Page 21 of How My Fake Alien Boyfriend Learned to Cook and Saved the Family Business

Nat took a sip of her margarita while she thought. “Not that I can think of. Why?”

“Julian walked off. Left me high and dry mid-shift.” I shot Nat a raised eyebrow. We’d had many, many chats about Julian’s bad attitude over margaritas.

For months, Nat insisted I fire my belligerent chef before he became an even bigger problem, and I’d hemmed and hawed about it. I didn’t want to cause trouble, I’d insisted. It wasn’t really my decision, since Dad had hired him in the first place. But the truth was, I was too unsure of myself to take responsibility. If Julian were around—if I had the excuse of a bad employee to hide behind—all the things that were going wrong wouldn’t be my fault.

“I posted a hiring sign on the door right after it happened, and this guy came in an hour later looking for a job.”

“That’s lucky,” Nat said, sucking at her margarita.

“It is, except…” I swished my straw through the slush in my glass. Nat had made this batch stronger than usual, and I needed to pace myself. “I don’t know. He seemed totally clueless. Not just green. More like he’d never been in a kitchen before, ever. It was so weird. Plus, I didn’t recognize him at all.”

“Hmm,” Nat hummed, thinking. “We’ve been getting an influx of newcomers lately. There’s that new housing development just outside of town, you know. Maybe he’s new to town.”

Right, I’d forgotten that. Nat had a way better handle on Roswell Falls current events than I did. Not only was she a firefighter who knew every road and home in town, she was also active in local politics. My friend basically had a standing item on the monthly town meeting agenda and was a total thorn in the side of half of the town council. I loved that about her, too.

“True,” I conceded with a shrug. “I put him on dishes because we were in the weeds and I’d be stupid to turn down an extra set of hands.”

Nat looked at me, her expression clearly saying, so what’s the issue?

“I’m wondering if that was a bad idea. Maybe I should just wait for someone more qualified to come along.”

Nat cocked her head to the side, thinking. “You could…”

“But?”

“Well, was he nice?”

I nodded.

“Did he do a good job?”

I nodded again.

“Do you think he’s someone you could work with?” she asked.

I thought about this and nodded once more. Kal was strange, that was for sure. But he was kind and enthusiastic. I thought about him on the bench outside the restaurant, sitting next to my brother with a butterfly perched on his nose. He looked so peaceful there; exactly where he wanted to be. And then I thought of Kal’s eyes. Greener than the pines that covered the mountainsides, bright and twinkling like a distant star.

My stomach fluttered. Green eyes, broad smile. A kind, calming presence.

Why the hell was I thinking about my new employee’s eyes?

Nat continued. “I don’t know, Lo. Maybe he’s the perfect person for the job. You don’t want to work with another asshole. You’ve had enough of that over the years.”

That was true. I’d shared everything about my nightmare kitchen jobs with Nat in long phone calls and expository text threads full of excessive emoji usage. Everyone I’d worked with was either on the brink of a meltdown or in serious need of anger management. Or, more often, both. It had been miserable.

“Plus, you’re already juggling so much with the restaurant. Now you’ve got this contest on your plate,” Nat said. She paused, shooting me a meaningful look. “I know you think you can, but you really can’t do it all on your own. You need help, and you need it, like, yesterday. If you’re pretty sure this guy can help, he seems like the perfect fit.”

She was right on all counts, of course. I knew she was right. Still, I made one last futile argument. “But that means I’m back in the kitchen again.”

“Great!” Nat raised both of her hands in the air, waving them in a jazzy hallelujah. “Exactly where you belong.”

Kal

The ground was cold and soft beneath me, but the sun peeking through the canopy of trees warmed the skin of my suit. Birdsong welcomed me to a new day, and I still couldn’t believe I was actually here, on Earth. That I had made it.

You made it? More like you made a huge mistake.

I squeezed my eyes shut and wrinkled my nose. I shouldn’t have let myself think like that, no matter how naturally it came to me. Mistake or not, I was on Earth, and I wanted to make the most of it. I didn’t know how much time I would get before having to go home.