I brush off my face. “It’s just attracted to this handsomeness.”
She grins, walking over to wipe it off. Her touch is tender, and I’m able to study her up close while she works. “How did you get it in your hair and in your ears?”
“Very carefully,” I say, letting out a small laugh when she purses her lips and raises an eyebrow at my answer.
“What are you doing in here?” I ask, folding up the bag of flour. “Were you able to get a table?”
“I’ve been helping the hostess get people seated. I thought I’d come see if you guys need anything back here since we’ve got everything moving out in the dining room, and I figured a few more hands to get the food coming out quicker would be better.”
I glance sideways at Marco, who seems to stiffen at the thought of needing more help.
“This is the owner, Marco, and he’s doing a phenomenal job back here,” I say pointing to him. His body eases up a bit. “Marco, this is Avery, owner of Second Tide Coffee down the road.
“Well, Marco, I’ve heard good things about the food that has already gone out to the floor. I’ve worked to get wait times fixed, but it’s a good problem to have, honestly.”
Marco gave his first full smile of the day. “Why, thank you, Signorina.”
Avery held her hands out to the side. “I’m here to help with whatever you need.”
Marco looks between the two of us and says, “Why are you all trying to help me so much?”
I frown. “That’s what you need. Don’t you want this business to do well? This is the best time to get people coming and trying out things so you can tweak your process. I love seeing small businesses succeed. It’s a benefit for the economy here in Penrose, as well as for you.”
He looks at me for a long moment before saying, “I’m used to doing everything myself. No support.”
“It’s okay to ask for help, Marco. Before you get most of your customers coming,” I say, “you’re going to need to hire a lotmore people, both for prep in the kitchen and for helping out on the floor.”
I go through a mental checklist of things that might help his business.
“Your hostess is mostly trained on what she needs to do when people come in and how to handle bigger groups,” Avery says. “You can change anything you don’t like, but I would think if you can get the right people, it will take a few things off your plate.”
“How do you know all this?” Marco asks, looking a little suspicious.
Avery laughs, the sound floating through the room and lightening the mood. “This girl had to work at a restaurant to pay for part of college. There are a few things that might be rusty, but they came back to me quickly.”
I grin. Avery is very competent, and she can fix a situation like this and her coffee shop as long as it’s not marketing.
One employee comes in and says, “I have a family emergency and need to go. I’ll try to come back as soon as I can, but I need to leave.” She hangs her apron on the hook and heads out.
Marco freezes, unsure of what to do. “I don’t know anyone I can call right now.”
“I can help with that,” Avery says. She walks over and grabs an apron from the hook, wrapping it around herself. “Do you have any notebooks, so I can take down orders?”
“I don’t have extras, just what I ordered for the servers here,” Marco says. “Look in the office over there.”
He directs me over to stir something on the stove and gets a bunch of stuff plated. I’m still surprised at how well things are running for such a slim crew of people.
Avery comes out with a smaller notebook and a pen giving us both a grin. “Okay, here we go.” She tucks them into her apron and grabs a large platter, placing several plates on it.
“Which table is it supposed to go to?” she asks.
Marco looks at the tab. “Number seven, please.”
I’m surprised at how more modest and grateful he is after an hour of working with him, but maybe he realized that was something he needed.
We all need help in our own way; it just depends on the situation and how much we’re pushed into something. Maybe that’s one of the things I needed to learn the most by coming here—that I do have the chance to choose, that I don’t have to obey every directive from my father.
My personal life doesn’t need to be part of the business. It shouldn’t be part of Alder Haus Markets.
