The Running Series Complete Collection: 3-Book Set plus Bonus Novella (64 page)

Without hesitating, I join Emmy, Derek, and Blaine behind the bar.  Working closely with my friends brings back memories of the months we spent at Wilkinson’s bar on the boardwalk in Point Pleasant.  It was my first bartending job and the place where I discovered my new passion for cocktails and mixology. 

Since the three of them have been training non-stop for weeks, they are much quicker at making the house specialty drinks than I am.  Instead, I plant myself at the draft beer and wine station.  Each of us carves out our own territory as we find a groove and swiftly begin to clear the tickets. 

“Hey, boss lady – bet you I can bang out these cocktails faster than you can pour drafts!” Derek calls out to me as he sets up three cocktail glasses and fills them to the rim with ice.

“Isn’t it a little early to be so cocky?” I ask.

Derek walks up behind me as I continue to fill a frosted beer glass for a customer.  He presses up against me as he reaches for a bottle of Jack and whispers in my ear, “You know I have mad skills, Jette.  Are you regretting your decision to cast me aside for that big, rich, handsome, and famous jock?  I just don’t know what you see in him.”

I give him a playful elbow to his ribs that he wasn’t expecting, causing him to take a giant step back.  “You better be careful, Derek, or I could bring you up on sexual harassment charges,” I warn him.

“Come on, Jette, you’re the boss and I’m the employee.  I can’t sexually harass you.  But anytime you want to sexually harass me, you have my permission,” he teases.

“If you two don’t cut it out, I’m gonna go get Evan to put an end to this!” Emmy chides.  Derek immediately backs off me and focuses his attention on Emmy.

“Aw, what’s the matter, Em?  You feelin’ left out?  Come here, darlin’.  I can sexually harass you, too, if you want,” he calls to her as he finishes filling his drink order.

It feels so good to work behind the bar with my friends, just like old times.  I feared that my new role as employer would put a strain on my friendships, but it seems that my worries were completely unfounded in this case.  Derek has no inhibitions and I’m glad for it.  I just hope that Evan didn’t witness that little display.  It was all harmless, fun banter.  When women openly flirt and tease with Evan, their intentions are nowhere near as innocent.

I finish filling the remaining orders for beer and wine, then slip out from behind the bar.  I find Evan sitting in the booth with his family giving them a full update on his recovery.  He spots me and scoots in just enough to give me room beside him.

He lays an arm across my shoulder, absentmindedly playing with my hair as he finishes his conversation with his mother, “To be honest, my hand still gets numb from time to time and I sometimes lose my grip.  But that’s happening less and less often.  Dr. Geiselman tells me that I should be able to practice with the team in a week or two.”

Evan’s father gives him a warning of sorts.  “Now son, remember to move cautiously.  Don’t push it too quickly.  I’d much prefer to see you miss a few games during preseason while you heal than rush in before you’re ready and wind up missing the entire season.”  He knows Evan well. 

“Don’t worry, Dad.  The coach wouldn’t even let me near a football until he had the doctor’s release in his hand,” Evan explains.

Dean asks Evan about the Sentinel’s quarterback, Matt Ortiz.  “You know, Mac, Ortiz isn’t getting any younger.  He’s almost forty years old and he’s had a few knee injuries over the years.  Maybe this will be your break-out year.”

“Don’t count on it, Dean.  Matt’s still got a strong arm and our offensive line is built to run block,” Evan explains.  I know that Evan is really looking forward to working with Matt and learning from his experience.  He took the team to the playoffs three times in his career.

They spend a few more minutes talking about the upcoming season and the early predictions.  I give Evan a peck on the cheek, and excuse myself to join my mother and grandmother sitting at the table alone.  “So tell me,” I ask, “how is everything?” I ask my mother.

“I must say, you did a wonderful job designing this place.  It’s really beautiful.  The lighting behind the bar really draws your attention,” she praises.  “And I have to tell you that my drink was out of this world!”

I look down to see if I can figure out which cocktail she ordered, and I see two drinks – one for her and one for my grandmother – but only one meal.  My mother’s sandwich is sitting in front of her, untouched, but there is nothing on the table for my grandmother.  “Gram, aren’t you hungry?  I can have the kitchen send you out some soup if you like,” I tell her.

“Oh, dear, that’s not necessary,” she sweetly replies.  “I’ve already ordered.”

“I don’t understand.  If you ordered, why don’t you have any food yet?  Mom, what’s going on?” I ask.

“Well, we both ordered at the same time, but the waitress just brought out my sandwich.  She said your grandmother’s meal would be out shortly.”  She quietly adds, “That was nearly ten minutes ago.”

I excuse myself to speak with Marcus.  I find him in the back of the restaurant, speaking with two of our waitresses.  They are complaining about the kitchen.  Dinners are coming out randomly, without rhyme or reason.  Tables are getting their food in dribs and drabs.  It would seem that my grandmother isn’t the only customer whose entre was delayed in leaving the kitchen. 

I thank the waitresses for notifying us of the situation and authorize them to offer each table affected a complimentary dessert.

“Have you spoken to Reese about this yet?” I ask.  “This is more than an inconvenience.  Now her mistakes are starting to cost us money.”

“No, I haven’t gone back yet,” he responds.  “I was just about to go in there when you showed up.”

“Let’s go talk to her, Marcus.  Maybe we can get things back on track.”

Marcus and I step inside the kitchen doors, and when I do, I’m shocked by what I see.  Reese is cooking on the line, and one of the sous chefs is trying desperately to expedite the orders.  She has relinquished control of her kitchen to someone hired to train under her tutelage.

I don’t even give Marcus a chance to speak up before I jump right in, “Reese, what the hell?  Why aren’t you expediting the tickets, for Christ’s sake?  The orders are getting all fucked up out here!” I reprimand her.

She doesn’t even give me the courtesy of turning around to talk to me.  She keeps leaning over the grill and sauté pan as she explains, “Listen, Jette, I had no choice.  Would you rather I send out crap food?  These guys don’t know how to cook a burger, much less make a red wine reduction.”

“That’s not my problem, it’s yours.  You had weeks to train your crew and get them ready for tonight.  Evan and I pay you a good salary to run the kitchen – the entire kitchen.  You need to get your shit together or we’re going to have to make some changes back here,” I warn.

“Yeah, right,” she snorts.

“Just because we’re friends, don’t think I won’t do it.  I have a lot of people depending on the success of this place, Reese.  Great tasting food won’t bring the customers back if the service sucks.  And right now, that’s one hundred percent on your shoulders.”

Now I have her attention.  Finally, she takes the pan off the burner, turns, and addresses me.  “I left a perfectly good job back home in Wisconsin to come and help you, remember?  Is this the thanks I get?”

“You hated your job in Wisconsin.  You told me every chance you had.  Evan flew you out here on his dime and I gave you a free place to live.  Don’t you dare accuse me of being ungrateful, Reese.”

“You’re not even giving me a chance, Jette.  I’ll admit that things aren’t going perfectly, but you’re totally over reacting.  Is this because of Derek?  I know you had some pathetic fantasy all worked out in your mind about all of us riding off into the sunset together, living happily ever after, but that was never going to happen.”  She tears off her apron and throws it onto the counter.  “You’re going to have to deal with the fact that you hurt him and throwing us together isn’t going to make that disappear.”

“This has nothing to do with Derek.  Frankly, I don’t give a shit what you two do when you’re not at work.  Fuck him.  Don’t fuck him.  I don’t care.  Derek’s a big boy and he can take care of himself.  Of that I’m certain.”  I take a step closer to her to make sure she knows that I’m not going to be so easily intimidated by her accusation and misdirection.  “What I do care about is this restaurant and its reputation.” 

Marcus steps in before things go any further.  “Jette, I got this.  I’ll stay back here and expedite.  Reese, I’m waiting on two Brie Burgers and a Tomato Avocado Panini.”  He turns and looks at me.  “Go check on the floor. You said your peace, now go take care of the front of the house, Jette.”

Reluctantly, I concede and step back into the restaurant.  I walk straight to the bar and signal for Emmy to come over.  “Em, can I please have a shooter?  SoCo, neat, no ice.”

She eyes me suspiciously, but doesn’t question me.  She puts a shot glass in front of me, grabs a bottle of Southern Comfort, fills the shot glass to the rim, and goes back to making drinks for our guests.  Before I change my mind, I grab the glass and toss it back.  It burns delightfully as it slides down my throat.  I don’t understand why, but I immediately begin to feel the tension leaving my body as the hot liquid slowly spreads through my system.

I make my way around the restaurant, looking for Evan and checking on the customers.  Everyone seems to be handling the delays well.  The customers are all very accommodating, thankfully.  When I finally find Evan, he’s sitting in a booth at the far corner of the restaurant with a bottle of Jose Cuervo Gold Tequila.  Seated around the table are Adam, Auggie and Lucas, Marcus’ fiancée Camilla, and Evan, all laughing and having a great time.  I decide to join them and let Marcus do his job. 

My mother and grandmother are among the first to leave.  I apologize again to my grandmother for making her wait for her meal, and she reassures me that when it did arrive, it was the best sandwich she’s ever had.  Of course, she clarifies that statement by reminding me that her dessert was the best part of the entire meal. 

The restaurant slowly begins to empty out.  Aside from our friends, Evan’s family is the last to leave.  When they do, we lock the front door, crank up the music, and move our little group to the bar.  Emmy and Derek finally get their break from behind the bar.  Emmy rushes over to Adam and leaps into his welcoming arms.  She sprinkles kisses all over his face, and he has a smile a mile wide.  He whispers something into her ear, and I swear it looks like the word ‘love’.  Either that or ‘olive’, but my money’s on the L word.

Soon, Marcus finally emerges from the kitchen and joins us.  “Where’s Reese?” Auggie asks.  She’s been staying in my old room at his house, and they have grown rather close.

“She cleaned and left.  She said she didn’t want to spend any more time with her babysitter.”  He grabs Camilla’s drink and tosses it back in one big gulp.  “I think she meant me.  It got a little tense back there,” he adds.

Auggie turns to me and asks, “What’s that supposed to mean?  What happened tonight, Jepetto?”

“Did you ever hear the saying that you have to learn how to walk before you can run?” I ask Auggie.

“Sure, but what’s that got to do with Reese?”

“Let’s just say she was trying to run a marathon before she was ready.”

Charity Begins at Home

I
t’s Tuesday morning and Evan’s long gone.  He had to be at the stadium by six thirty.  I’m not in the mood for a run today.  I’m actually still a little upset about last night.  Although everything turned out okay, I’m terribly disappointed in Reese.  I would have been happier if she accepted responsibility and tried to correct the situation.  Instead, she misdirected the conversation and accused me of having ulterior motives.  I’ll admit that I have my share of regrets when it comes to Derek, but that does not cloud my judgment.  At least, I don’t think it does.

After I let Maddy out for her morning constitutional, I check my phone and notice there’s a text from Auggie asking me to call him.  It was sent an hour ago, so I know he’s up.  I make a quick call and he says he wants to talk to me.  By the tone of his voice, it sounds serious, so I invite him to come right over. 

Auggie’s house is less than a mile away, so I know he’ll be here fairly quickly.  After letting Maddy in, I hop right into the shower.  I do a lot of my best thinking in the shower.  There’s a beautiful view of the ocean to appreciate while I stand under the cascading water with jets set on full power and the water is nearly unbearably hot.  As I stand there allowing the pulsating water to work their magic on my still slumbering muscles, I reflect on my friendship with Reese. 

When I first arrived at college, I didn’t know a single soul.  Reese and I met at orientation when we both signed up to join the Campus Activity Board.  We were both assigned to live in the same dorm on the same floor, which was entirely comprised of fellow culinary students.  In our junior year, we moved out on our own and became roommates.