bit. He says he’s looking for a place to rent, so since I’m off tomorrow, he wants me to go looking with him.”

“That should be fun. Is he cute? Do you like him?”

“Yes, he’s awesome. He’s sexy, and I hope he’s crazy about me by the end of the night.”

“Whoa! That sounds promising.”

Toweling off, Gabi began to hum as she looked around the suite. It felt good to be settled and ready to take the world by storm. Slipping her arms into her chef’s jacket, she decided today she would meet with the staff to find out what their career goals were and where they saw themselves at Carters’. A swipe of gloss across her lips, and she headed downstairs. Corey was already in the kitchen turning on the ovens.

“Good morning,” she said, “I hope you had a good day off.”

“It wasn’t anything special,” he said. “Did you get all your stuff moved in?”

“I did.” She noticed he was wearing a T-shirt. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to mention I’d like the staff dressed professionally. I’m sure you have a few chef’s jackets hanging around your place.”

“I do, but they have the name of my restaurant above my name.”

“Well, you could have that embroidery removed by a tailor. Or you could do it yourself. It’s not very difficult to do.”
He gave a shake of his head. “So I’d like you to start wearing them.”

“Fine,” he said, his tone riddled with insolence.

By ten thirty, the kitchen was hopping with activity. She walked to the center of the kitchen. “Guys… can I have your attention for a minute?” All eyes turned toward her. “Starting tomorrow, I’d like each of you to wear your chef’s jackets when you’re working in the kitchen. I’m a firm believer in dressing the part.” Everyone but Corey nodded in agreement. Steven was the first to say something.

“My wife will be happy about that. I’ve been getting my shirts pretty soiled, and she hasn’t been real happy about that.”

“Thank you, Steven.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Corey give Steven the brownnose signal. She chose to ignore it. “Steven, do you have a few minutes?”

“Sure, what do you want?”

“Let’s go to my office.” Steven stopped what he was doing and followed her. She closed the door, and he took a seat.

“Uh-oh, what did I do wrong?”

She laughed. “Nothing. I just want to know what goals you’re aiming to achieve in your culinary career.”

“Oh wow! No one has ever asked me that before. I’m not sure I even know how to answer that.”

“Okay. Then let me ask it in another way. Is Carters’ your first job in a restaurant?”

“No. I’ve worked at a few other places, but they weren’t as big as this restaurant.”

“Where do you see yourself in three years?”

“I don’t see myself owning a restaurant, if that’s what you’re asking me. My wife is pregnant, and I can’t imagine
starting up a new business and learning about raising a kid at the same time. I think my wife is going to need me around.” He shrugged.

“That’s fine. I’m not asking you these questions because I’m expecting a long-term commitment from you. I know you’re going to want more from your career as time goes on and I understand that. I just want an idea of how much time to devote to molding you into the kind of chef you want to be. Are you happy being on the grill? Would you like to try one of the other stations?”

“Okay, so yes, I’d like to try pastry for a while… just to see if I like it. Maybe Leslie would swap with me?”

“Well, I haven’t spoken to her yet, but I’ll put it out there and see. I could also put Joey on the grill, if he’s interested, and let you work with Leslie too. She’s so new at this, I’m not sure she’s ready for the grill yet.” She moved a cookbook to the side of her desk. “Do you have aspirations of being a sous-chef some day?”

“Yeah, I can see myself graduating to that. Right now though, I want to learn everything there is so I can be the best sous-chef I can be. It’s going to take a lot of training and learning to get to that stage. Right now, I’m about midway. Honestly, I didn’t learn much from Nell and John. Well, Nell was outside hosting, but she still came into the kitchen and reprimanded when she saw something she didn’t like. As for John, I think he was just too exhausted to care. He thought we should know what to do. Truthfully, if I had questions, I asked Corey. Maybe if I’d started right after they took ownership, but by the time I got here, they were ready to call it quits.”

“I’m sure.” She nodded. “Okay, that’s good news. We’ll start working toward that.” She pulled out two bottles of water from the small refrigerator in her office and handed him one. They discussed Steven’s new menu ideas until Gabi glanced at the clock, sensing the time had slipped away faster than she’d intended. “Oh wow!” she said, “Where did the time go? Are you all set for the lunch crowd?”

“I have a few more things to do before then, so we probably should stop here,” he said. “I enjoyed this chat, Gabi.”

“Me too, Steven. If you ever have anything that’s bothering you, have questions about anything, or you want to share ideas you think might work, feel free to express them to me.” They stood and he shook her hand.

“Thanks. I’ll do that.”

“I’ll get back to you on the switch after I talk to everyone. I’m also planning to have monthly meetings to discuss restaurant stuff, do taste tests for new meals, things like that. I have big plans for Carters’, so I hope you’ll come along for the ride.”

“Thank you, Gabi. I appreciate it.” She watched as he made his way across the floor, noticing a springier bounce in his step heading toward his station. Corey looked up when Steven returned. Uncertainty crowded his expression when he saw Steven smiling.

Gabi walked to Joey’s station. “I’m going to steal him from you for a while,” she said to Corey.

“Well, he’s got a lot of work to do.”

“I’m quite aware of that. I won’t keep him long.” Corey shook his head in disgust, but she ignored it.

Later, after the dinner rush, Gabi sat at her desk and released a sigh. It had been a very long day. She’d had talks with Steven and Joey and was pleased with the outcomes. Corey, however, was distraught, and she attributed that to him being upset because she hadn’t spoken to him yet. Seeing his peers happy after their talks must have generated a host of questions in his mind. She smiled to herself. Yep, it was good for him to stew for a while. She’d get to him, but she wanted him to sweat it out a little longer.

Joey’s interest in expanding his knowledge and working on the grill seemed to excite him, and she was going to make it happen. She’d let Steven work with Leslie, Joey could work the grill, and she’d work next to Corey. When she’d mentioned this, Joey groaned, telling her exactly where she stood with Corey. Raising her legs up on her desk, she leaned back in the chair and braced her neck with her hands when her phone rang.

“How’s the new restaurateur doing?” Cassie asked.

“She’s exhausted. That’s how she’s doing.” Gabi grinned, excited to be hearing from Cassie. “It’s so good to hear your voice.”

“Yours, too. So, are you all settled into the suite yet?”

“I am. I even had meetings this morning with two of my people about their goals and such, and I’m feeling real good about that too.”

“And what are you going to be working on?”

“Corey, the sous-chef.”

“Still?”

“Still.” Gabi yawned. “So bring me up to date on you guys. How’s the new cooking teacher doing?”

“Well, let’s see. She’s doing fine. She’s very thorough; she has a family at home and she’s coming back to work after a sabbatical of seven years. So she’s working out well. Jamie and Chase broke up again. I think it’s going to be a permanent thing this time. He gave her an ultimatum: Quit the job or he was gone.” She chuckled. “Jamie’s not the kind of person you give an ultimatum to… you know what I mean?”

“I do. I guess she knows what she’s doing. I mean, they’ve had a rocky relationship from the start, so it’s probably for the best.”

“Uh-huh. Ahh, let’s see. Oh, Josh got a job at Daniel Boulud’s restaurant,” she screeched. “He’s so excited, and I’m excited for him.”

“Wow! That’s a real feather in his cap. How exciting.”

“It is, but he’s working really long hours. I’ve changed my hours somewhat to accommodate his schedule. Otherwise, I’d never get to see him. And I’m now closed on Tuesdays, his day off, so we can do something together.”

“Good.”

“So, is business good? Are you happy with the inn?”

“Business has been terrific. It’s down a little, mostly due to the devout Nell and John supporters, but I am really happy. I’m missing you guys like crazy though. When are you coming for a visit? I need a girlfriend fix. I’ve met one friend my age. I actually met her at the motel where I was staying. We don’t spend a lot of time together, but it’s nice to have the interaction with another female once in a while.”

“Oh, good. I was afraid you’d feel lonely. Although, quite honestly, when do you even have time to feel lonely? You close down the restaurant after everyone leaves and you drag your sorry butt to bed.”

“That’s just about the size of it. Other than meeting Stephanie, my news is mostly going to be restaurant stuff. Things I want to do, but we can discuss that when you guys come out for a visit. Hint, hint.”

“Okay, we’ll work out something for a visit and get back to you. I’ll let you go, and we’ll catch up real soon.”

“Tell Jamie I said hello, kiss Bailey for me, and ask Jamie to call me. I’m sure her hours are similar to mine, so I don’t want to call when she’s sleeping. We all know how much she hates having her sleep interrupted.”

When Gabi entered the kitchen, Leslie was shaping the dough she’d just made into rolls. The aroma from the cornbread baking in the oven wafted up her nose and made her stomach growl, but she resisted, knowing too much of a good thing was bad for her waistline. Corey never bothered
to look up when she entered. “And a very good morning to you,” she said, standing at his station. “How are you?”

Corey simply grumbled something unintelligible. Gabi smiled and walked away, not about to give him the satisfaction. She turned to Leslie. “When you’re done shaping the rolls, please stop by my office so we can chat.” Corey cleared his throat and left his station heading for the walk-in just as Steven approached Gabi.

“I’m very excited about making the change,” he said.

“I’m glad! As soon as I get everything in order, we’ll put it in motion, probably in about two weeks. I need to meet with Leslie and Corey first. I don’t want anyone to be in the dark about what my intentions are. I’m very glad you’re happy about it. I’m pretty psyched myself.”

Gabi filled her mug with coffee and headed for her office. So much was buzzing in her mind, she was having a hard time keeping track of everything. Easing down into the chair behind the desk, she pulled out a tablet and reached for a pen to jot down her ideas. She made up her list and started to figure out a timeline to incorporate all the things she wanted to do. Leslie knocked on the door. She gestured for her to enter.

“Am I in trouble?”

Gabi chuckled. “Why does everyone think they’re in trouble?”

Leslie shrugged. “Because that’s usually the only time a boss wants you to come to their office.”

“You mean the guys haven’t spilled the beans about their conversations with me?”

“No. Not to me, anyway.”

“Surprising. I guess the men don’t gossip like we women do then, huh?”

“Apparently not.”

“So this meeting is for us to get to know one another and for me to understand where you want to go in your career.”