6
Miles leaned against the counter in the kitchen, chugging down a bottle of water. Another server had called in sick. They were down to only two. Savannah had been subbing wherever she was needed, but they were stretched thin. He knew it was only a matter of time before they all came down with the flu.
Emma sat in the corner of the kitchen at the table coloring. She followed Savannah around occasionally and would help reset tables once they had been cleaned off, but there was only so much she could do to help. Normally he’d try to keep her away from it, but right now, he needed all the help he could get, even if it was from a child.
All of his potential sitters were busy with work, pitching in at the resort, or sick. There weren’t many other options at this point. He only hoped he wouldn’t receive any complaints if Emma took on a task she wasn’t supposed to.
Miles moved back to his station and prepped a meal before sliding it down the counter. He had perfected the motion and never made a mistake. It was a special skill he was entirely too proud of.
His cell phone rang in his pocket, but he ignored it as he continued to cook. Then it rang again. His family knew he would ignore calls when he was in the kitchen, but if they called a second time, he would answer.
He fished his phone out of his pocket to see his mom flash across the screen.
“Hey, Mom,” Miles said.
“Miles? I know you’re busy, and I’m so sorry to do this, but I’ve come down with the flu bug,” she said, her voice raspy.
Miles froze.Oh no. No, no, no.
“I’m so sorry you’re sick, but please tell me this doesn’t mean what I think it means,” Miles said.
“I’m sorry. I’m hoping I’ll be better before the weekend, but I can only do so much from my house. It’s best that I don’t come there and risk getting anyone else sick.”
Miles squeezed his eyes shut before opening them and forcing himself to let out a breath. “No, it’s okay. You need to rest and take care of yourself. I can handle it.”
“Are you sure? I can try to help a little.”
“No, stay home. Get healthy. I’ve got this,” he said.
Her reluctant sigh came through the phone. “Thank you. I’m so sorry.”
Their call ended, and he took a deep breath. He could do this. He could handle a wedding by himself.
Who was he kidding? No, he couldn’t. But before he could let himself dwell on it, he forced himself to focus on serving the customers that were currently in the restaurant.
He had until Saturday to sort out the wedding on his own and possibly delegate things to his already exhausted staff. Guilt consumed him. He couldn’t do that. They were all worn out just as much as he was.
“You okay, Daddy?”
Miles looked over to where Emma was watching him. He tried to smile reassuringly.
“Yes, I’m okay. Grandma came down with the flu, so I need to handle the wedding this weekend on my own.”
“That sounds like fun,” she said.
“It’s just a lot of work, and I’m a little stressed.”
“Oh.” She tilted her head. “I can help decorate.”
Miles smiled softly at her. “I think that’s a great idea.”
The next daywas utter chaos. Miles was busy preparing samples for the wedding cake as the bride would be coming in to taste-test them. Normally this would have been done several weeks in advance, but since most of the weddings they hosted were for out-of-town guests, they had an option to sample the few days leading up to the wedding.
Miles stood up, feeling like everything was about to fall apart with how short-staffed they were. Savannah rushed into the kitchen looking as stressed as he was.
“Brittany called in sick,” she said.
Miles sighed. They were down to only one server—Savannah. “Have you tried calling people who had today off to see if they’d be willing to come in?”
