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“I guess not.” Naomi shook her head. “Let’s start with the cash register.”
Naomi walked her through entry and pricing. It wasn’t so different from her last bartending job.
“At least we don’t carry fifty different beers.” Naomi checked with two couples sitting at the bar. They requested a refill on their wine. “You can practice by updating their tab.”
“No problem.”
Naomi crossed her arms and stared. “You really do look familiar.”
Carolina tried not to let her hand shake as she poured their drinks. What if other people saw a resemblance between her and Abby? If Abby guessed, she’d probably lose her job.
“Good.” Naomi nodded. “I’ll show you where we store the kegs.”
Carolina followed her. “How often do we clean the lines?”
“Never.” Naomi pretended to wipe her brow. “Abby has someone come in every week.”
“Every week? In Nashville it was every other week.”
“Abby—” Carolina waited for Naomi to dis her boss “—does everything right. When I grow up, I want to be Abby Fitzgerald.”
“Oh.” Not what Carolina had expected her to say. But who wouldn’t want to be a rich Fitzgerald?
Naomi swiped a keycard over the door lock. “Dolley is making your access card. Abby will bring it over.”
Dolley Fitzgerald. Another half sister. Shivers ran down Carolina’s spine. She’d always imagined herself as Cinderella and the Fitzgeralds as the wicked half sisters.
Naomi showed her the CO2 tanks and watched as Carolina changed out a keg. Then she showed her where the bottled beer was stored.
“You know what you’re doing.” Naomi led the way to another storage area and used her access card to show her bar supplies. Then the wine. “The servers handle the bottles for the table, but if they’re under siege, we help out.”
“I can handle that.” When they headed back to the bar, Carolina ducked under the pass-through. A man at the end of the counter had an empty beer mug. “Need a refill?”
“Absolutely.”
Carolina picked up the mug and brought up his tab.
“Do you still want the Southbound Hop’Lin?” Carolina asked.
“That’d be good.” The man smiled at her. “First day?”
“You can tell?”
He laughed. “A little.”
She pulled a new mug from the cooler and made sure the glass didn’t hit the tap—no need to transfer bacteria. Then she updated his tab.
“Good,” Naomi said.
As it got closer to five, the orders came in faster. Still no sign of Abby. Did she sit at home eating bonbons and counting the cash everyone made for her?
“You okay?” Naomi reached into the cooler and grabbed a glass.
“Why?”
Naomi used a finger to circle Carolina’s face. “You’ve got a mean mug thing going.”
Mean mug? Her eyes flared open. “I was…thinking about something.”
“Boss lady wants us to leave our problems at the door. In here we’re all about comfort.”
Comfort? “Oh, I get it. Southern Comforts.”
“No one does it better than Abby. Hey, boss,” Naomi said loudly.
“Sucking up, Naomi?” Abby asked as she ducked under the pass-through.
“Always.” Naomi and Abby laughed.
Carolina paused before joining them.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t welcome you personally.” Abby touched Carolina’s arm.
Carolina jumped. Abby touched people—a lot.
Abby patted Naomi’s shoulder. “Can I steal her?”
“We’re in good shape.” Naomi nodded. “She’s a fast learner.”
“Good to know.” Abby waved her into the main restaurant. “I’d take you to my office, but it’s barely big enough for a desk and a couple of chairs. Let’s sit upstairs. They haven’t started seating there yet.”
Abby waved at people as she moved through the restaurant to a spiral wooden staircase.
“Wow.” Carolina’s mouth dropped open. “This staircase is awesome.”
“Thanks.” Abby chuckled. “Nathan whined when I said this was what I wanted. They had to build it on site.”
And another example of her sisters’ unending wealth. What a difference from her mother not being able to afford to paint the trim on her house. “Who’s Nathan?”
They rounded the top of the stairs and the room opened up into another dining space. “Nathan is Cheryl’s husband. You met her in the kitchen.”
Lord, were there security cameras? “I didn’t realize you were in the restaurant. I would have said hi.”
