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He had to admit, he’d miss the tavern. It was a comfortable place to drink, and he’d had some good conversations with the customers. But Stanton wasn’t paying much attention to the place, and it was beginning to show. He’d never put a lot of money into it, and it had begun to look a little threadbare.
Too bad. Once upon a time it had been a classy bar.
“You want some lunch?”
Liam turned quickly. He hadn’t heard the kitchen door open. Peaches Guidry, the tavern cook, stood behind him with a plate of something or other. She was tiny and rounded, with curling blonde hair that frizzed around the edges of her white chef’s beanie. With her pink cheeks and golden skin, she looked a little like a peach herself.
Peaches was one hell of a cook, although she didn’t get the salary she deserved. Stanton never liked spending money if he could avoid it.
He took the plate from her hand. “What is it?”
She shrugged. “Just a sandwich. Fig jam and manchego on grilled brioche bread. I was trying out a new recipe.”
Peaches trying out a new recipe was always cause for rejoicing. Even when it didn’t work out exactly as planned, the food was delicious. He took a bite, closing his eyes as he evaluated. “Good. Really good. Salty and sweet. Definitely a winner. Going to put it on the menu?”
Peaches shrugged again, sighing. “Mr. Stanton got a deal on the manchego a few weeks ago. We need to use it up before it goes bad. But doing this sandwich would mean buying more fig jam, and I don’t know if he’d be up for that.”
Given Stanton’s long history of being penny-wise and dollar-foolish, Liam would bet she was right. “Couldn’t you just go ahead and do it? Tim’s not around much to make any decisions. You’re the head of the kitchen.”
“He’s likely to notice if I do something like that. He does check the bills.” Peaches bit her lip. “Maybe I could try a different jam. Strawberry or apricot.”
“Apricot would probably work. It’s got a similar vibe to fig. But what do I know—I’m just the beer guy.”
She smiled. “I tried some of your wheat beer a couple of nights ago. You and your sister are doing good stuff. Of course, I know as much about beer as you do about jam.”
“I doubt that. You’re a great cook, and great cooks can pick up on other flavors better than the rest of us mortals.”
She sighed again. “Thanks. I haven’t heard that lately.”
“Peaches, since you took over, that kitchen is a hundred percent better. Tim should be paying you twice your salary.”
She shrugged. “I just wish I could make some pastries. I can’t do much baking with the setup he has back there, and I miss it. The commercial desserts he buys are pretty bad. But the bread supplier he’s using is great, so I guess that’s okay. At least the sandwiches are good.”
“No cookies?” Liam raised an eyebrow.
“Probably not. And no brownies or cake or pie. We don’t do breakfast, so there’s no use for cinnamon rolls here anyway.”
Liam closed his eyes for a moment. “There’s always a use for cinnamon rolls, trust me.”
“I need a green-chili cheeseburger and an order of onion rings.” One of the waitresses leaned against the bar.
“Okay, coming right up.” Peaches turned back to him for a moment. “Go ahead and finish that sandwich. Let me know what you think.” She headed back through the kitchen door, a woman on a green-chili cheeseburger mission.
Liam turned hopefully to the waitress. “Need anything from the bar?”
She frowned as she entered the order into the computer. “Just iced tea.”
Liam sighed. Iced tea. Who had iced tea with a green-chili cheeseburger? It almost went against nature. He had an excellent Mexican lager that would complement the burger and even stand up to the onion rings. Maybe he’d slide over to the table for a little conversation.
Just as soon as he finished this amazing sandwich.
Chapter Five
A couple of days later, Liam began to consider a new Ruth strategy. He’d avoided the Salty Goat after his last attempt to get her to go out with him. But Bec’s comment about the goat cheese rankled. How had he managed this long without tasting the stuff his sister helped make? He definitely needed to have lunch there.
