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“Sorry it worked out that way.”
“It’s not your problem. No reason for you to be sorry. Thank you for calling me. I still haven’t heard from Diane.”
“You didn’t reach out to her?” she asked.
She moved over to the oven and checked on her blondies. The brownies were in another oven. She’d be done earlier than she thought but was making some extra jam and wanted more time to do the caramel sauce. Sometimes it didn’t work the way she wanted and she needed it perfect.
“Nope. Then she’d know you contacted me and I didn’t want to put you in the middle. Not only that, someone like her doesn’t deserve my time. If she thinks she is going to get another job on this island using my name as a reference she is going to learn otherwise.”
“Thank you for not mentioning me,” she said. Hadley found most times in life she got stuck in the middle of something with no way out and ended up being the person that got crapped on the most too. That he was considerate enough to do it this way meant the world to her.
Maybe she did need a backbone but at least in this instance was thrilled she didn’t have to put it to the test.
She just wanted to do her darn job and figure her life out.
“I’m not one for drama,” he said. “I know other people might think differently. Or at least Diane.”
“Yeah,” she said. “I asked her why she didn’t let you know on Friday night. It’s not like she didn’t know the schedule.”
“What did she say?” he asked.
“That her boyfriend was going off the island today and she wasn’t going to be working while he did. I’m not sure what one thing has to do with the other.”
She went back to slicing her strawberries and putting them in the pot with water and sugar. There were also blueberries this week and she thought that might be a different option to have too.
Duke laughed. “People talk in the kitchen. I’ve heard she doesn’t trust her boyfriend. Not my problem either. But if she had told me on Friday, then I would have covered the shift. It was too late to do it this morning. I called a few of my staff, but they all had plans. One offered to cancel, but I said no.”
“That was nice of you,” she said.
“I’m not that hard of a boss despite what many feel. I have to weigh having a good staff cancel his plans for this when I might need it another time when it’s more important.”
“Like covering a shift at Duke’s?” she asked, frowning. She shouldn’t be offended that he’d put his other restaurant over her parents’. Then she had to remind herself nothing was set in stone here and it made sense he did what he had.
“Yes,” he said. “It worked out fine. The price of running two places,” he said. His long hair was down. It looked like it wasn’t even fully dried either. She wondered if he’d been sleeping when she’d texted him.
“Did I wake you up earlier?”
“What?” he asked, grabbing his hair and pulling it back with a rubber band rapidly. It went into a messy bun this time. She tried not to laugh over it.
“I asked if you were sleeping when I texted you earlier.”
“No,” he said. “I was up and getting ready to go for a run. I had to figure out this mess first, and once I did, I left to work out. I showered when I got back and came here. What are you trying not to laugh at? That I run?”
Guess she didn’t have much of a poker face. “You are a big guy. Aren’t most runners smaller or something?”
He frowned at her and she knew she was making a mess out of this.
She grabbed the sugar, butter and heavy cream to start on her caramel sauce.
“I don’t think size has anything to do with runners,” he said. There was humor in his voice, but she wasn’t looking at him.
He was way too good looking in her eyes and that was why she kept putting her foot in her mouth. Not in a charming cocky way, but a more honest arrogant one. She found she preferred that.
There was some silence while she started the sugar in the pan and was whisking as it melted. “I guess you’re right,” she said.
“So what did make you want to laugh?”
She wasn’t good at lying. “The bun you put in your hair,” she said. “A man bun.”
