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Summer glanced at the ticket she was working on. “Oh, the peppercorn bison. I’ll deliver his meal myself. Can you pick up the bison meatloaf and steelhead for that table?”
“Fish for table sixteen,” Brock said, and slid the plate with the lemon-garlic steelhead fillet on a bed of couscous onto the pass. “Meatloaf coming right up.”
She finished plating her peppercorn bison. Then she and Brock followed Marlene out into the dining room.
It had been a very busy autumn so far. Business at the diner was booming, and she and Brock were currently consulting with an architect Winnie recommended. They wanted to find the best way to expand the diner into the neighboring brick building without destroying a piece of the town’s history.
The police had finally caught up with Gregory Brandywine in late August and arrested him for embezzling money from both SummerTime and his software company.
The money he’d stolen was gone, either spent or hidden away in an offshore account. And the arrest had hit the news wires, which meant that Summer’s already-shaky plan to reopen SummerTime was suddenly under pressure because her creditors now knew the whole story.
Greg’s arrest had been followed by more good news, though a little bittersweet. A major restaurant conglomerate owned by William Fiamme, a big-name celebrity chef from Sonoma County, contacted Summer in early September. They offered to purchase SummerTime for a healthy sum, clearing the last of Summer’s debts.
Fiamme and his lawyers agreed to Summer’s condition that Maggie and the rest of her staff would be rehired when Fiamme Enterprises took over the restaurant’s operations.
Summer was asked to stay on as consulting executive chef at a generous salary. She would be in charge of developing new menus and dishes, as well as keeping her name associated with the business.
Her contract with Fiamme called for her to visit San Francisco frequently and meet with Maggie and the restaurant’s chefs. She was also expected to make herself available for media interviews and meet-and-greets with the conglomerate’s major investors.
All around, it was a very sweet deal, allowing her to live in Snowberry Springs and spend most of her days at Brock’s side in The Yummy Cowboy Diner.
Summer and Brock delivered the meals to table sixteen and introduced themselves to the tall, silver, ruggedly handsome actor who played a ranch owner on the long-running Western series filmed in the area.
In turn, Eric Charles introduced them to his wife Brianna, who worked as a producer on the show, his director, and assorted production assistants and wardrobe staffers.
“Call me Eric, everyone does,” he boomed when Summer addressed him as “Mr. Charles.”
“Thank you so much for coming to The Yummy Cowboy Diner,” Summer said, smiling. “I hope you enjoy your meal.”
The actor was already chewing his first mouthful of the bison. He swallowed, looked up at her, and declared, “Damn, this is good. I think I’m gonna have to buy a house in town, just so I can eat here every day!”
“The fish is wonderful, too,” said Brianna. “Though I wish you guys served wine. Or at least beer.”
“Sorry about that,” Brock said easily. “But we don’t have our liquor license yet.”
It was the white lie he and Summer had agreed upon when asked why the diner didn’t serve alcohol.
“But you should definitely leave room for dessert,” Summer added. “We have an absolutelyamazingpumpkin mousse cheesecake tonight, as well as tiramisu, apple crisp, and a flourless chocolate truffle torte with huckleberry sauce.”
The rest of the dinner service flew by quickly. Marlene turned up at intervals to report on their celebrity guests—they loved their meals and went into raptures over the pumpkin cheesecake.
When all the guests had departed, and the kitchen staff were gearing up for the nightly cleaning, a familiar voice called, “Knock-knock.”
A moment later, Autumn entered the kitchen.
“Sis!” Summer went to hug her. “What are you doing here? Is everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine,” Autumn said. “I came to get the scoop on Eric Charles’s visit tonight.”
As Summer told the story, Marlene winked conspiratorially at Autumn, and edged past them and disappeared down the hallway leading to the back door.
Okay, Marlene must have a hot date with Chris tonight, thought Summer.
But Marlene came back inside almost immediately, followed closely by a grinning Jenna, who carried a miniature white bakery box embossed withJenna’s Java & Bakery.
Brock walked over to join them. Autumn whipped out her phone and began filming them.
“What are you doing?” Summer asked her sister. “At least give a chance to put on some lipstick!”
