8
Miles rolled over as soon as his alarm shrilled and sighed. He turned it off and stared at the ceiling. He needed to get up immediately, or he’d fall back asleep.
Please keep the flu at bay until everyone is healthy again.
At this rate, he expected to be sick. His body was exhausted, and he was pushing hard. But he had no choice. He only hoped everyone else would recover quickly. They were down to the bare minimum for kitchen staff, and he couldn’t afford anyone else getting sick.
He pulled himself out of bed and into the shower, hoping it would wake him up. Fortunately, Ethan’s girlfriend Lily offered to help with Emma today so Miles could focus on work.
He checked in on Emma, who was still fast asleep after their long night. The poor kid had to have been exhausted after hanging out with him all evening at the restaurant. Lily arrived just in time, and he let her inside.
“Hey, thank you for helping today,” he said.
Lily smiled, carrying her laptop bag. “Of course. I don’t mind.”
“She’s still asleep, but doesn’t need to be at the school for another two hours. She likes to pick out her own clothes in the morning, and I already have breakfast ready for her in the refrigerator.”
“I think I can handle it.”
“Call if you have any questions.”
Lily smiled. “I’ve got it, Miles. Don’t worry.”
He nodded. “Thanks again.” Then he forced himself to leave and head to the resort. Every day when he pulled into the resort parking lot, he half expected Kelly to be throwing something at his car. The memory always made him smile while parking. He couldn’t stop picturing her chucking her groceries and then staring in horror. The look on her face still had him chuckling.
Ever since he had passed the wedding over to her, he had felt a sense of relief. He usually tried to do everything himself, but at this point, he felt like he was burning the candle at both ends.
He hadn’t a clue what he was going to do about the wedding. Despite his mom having most of the details taken care of, he knew he was biting off more than he could chew. Trying to organize the event on top of preparing the food and cake was more than he bargained for.
Kelly volunteering to take on part of the load had him relaxing slightly. While he still felt like he carried the weight of the world, he knew a little of it was shared. Not knowing anything about Kelly’s background wasn’t an issue. His gut told him he could trust her, and that was good enough for him.
He got to work in the kitchen and before long they were busy enough that he couldn’t think about anything else except getting orders out. Miles slid several orders down the long counter to the servers as they came into the kitchen. They didn’t even put them on the warmers before they were going back out the door. He was exhausted, but pushed it aside as he worked.
After the lunch rush, Savannah came into the kitchen to let him know Kelly had arrived to go over wedding details. Miles welcomed the break. He made lunch for them and then walked out to the corner booth. Kelly was seated at the table looking over the notebook he had given her of his mom’s notes. She had a soda sitting in front of her that she was taking small sips from.
“Hey,” he said, setting plates of fries and two turkey sandwiches on the table before scooting into the booth seat across from her. “I wasn’t sure if you’re hungry, but I’m starving.”
She looked at the food and smiled. Her straight blonde hair was half back, and she wore a white fitted T-shirt and jeans. “It looks delicious.”
Miles didn’t waste any time digging into his food. He tilted his head toward her notebook. “Any questions so far?”
Kelly chewed on a fry and shook her head. “I think it’s pretty straightforward. Although I’m wondering how much help you all get setting up? Your mom can’t be doing that alone, right?”
Miles shook his head. “No. We have any available staff help. Unfortunately, with the flu going around, we are short-staffed everywhere. I can see if some friends can help if needed.”
“I’ll also check with Ava and see if she’s willing.” Kelly picked up her phone and typed a message before setting it back down. “So you have all the food taken care of, including the dessert, right?”
“Yep. The bride chose what flavor she wanted, and we finalized the cake design a while back.”
“Are you also a cake decorator?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I know a little, but not normally, no. But she brought a very simple design in and it’s something I can handle. Otherwise, we would have outsourced it or had her find a cake decorator to use.”
“I called each vendor and confirmed the times they’re arriving.” Kelly looked at Miles. “Your mom has impeccable notes, by the way.”
Miles chuckled. “Can you believe she doesn’t enjoy doing it?”
“Seriously?”
