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Amelia turned to look across the conference room table at Gretchen. Between them was an assortment of platters and dishes, food courtesy of the five catering companies they’d interviewed today. Each company had been asked to bring menus, customer references and a sample each of an appetizer and a main course. They were also each asked to replicate one of Amelia’s trademark dishes in case a customer requested something specific while she was gone.
“I don’t know,” Bree said. “We’ve used Bites of Nashville a couple times, like when Amelia went to Vegas. I feel like they should get priority.”
“The only thing I’m loyal to is this little cheeseburger.” Gretchen was enamored with a tiny Kobe beef slider by Tasty Temptations. It had tomato aioli and a tiny, fresh-baked yeast bun.
That was all nice, but Amelia didn’t feel charitable. None of the catering companies had really blown her away. “They were okay,” she said.
“Okay? Come on, Amelia.” Natalie groaned, putting her tablet down on the table beside a platter of Bellinis with assorted toppings. “I’m as big a stickler for perfection as anyone, but you’re unreasonably nitpicking. Every company we saw today was great. They were professional and the food was tasty and creative. Chef on Wheels replicated your gorgonzola-and-cracked-black-pepper tenderloin flawlessly. I couldn’t tell you hadn’t made it.”
Amelia frowned at her coworkers. Maybe the hormones were making her oversensitive, but she couldn’t help it. Flawlessly? Why should she be happy that someone had been able to copy one of her featured dishes so easily? “I’m sorry, but I’m not that enthusiastic about being supplanted. It’s hard to think about someone coming into this place and doing my job. Taking over my role. We’ll see how you guys like it when we interview your replacements.”
“You know we could never replace you,” Bree soothed. “You make the most amazing cream puffs on the planet. But remember, you’re the one that got pregnant. We wouldn’t be going through this if you weren’t going to be out for weeks at a time. And before that, you’re going to need help when you’re in your third trimester and can’t stay on your feet for sixteen hours straight.”
“That’s not going to be for months,” Amelia argued.
“We’ve got to start the process now, even though you’re still perfectly capable of doing the job.” Natalie put a hand on her shoulder. “Think about this with your businesswoman cap on, okay? If one of us was going to be away for weeks, we’d need to get a backup set up as soon as we could. Right?”
Amelia sighed. “Yes, I know. You’re right. It’s just hard.”
“Frankly,” Natalie continued, “we need to have a backup on standby for all our roles. With your pregnancy we have advance warning, but the blizzard snapped up Bree with no notice at all. Fortunately, we had Willie to fill in, but there’s nothing like that for the rest of us.”
“Maybe this will help with the vacation issue,” Bree said. “We’re all pretty burned out, but we’re booked solid until the end of next year. We need to be able to take time off. I’m going to want to go on a honeymoon after Ian and I get married. Gretchen has been dying to go to Italy for years. I’m sure there’s something you’d rather do than sit behind that desk and work every day, Natalie. Even if one of us just wants to lie on the couch for a week and binge on television, we can’t as things stand now.”
“How about this?” Amelia offered. “Instead of bringing in a catering company, why don’t we hire someone else to help in the kitchen? I didn’t realize how much help I could use until Tyler pitched in last weekend. We bring someone in, and then I can spend the next few months getting them trained and comfortable. Maybe we keep Bites of Nashville or one of the others on standby for big events, but there’s always someone from our team here.”
Natalie thought over her suggestion and nodded. “That’s not a bad idea. That way we always have one of our people with eyes on the product. Any ideas on a candidate?”
“I was thinking about Stella.”
“From the serving team?” Natalie asked.
Amelia nodded. On wedding days, a restaurant agency provided them with a team of servers to work the front and back of the house with her. Stella was one of the employees who was consistently sent over. She preferred working in the kitchen and had told Amelia she was about to graduate from culinary school in the spring. “She’s finishing school in May. That will give us all summer to get her up to speed. By the time my due date comes, she’ll do fine with smaller projects and managing the outside caterer if we need one.”
“Okay, I’ll get her information from the agency and we’ll bring her in for a chat.” Natalie started tapping on her tablet, capturing the important information. “Now, in the meantime, we still need to pick a backup caterer. I want to have someone on standby.”
“Yeah,” Gretchen said with a sly grin on her face. “One of us might up and go to London on short notice or something.”
Amelia’s head snapped up in Gretchen’s direction. London? Why would she say London? She and Tyler had discussed that very possibility two weeks ago, but she hadn’t said anything to them. Not even in casual discussion. “Is someone going to London?”
Bree snorted into her hand. “You are, dummy.”
Amelia’s eyes widened in surprise. “I am? Since when?”
“Since Tyler came by last Friday,” Natalie informed her. “Before he went into the kitchen to help you, he stopped by my office and asked about the possibility of taking you on a business trip with him. I thought it was nice of him to check before he broached the subject.”
Amelia felt the heat of irritation rise to her cheeks. Tyler had the ability to coax an emotional response from her faster than anyone else, for good and bad reasons. She should’ve known he was up to something. Things had been going too well. It had been over a week since the doctor’s appointment, and it had been smooth sailing. They’d enjoyed their evenings together, read baby books together, argued about names and laughed together. “Well, it would’ve been nice if he’d said something to me about it! Anyone care to tell me when I’m going to London?”
“Sunday,” Natalie replied.
It was Thursday afternoon. “This Sunday? You’re kidding, right?”
“No, he told me the date.” Natalie looked down at her tablet. “Yep, March 8. That’s Sunday.”
Amelia gritted her teeth together. This was so like Tyler—doing whatever it took to get his way without considering what she wanted or how she felt about it. “I’m gonna kill him. We’ll need a backup caterer because I’m going to be in jail for fifteen to life.”
“Are you mad?” Gretchen asked. “Seriously? Your husband wants to take you on a spur-of-the-moment trip to London and you’re upset about it? I can’t get a guy to take me on a spur-of-the-moment trip to Burger King.”
“I’m not mad because he wants to take me to London. I’m mad because he went behind my back and set it all up without asking me first.”
