Catering to Love (8 page)

“This is a pointless conversation,” he said. “We all need to get to work.”

Annoyed by his attitude, she shook her head at the absurdity and walked to her station to begin prepping for the day’s desserts.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the squash lengthwise, being careful not to slice your finger. Blood is not an ingredient in this soup. Remove the seeds and hairy stuff inside the squash and discard both, along with any ideas you have about your cute boss, especially if she buys the place right out from under you. This latest event is one more confirmation that you can’t trust women. Not Nell, not this broad, none of them. And you’re too steamed right now to try to charm this one into your way of thinking about letting you continue to run the show. But you might try softening your expression from a poker face to a smile. You still haven’t learned you get more flies with honey!

Now peel the skin from the squash and cut it into bite-size pieces. Place on a large sheet pan.

Using a saucepan, melt the butter until foamy. Add the brown sugar and vinegar and blend until thoroughly mixed. It’s a good reminder about how mixed up you are when it comes to most things. Pour contents over the top of squash and toss to coat evenly. Place in preheated oven for 45 minutes, tossing halfway through and roasting until caramelized.

In a 5-quart pot, melt the 4 ounces of butter and add the celery, carrots, onion, and garlic, and sauté until tender. Add chicken stock, salt, and cinnamon, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and allow the contents to cool slightly, while simultaneously trying to cool your jets for a while.

Remove the squash from the oven and puree in small batches. Combine the puree and chicken stock and stir. If the puree is still too thick, you can add more stock. Add salt and pepper to taste. Before serving, add the heavy cream. May be served hot or cold. Garnish with toasted sunflower seeds. Serves 10–12. Watch everyone smile. Bet you’ll have a hard time keeping a poker face with this dish.

Gabi eyed the calendar and couldn’t believe they’d actually officiated the closing, and she was now the new owner. It appeared the Carters were more anxious than ever to get on with their lives and had pushed their attorney to get the necessary inspections done as quickly as possible. Her mom and dad were just as nervous as she’d been, and she didn’t blame them. After all, they were taking a risk on her, too. Now it was up to her to see that she maintained the restaurant’s good standing in the area. She knew she was capable of doing it, but nevertheless, she hadn’t slept much last night, and the nerves now pulsating in her stomach felt like a crowd of rioting protesters. She inhaled a deep breath and slowly released it to the count of fourteen, hoping it would help. Fingering her necklace, she could hear Nell coming down the steps. Today was the day they were going to tell the staff she was now the head honcho of the inn.

“After we make the announcement, I have a few more things to take care of here and I’ll be on my way. According to John, the last of our things will be moved this afternoon,” Nell said. “Since you’re officially the owner now, John was
anxious to get to the new place and kick back, so he hustled our sons to get some giddyup in their get-alongs and move us outta here.

“Terrific! So I guess that means I can move in over the weekend?”

“It does.”

“Terrific.” As they entered the kitchen, anxiety continuing to punch Gabi’s insides. She told herself she had a lot riding on this inn and she’d better pull it off.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s official. Gabrielle Johnson is the new owner.” Everyone except Corey applauded. “And I’m pleased to say, Gabi has agreed to keep the name.”

“Thank you,” Gabi said, slightly embarrassed. But that didn’t stop her from taking a bow. “I appreciate your applause.” A feeling of exhilaration surged through her, ready to blast out like a blowtorch. What she really wanted to do was dance around the kitchen, but she forced herself to refrain, curbing her excitement, knowing she had to be sensitive to Corey.

Noticing Nell was no longer by her side, Gabi made her way back out into the dining room and found Nell folding some napkins. Seeing Nell’s expression, she felt a sudden heaviness weigh in her chest. “I’m sorry, Nell. I wasn’t thinking. Here I am getting excited when you’re feeling sad. You’ve been so wonderful during this transition. Saying thank you hardly seems enough.”

“It’s okay. You know, it isn’t every day you buy a business. I understand how you feel. And I remember our first day here too, as though it was yesterday. It’s just hard to walk away after twenty-some years. That’s all.” Nell’s eyes welled. She turned her head away from Gabi, pretending to busy herself
with rolling more napkins. “As soon as I finish rolling these napkins, I’ll be on my way. Now don’t you go feeling bad for me. You damn well better be excited, because you just signed your life’s savings away. You’re going to be working your butt off like there’s no tomorrow.” She grinned. “Now scoot on out of here and get to work in that kitchen.”

Gabi hugged Nell and turned. “Come visit anytime you want.”

Back in the kitchen, Gabi was ready to meet with her staff and let them know how she planned to move forward. A sudden attack of nerves left her mind blank. Damn, she thought, she’d practiced this speech a million times. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to relieve the tension, worried that even if she did remember, she’d be tongue-tied. It wasn’t until she noticed Leslie’s bright smile of approval that it somehow restored her thoughts, and her confidence came back. As soon as the lunch-hour rush was over, she’d address the staff. She walked around the kitchen and stopped to watch Steven fire up the grill.

“Morning, Steven!”

“Congratulations! I thought you’d already closed when you first came here,” he said.

“Well, we were almost closed, but not quite.”

Corey was back at his station but never looked her way when she passed by. She simply ignored him and spoke to Joey instead. “Congratulations,” he said with a big grin.

“Thank you, Joey.” Her cheeks hurt from beaming so much. This was so surreal, she felt as though she was floating on air.

“Me too, me too,” Leslie chimed in. “We should make a special dessert to celebrate the occasion and let the customers know.”

“I agree. We’ll eventually have a grand opening, but first I wanted to make sure the closing actually went off without a hitch. We can make a special dessert for tonight’s guests, and then another one for the opening, but I’ll advertise it first so we have a big turnout.”

“Ooh, that sounds like fun.”

“We can talk more after the lunch rush,” she said, addressing the group, “so I can tell you all how I plan to move forward in the future. So if you have questions, please hold them until then.”

“What’s to ask?” Corey said. “You run the joint, and we’re the lowlifes that work for you.”

Gabi and the rest of the staff stopped cold and stared at him. A host of comebacks were on the tip of her tongue, but she refrained from stooping to his level. She had planned to meet with all of them individually and thought she’d meet with him first, but now that he was being such a prick, she was going to let him wait until the end. Let him stew just a little longer. He was either going to adjust his attitude or he was history.

“So what kind of dessert did you want to make for tonight, Leslie?” she said, changing the subject. “We have a ton of cherries in the walk-in refrigerator that we should use up.”

“Okay, I’m going to look through some of the cookbooks and see what I can come up with. How about we call it ‘The Sweet Takeover’?”

“That’s cute.” She turned to Joey. “I’d like you to come up with a new appetizer for tonight. Let me see your creative side… and no cheating. Find two things that go together for tonight’s dinner.”

“You’re on.” Joey cocked his head to the side. “Thanks for the opportunity.”

Gabi grinned and headed toward Steven. “I noticed we have an abundance of scallops. Let’s prepare a creamy sauce like a coquilles St. Jacques. Try something different with the recipe and we’ll decide after a taste test.”

“Super. I’ve been toying with a recipe at home using scallops that I’d like to try on you. Sound okay?”

“Sure, we can try it. Surprise me, and I’ll taste it later.”

Gabi liked the reaction she was receiving so far and hoped it would continue in that manner. She didn’t want her staff to think she was going to let ownership of this new business go to her head. She was convinced if she gave them some responsibility and the chance to exercise their creativity, they’d take a stronger interest in their jobs. And she hoped, in time, Corey would jump on the bandwagon with the rest, because she didn’t need a sour puss ruining her day—or causing her to focus more on catering to his moods than on her job.

Walking out into the dining room, Gabi noticed the waitstaff huddled around one of the tables, busy talking and not working. She’d met them all when she’d first started while waiting for the closing. It was during that time she realized she wasn’t terribly fond of Rosemary, whom she’d viewed as slightly arrogant and marching to her own drummer instead of Nell’s. When Rosemary saw Gabi enter the dining room, her body jerked and she gave a noticeable
kick to Brian to alert him. Dan, the senior waiter, winked at Gabi, a slight grin on his face when Brian and Rosemary stood up abruptly and started working, guilty expressions crowding their faces. Gabi didn’t say anything. She’d just watch for the next time to make sure the staff wasn’t resting on their laurels instead of doing their jobs. She’d previously thought Brian was a hustler, but it appeared he was easily swayed by others. She’d make note of that. In Rosemary’s case, with two women, both having strong personalities, there were bound to be clashes. Gabi blew out a breath of air. The last thing she wanted or needed on her staff was another problem. Corey was more than enough. Judging from Rosemary’s expression, she suspected it wouldn’t be long before the woman gave her notice. And if she didn’t leave on her own, Gabi would fire her. But the most important thing she wanted the staff to know is that she would be fair, but she wasn’t a pushover either. She continued to the reception area to check on the reservations.

It didn’t take Rosemary long before she made her way over to Gabi and announced today was her last day. “I’m sorry if this seems abrupt,” Rosemary said, “but I’ve been wanting to quit for a while, and since you’ll probably want to hire your own people anyway, I figured now would be a good time to make a clean break.” They exchanged cordial conversation, and Gabi wished her luck, thankful that Rosemary had saved her the trouble.