by Piper Rayne
Profits are down across the board, but Cherry Street seems to have taken the hardest hit.
I read the message at least a half-dozen times before it finally sinks in.
I know. It’s been a tough quarter, especially after losing Candace. We’ve struggled to keep up with the demands. We’ve got a handle on it now though.
* * *
You’ve had a 30% decline over the last 6 months. It’s too much. That does not indicate that you have a handle on anything at Cherry Street, James.
She is serious. Jesus. Christ. Is nothing simple? No time for games.
I know. I hear you. I just agreed to hire this amazing new talent from Chicago. She has experience in Michelin star restaurants.
I cringe at my own words as I read them back. Lying is something my pastor father drilled into my brain as being as close to an unforgivable sin as one could get. It might not be a total lie. I don’t really know. Jack hasn’t sent me her references, yet. I can’t help rolling my eyes at myself. I will most definitely regret this.
. . .
Then why is she coming to Cherry Street Grill? Family dining is a far cry from luxury dining.
“Great,” I mumble under my breath.
Honestly, we’re lucky she’s even considering us. From what I gathered, she’s here for family and sentiment. Otherwise, we wouldn’t stand a chance.
That was not a total fabrication either. From the stories I’ve heard Jack and Ally tell about her sister, she would have already gone and conquered the world by now. Something had to be holding her back, and if not family then what? If she has half of the fire and the passion that they believe she has, then I’ve really got nothing to worry about.
Regardless James, I can’t continue justifying to the board why we haven’t shut your store down. If you and Ms. Michelin Star can’t get the numbers up by the first of the year, then we’re going to be forced to close Cherry Street… Permanently.
This is not good.
Understood. Happy Holidays.
3
Taryn
Leah Woodward’s face flashed on the screen. It was Taryn’s favorite picture of Leah. It had been taken at the hospital right after Lee was born. Lee was scrunchy-faced and no doubt fussing at everyone, but Leah, Aiden, and Peyton were all smiling and welcoming him into the world while Taryn got stitched back up. Unplanned c-sections were not fun, but it had saved both of their lives.
“Hi, Mom,” Taryn said as the video chat popped on screen. She rubbed her nose with her sleeve and left a swipe of white powder going right across the bottom half of her face. “Oh, that’s awesome.” Taryn chuckled and rolled her eyes at herself.
“Hey, sweetie.” Leah Woodward paused on the other end of the line. “What’s wrong with Lee—and is that flour?”
“Probably,” Taryn sighed. “I was making those cookies the kids love when Lee decided the mouse had sassed him for the last time.”
“What are you talking about?” Leah shook her head and laughed.
“He’s mad at the television and I can’t seem to find anything to distract him.” She wiped the back of her hand across her forehead.
“Oh.” Leah’s smile widened. “Maybe we should grab some more toys from home this weekend.”
Silence.
Leah’s smile faded as she gasped. “I’m sorry, Sweetie. That was a dumb idea.”
“It’s okay, Mom.” She was right. The kids had a left a lot of things behind for the move. It might be time to ask if they could go back and get some of their favorite toys and whatever else that was left behind. “It’s really fine, I should have grabbed more of our things. I just left in such a hurry and couldn’t fit everything into the back of the truck, and—”
“It makes perfect sense.” Leah’s voice broke on the last word. “I wish there was something your dad and I could do to help.”
“Thanks, Mom.” She couldn’t let the emotions overwhelm her, but she definitely needed a sobfest. That would have to wait until the kids weren’t around and watching. She had to stay strong. She swallowed the lump forming and decided to suck it up and move forward. “It’s just not a great idea to go back ho—” the word caught in her throat. “Back to his house, right now. I’m not sure when it will be, to be honest.”
“I have an idea,” Leah said with her smile returning. “Let’s take the kids out this weekend and your dad and I will buy them each a new toy or two—or three.”
“You don’t have to do that; I’ll figure it out.” Eventually. “Ally has been helping me apply to a bunch of job openings around town. I’m sure something will come up.”
“I know that it will. I have complete confidence in you; but I got my bonus and I want to do this.” Her tone let Taryn know she was completely serious and when Leah Woodward made up her mind there was no changing it.
Taryn took three deep breaths. Don’t be a control freak, she told herself. “I appreciate it, Mom. Thank you.”
“Yay! I’m excited. It’ll be fun,” she cheered. “Before I forget, I’m getting out of work early today and wanted to stop by and see the kids.”
“Sure. We’ll be here pretty much all day. Brunch yesterday was about all the excitement I can handle for a couple of days.”
“How did that go?” Leah asked.
“A total fiasco,” Taryn sighed. “I embarrassed myself—as per usual. Grandpa remembered my name this time though, so I think that means it was a good day.”
“That’s great!” Leah sighed as a buzzer sounded off in the background. “My break is over. I’ll be over in a bit.”
“Okay, see you then.” Taryn went back to bouncy balls and musical trains. For some reason the offensive cartoon mouse dared to show his face back on the screen at that exact moment. Did kids really like that show anyway? The phone rang again. She must’ve forgot something, Taryn thought. She tapped the mic button without even looking at the screen. “Let’s avoid all toy mice when we go out this weekend. Sound good, Ma?”
A deep voice chuckled on the other end.
Crap.
He cleared his throat. “Is this Taryn Woodward?” The voice was familiar.
Great. Just my luck. “I’m sorry, I just got off the phone with someone else and—” She bounced the tyrannical toddler on her hip and tried to convince him not to scream into the phone. “Shh,” she whispered to Lee.
“This is James Roberts at Cherry Street Grill.”
“Cherry Street?” Oh, no. “I’m so sorry.” She must’ve shorted Tall-dark-and-handsome on the bill the day before. What was his name? “I’ll come by today and take care of it.”
“No, I think there’s a misunderstanding.” He sounded like he was stifling a laugh. “I called because I received your resumé last night.”
“My… My resumé?” So embarrassing. “I’m sorry, I must’ve heard you wrong the first time. Who is this?”
“James, from Cherry Street Grill.”
James—that was Tall-Dark-and-Handsome’s name and he was most definitely laughing. Crap.
“When can you come in and talk to me about the job?” he asked. “I can explain while you’re here.”
“Uh…” Which job? She didn’t remember sending out a resumé to Cherry Street. “How’s this afternoon?” She must’ve hit the apply button my mistake when she was scrolling through ads. Lee cooed into the phone and tried to grab it out of her hand. “No, stop,” she whispered. She was certain she would look like an idiot with absolutely no restaurant experience.
“I’ll put you down for two-o’clock,” he said. “You remember where we’re at, right?”
“Yes, I’ve been there a time or two.” Stupid. ‘...a time or two?’
“Perfect. See you then.”
Click.
The line went dead.
She scrolled through her contact information until she saw her mom’s face.
I got a job interview. Can you come watch the kids a bit early?
Sure, when?
Like… Now.
&
nbsp; I’ll let my boss know I need to leave. Be there in an hour.
Cherry Street was a beautiful part of town any time of year, but there was something almost magical about how the trees lined the roads in autumn. The changing leaves made a canopy over the street, a protection from the still way-too-hot Oklahoma sun and a reminder that seasons—like life—change. Enjoy every moment while you have it. Taryn remembered being a little girl and walking the sidewalk with her parents when a bright red leaf had drifted down from the tree and landed on the sidewalk right in front of her. Her mom had said, “Go ahead and pick it up. It’s a beautiful reminder to enjoy the moment while you have it.”
The radio blared a song she heard a thousand times before; she couldn’t help but sing along with it this time. The guy in the BMW convertible next to her made a face and rolled up his windows. She didn’t care. She was in too good of a mood and neither cranky BMW guy or anyone else was going to bring her down. Her phone vibrated in the center console as she pulled into the parking lot at Cherry Street Grill. Two o’clock. At least, she wasn’t late. Ally would have called her out on that and said something about being late since she wasn’t yet inside; but that’s where Taryn and Ally were totally different.
The Cherry Street dining room was perfectly staged. Taryn had been known to get a random surge on a lazy Saturday and rearrange the pantry to make sure every label faced out, but that was just because she hated digging in the dark cabinets to find what she needed for dinner. This was set like someone cared enough about the guests to want it to look—perfect. Perfect was intimidating. Perfect was a reminder of what Ed always expected her to be and she never measured up. No one is perfect. A tall woman in a white uniform coat was at the end of a row of tables talking to another employee who looked incredibly nervous. She didn’t blame her for being nervous. It was terrifying.
“Hello, how many?” A young woman stood at the host station with a beaming smile.
“Oh, no.” Taryn shook her head and hoped the hostess didn’t notice how nervous she was. “I’m here to meet with James Roberts.”
“I’m so sorry. Follow me.” She motioned and took off down the corridor behind the host station. “He told me to expect you, Miss Woodward.”
“Taryn.” She extended her hand but was left feeling silly when the handshake wasn’t returned. She was walking so fast Taryn doubted the girl had even seen the gesture.
“I’m Hayley.” She looked back and offered a smile but kept walking at warp speed. “I work Tuesdays, Thursdays, and weekends. I can’t work Mondays or Wednesdays and I can’t work Sundays before noon.”
“Uh, okay.” Why was she giving out her schedule?
She finally stopped and knocked on a door at the back of the building. “James, she’s here.”
“Thank you, Hayley. C’mon in.” The same deep voice from the phone echoed into the hall where Hayley was already halfway back to her station. Taryn was shifting on her feet trying to decide if she should bolt then or later.
This wasn’t going to go well. “Hello,” her voice cracked. Had he noticed?
“Miss Woodward.” He smiled and paused as he reached across the desk to shake her hand. “It’s you.” His smile stayed plastered to his face as he must have been replaying the fiasco from brunch the other day. “Please, have a seat while I find the offer.” He fumbled with a stack of paperwork that nearly fell off his desk.
He couldn’t have been the one who staged the dining room. “I’m sorry, I really don’t mean to be dense here, but what offer?” Taryn felt more out of her depth now than ever.
“For the job.” James paused in mid-shuffle of the loose papers. “I should’ve been more direct on the phone. Jack called me this morning and told me to pull your resumé and application.”
Ally! The kids needed her to get the job. She could finally get off Ally’s couch. “Jack has been a great friend. How do you know him?” That was nosy. She should have been asking about the job, not how he knew Jack.
“Ah, well, that’s a long story.” He chuckled. “He helped me out of a bind more than once and I owe him a few favors. Anyone who has Jack’s stamp of approval has mine as well. Here it is.” He pulled out a packet with the Cherry Street Grill logo on it and slid it across the desk to her.
I had no idea what I was going to do. “Can I ask about the terms?”
“Ha.” James grabbed a binder from underneath the desk. “Of course, you can; but I can’t answer them,” he laughed. “The terms are all in the packet there. H.R. sent it over this morning after I talked to you, but I haven’t even had time to review it.” He looked apologetic. “It’s been a madhouse here today.”
“You’d never know it. The dining room was spotless.”
“Thank you.” James’s face twisted into a smirk. “Honestly, I try to keep the front-of-house as inviting as possible, but it’s been difficult lately pulling these 80-hour weeks. It’ll be nice to have help around here.”
“That’s a lot of hours.” She wouldn’t have any time with her kids. “Is that the kind of schedule I can expect?”
“No.” James’s laugh filled the room. “I’ve been covering both positions since Candace walked out.”
“Candace?” She was only twenty-minutes into this thing and already felt more overwhelmed than she expected.
“Sorry. Candace was the dayshift manager; she didn’t even leave a notice. The team all— well, most of them, stepped up to keep things running until we filled her position.”
“That’s the kind of team every manager needs,” she cringed at her own ineptitude.
“You’re right about that. Jack said that’s the type of person you are, so I didn’t hesitate to bring you in.” His eyes twinkled as he smiled.
“I appreciate it.” She was in way over her head. Taryn scrawled her signature on the papers marked with an X and highlighted in yellow. “Guess I’ll have to read this later to find out what I’m agreeing to.” Dang it, Ally.
“Do you have any questions so far?”
“Uh…” All the questions. “Can you tell me about the job? My schedule?”
“Sure. Follow me.” He hopped up and bolted out the door faster than she could scoop the welcome packet into her bag. “Okay, so you’ll alternate shifts with me.”
“You people move so fast around here.” She scrambled to catch up while fighting with her bag, which was insistent on sliding down her arm. “Alternate shifts. Okay.”
“Your first week’s schedule should be in the packet, but you’ll need to set up your access to the scheduler online.”
“How do I do that?” She fidgeted with the bag’s shoulder strap.
“Username and temporary password is assigned by H.R.”
“How do I get it from them?”
“It’s in the packet. You can change the password after you login the first time.”
“In the packet. Got it.” She was sure she was going to hurt Ally for getting her into the mess in the first place.
“So, let’s start at the beginning.” James nodded to the host podium. “You’ve already met Hayley.”
Hayley’s bright smile had already faded. She leaned against the partition while scrolling on her phone. “James, I need to leave at six.”
“I already told you last week, no more last-minute changes.” He frowned and his eyebrows pinched together. “See me in my office in twenty minutes.”
Twenty minutes? That was not enough time for him to finish telling her how to do the job.
“Forget it.” Hayley waved her hand. “Never mind.”
“Twenty minutes, Hayley.” James scoffed and motioned for Taryn to follow. “Sorry about that. I gave her two verbal warnings already. I’m going to write her up tonight if she leaves early. You’ll probably have to deal with that tomorrow, so have your game face ready. She can be a firecracker sometimes.”
“Tomorrow?” Taryn gaped as her mind scrambled to keep up.
“Yes. You’ll start at 8 a.m., tomorrow. I’m sorry, I should’ve
probably mentioned that earlier.”
“I have three kids, so I’ll need to arrange a sitter.”
“I understand. We’ll finish up here and then you can start making your calls.” He smiled.
“Of course.” She reminded herself that Jack put his name on the line to get her the job. She could not screw this up.
“I have a kid at home too, I understand. That’s also why I’m excited to have some help around here. It’ll be nice to spend time with her when she gets home from school.” James pushed the black swinging doors open and made a sweeping gesture with his hand. “This is our kitchen. Chris is our chef. She’s been here for about eight years.” He nodded to the terrifying woman who had been in the dining room when Taryn arrived. She was standing in the center of the kitchen apparently addressing the rest of the kitchen staff who formed a half-circle in front of her.
“You all are the best cooks this city has to offer,” she said. “I have full confidence in you. It’s Friday, so this is what we’ll knock them out with tonight.” She scribbled something under Dinner Special on the dry-erase board hanging over the food prep area.
Was she supposed to be able to read that? Was it even English?
“Get to work. Prep your stations,” Chef ordered.
“Yes, Chef.” The unified response echoed in the kitchen as the staff scattered like ants invading a picnic. They pulled food and things Taryn guessed was supposed to be food, but she had never seen before, from the pantries surrounding the kitchen. They all seemed to know exactly what to do.
Taryn was completely lost.
“Chef, come here and meet our new manager.” James nodded in Taryn’s direction. “Her name is…” He cringed. “What’s your name, again?”
“Taryn.” Be grateful. Jack got you this job. She forced a smile that made her cheeks hurt. She wasn’t sure why, but she was more sad than annoyed that the man who had hired her couldn’t remember her name.