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"Well, so far as I can tell, you've only got two waitresses to run the entire dining room. And while breakfast may not be as busy as dinner, that doesn't seem like enough people to manage everyone." Holly opened her notebook and got her pen ready. No doubt, she was about to add a few more issues to her never-ending list.
"Well, that would require me to have enough budget to staff the place!" Chef Steven's snapped. Holly blinked in surprise at the chef's sudden outburst. Chef Stevens was almost as old as her mother, but he wasn't as frail and meek as she was. "It's bad enough that I only have one other person helping me out in the kitchen in the morning. I can't help it if there are only two people out here as well!"
My God. Were they really that understaffed? That shouldn't have been possible. Pretty much everyone of working age in the Keys applied for jobs over the summer every year, especially in places like this. It was a good way for teenagers to earn some extra spending money for the following year or even pay for college if they worked hard enough.
How could Chef Stevens really only be running on two waitresses and a single sous chef in the middle of the summer? The fact that the kitchen was still running at all while being that understaffed was a miracle in and of itself.
But before Holly could say anything of the sort, Chef Stevens stood abruptly. He glared at Holly and then tossed his white hat onto the table in front of her. "If you think you can do a better job, and then have at it. I've done everything I can! Maybe you can convince your mother that we need more staff!"
Without another word, he turned and stalked out of the dining room, leaving Holly, and the rest of the restaurant, staring at him in disbelief. After a moment, Holly scrambled to stand and run after him, but he was gone before she could catch up with him. Staring at the hat he had left behind, Holly muttered a handful of curses under her breath, then scooped it up and headed into the kitchen.
Just like everything else around the inn, all four Archer children had spent time working in the kitchen over the years. And while she wasn't nearly as good as a professional chef like Chef Stevens, she at least knew the basics. The menu hadn't changed much at all since she was a kid, so she still knew how to make each of the various dishes, especially since the breakfast menu was fairly limited compared to lunch and dinner.
Still, Holly had to run around like a chicken with its head chopped off to keep the kitchen running without its chef. While Chef Stevens had complained about only having a single person to help him out in the kitchen, his sous chef was a miracle worker in and of herself. Becky had been hired on only a couple of years ago, Holly learned, but that woman knew her way around the kitchen like she had grown up there.
Together, they managed to get all the breakfast orders done and out without any issues. But by the time breakfast was over and the kitchen was closed for a couple of hours before lunch, Holly was barely able to stay on her feet.
Taking a deep breath, she straightened her shoulders. The inn had many pressing issues that needed to be solved, but the kitchen staffing had just pushed its way to the top of that list. Holly gave instructions to Becky and the two waitresses on getting everything ready for lunch and then headed out to find her mother.
According to Natalie, she hadn't seen Nelly all morning. Worse, it wasn't unusual these days. That alone sent a chill through Holly. Her mother had always been at the inn first thing every morning. If Nelly wasn't there, then things were worse than Holly assumed.
It wasn't until she went back to the house and to her mother's bedroom that she found Nelly still in bed. Holly looked at her still sleeping mother and chewed on her bottom lip. She couldn't remember her mother ever sleeping this late, even when she was sick. Part of her wanted to let her mother sleep. If she was still in bed at this time of day, she obviously needed it, right?
But, at the same time, the inn was falling apart all around them. If they didn't do something, it was going to be too late to salvage it. In the end, her fear of losing the inn won out, and she woke her mother.
Nelly blinked a few times and then rubbed at her eyes. "Holly?" she asked groggily. "What are you doing here? What time is it?"
"It's after eleven," Holly said, fighting to keep her voice even and contained. She didn't want to take out her annoyance on her mother, didn't want to place all the blame on her for the condition of the inn. Playing the blame game wasn't going to change the past. It was better to move on and work toward the future. "I've started making a list of all the problems around the inn. Let's go into town on a supply run, and I'll give you an update."
Nelly frowned. For a moment, it looked like she might refuse. But in the end, she nodded and began the slow process of sliding out of bed.
Any progress was good news, right? It was better than nothing, at least.
