Page 39 of Windward Hearts

They both had to hurry back to their work after that, but as soon as Hope’s lunch break began, she hurried down the block, grateful for the small town’s walkability. In Boston, she never would have risked running an errand on her short lunch break out of fear that distance, public transit, traffic, or some other big-city nuisance would stop her from getting back in time. But here, in Magnolia Shore, she could just hop on down the street to Nautical Crafts to look for what she needed.

She was pleased to find a box of colored poker chips in stock. She quickly made the purchase and returned to Riverstone Kitchen with enough time to eat a sandwich before her shift resumed.

At the first opportunity, she brought the box of colorful chips to Lana.

“Fancy a few hands of poker?” the other woman asked.

Hope smiled. “This is what we used at my old restaurant when we had moving zones,” she said. “You assign each staff member a color. Then, when someone starts working with a table, they put their chip down so that nobody else tries to serve the table. You can move the chips easily if zones change, and nobody doubles up.”

Lana’s eyes had gone wide as Hope had been speaking.

“That is… so simple. So brilliant,” she breathed. She practically snatched the box of chips out of Hope’s hand. “You are incredible, Hope.”

Hope pretended to preen under the praise to obscure that she was genuinely flattered by it.

“Why, thank you,” she said. “But I can’t take all the credit. This has been passed down through the waiters’ lore. It came to me from another server, and I’m sure someone here will spread it down the line accordingly.”

“Take the praise, girl,” Lana called over her shoulder as she went to distribute the different poker chips to the staff.

Hope watched her go, feeling a profound sense of satisfaction. She might not be here long, a thought that felt surprisingly uncomfortable, but at least she would leave something of herself behind when she did.

And she found that she liked the idea that she could do that, that she could help Jared even after she had to return to her old life. She liked it a lot, indeed.

* * *

Jared stretched his arms overhead, bending his spine in an S shape to get all the kinks out. A couple of pops and cracks sounded right before he felt the surge of relief that came from finally moving after hours of standing hunched over a cutting board or stove.

The physicality of cooking was as familiar to him as the sights, smells, and tastes. It was grueling, as his back often reminded him at the end of the night, but in a satisfying way. It reminded him that good food took effort… effort that was well spent.

Still. Stretching was mandatory.

He wiped the back of his wrist across his brow, then drew in a deep breath. Even if the cooking part of his job was done for right now, that didn’t mean that his work was actually over. The restaurant business never stopped, he had long since discovered.

He made his way out of the kitchen to see that the chaos out here was dying down too. There were a few stragglers still finishing up their meals, but it looked as though there weren’t going to be any new customers until the dinner service started up in a few hours.

“Hey, Lana,” he called to his most senior server. She wasn’t particularly experienced as a server aside from her time at Riverstone Kitchen, but she was an exceptional manager. He hoped in a few years he would have enough room in the budget to move her into a managerial role full time. Not only would she excel in the role, but the poor woman spent every waking hour running around after her rambunctious kids. He bet she would appreciate a role where she got to sit down more.

“Jared, hi,” she said, then paused to take a long sip of water. He should probably hydrate too. Working in the kitchen was hot, thirsty work.

“How is everything going out here?” he asked, leaning against the wall at her side.

She brightened. “Oh my gosh, it’s so good. That new system is really working.”

Jared frowned. “What… new system?”

Lana seemed impervious to his sudden stormy mood.

“Oh, well, Hope, the new hire, suggested it.” To Jared’s surprise, Lana pulled—was that a poker chip she had in her apron? “Basically, each server gets one color of chip, and they put it down on their tables. That way, we don’t get people doubling up, like they have been when the zones changed recently.”

It was a good idea. Immediately, Jared saw that it was a good idea. Sure, seeing a poker chip on a table was a little weird, but Riverstone Kitchen wasn’t super stuffy or uptight, so that part of it didn’t really bother him.

Except…

Except he did have a sudden flare of annoyance. Hope was only on her very first day! And she came in here and changed all his systems?

Even though he knew, somewhere deep in the back of his mind, that he was being more than a little ridiculous, he couldn’t stop himself from heading out onto the floor and finding the newest member of his staff.

“Hope,” he said tersely. “Can I have a word?”