by Nicole Ellis
She sipped her coffee slowly. Her life may not be as exciting as when she’d managed the most popular resort in all of Willa Bay, but she was happy with it. She had friends, a canine companion, food in her belly, and a roof over her head. What more could anyone ask for?
A commercial came on, and her eyes drifted to the stack of bills sitting on her desk causing the coffee in her stomach to turn to acid. She quickly averted her eyes and reached out to pet Pebbles. Things had always worked out in the past, and there was no reason they wouldn’t this time.
4
Meg
“Taylor.” Meg waited in the doorway of the Willa Bay Lodge’s executive chef’s office, just off the kitchen. Taylor Argo’s head continued to bop, most likely keeping time with the beat of his beloved country music. The headphones he wore over his ears to block out background noise while doing administrative tasks worked all too well.
Meg grinned. It always cracked her up when she caught him dancing or singing along to his music. Working for Taylor was one of the few things she loved about her job at the Lodge. He’d recently been named as one of the top ten chefs under forty in the Northwest, but unlike most of the executive chefs she’d worked for in Portland, he was casual and down-to-earth. On her first day as a sous-chef at the Lodge, she’d addressed him as Chef. He’d laughed and told her that it wasn’t a big enough restaurant for such formality, and she should call him by his first name.
She walked in and tapped him on the shoulder.
He jumped in his chair, then ripped off his headphones. The movement made his gelled black hair spike out even more wildly than normal. “Dude. You scared me.” He rolled his chair back a little and looked up at her. “What’s up?”
“The vegetable delivery came, but they were out of eggplants.” She glanced at the screen, curious to see if he was working on a new menu. One never knew what he was going to come up with, which made even the locals come back week after week to try out his newest creation.
He reached for the printed menu he’d set on the corner of his desk, his long, slender fingers dwarfing the paper as he scanned the contents. “Well that’s going to make it difficult to make the gluten-free lasagna tonight.”
“I know. I was thinking we could use zucchini instead. Cassie has a bunch that she was going to make bread out of for breakfast, but I’m sure she can do something else if we need it.”
He eyed her thoughtfully and tapped the arm of his chair. “Good thinking. Let’s do it.”
She beamed. “I’ll let Cassie know, and I’ll get started prepping the lasagnas.” The Lodge may not have been Michelin-rated, but it felt good for a talented chef like Taylor to recognize her for her menu ideas.
Meg rinsed off the zucchinis in a large colander and set it on the prep counter. One by one, she trimmed and cut them into precise, thin slices with a mandoline. The work was monotonous, but there was something calming about preparing vegetables, and she enjoyed seeing the growing piles of perfectly cut zucchini.
When she’d finished, she salted the zucchini to draw out the moisture and laid the faux noodles out on a cloth while she got to work on the Bolognese sauce for the lasagna. Her mind wandered as she stirred Italian seasonings into the mounds of beef, celery, carrots, onions, and garlic that were already in the pan, the herbs adding another layer to the tantalizing aroma into the air.
She’d always loved cooking, ever since the first time her Nana Elizabeth had taught her how to make pancakes. Nana had referred to the first pancake as the “try” pancake – a way to test if the griddle was hot enough, the batter was the right consistency, or if they’d added enough vanilla and cinnamon. Cooking with her grandmother had taught her that not everything would turn out correctly the first time, but almost any mistake in the kitchen could be fixed.
With the beef mixture browned, she added tomatoes and put a lid on it to simmer. She returned to the zucchini, squeezing it in cheesecloth to remove any excess moisture, and began laying it in the bottom of a large baking tray. The dinner rush wouldn’t start for a few hours, but lasagna took a while to prepare, so they always did it well ahead of time. She checked the Bolognese sauce and lowered the temperature slightly.
With that done, she began washing vegetables for the dinner salads. She was just about to rinse a head of romaine lettuce when her phone rang in the pocket of her double-breasted white chef’s jacket. Normally, she wouldn’t answer it while she was in the middle of a kitchen task, but, although it would be unlikely on a Sunday, she worried that it could be her mother calling to relay news from her doctor.
She didn’t recognize the number. “Hello?”
“Hello,” a chipper voice rang out. “I’m calling to notify you that you’ve won a free vacation to Hawaii.”
Meg sighed and hung up the phone. Telemarketers. There was a reason she didn’t answer the phone at work. Being distracted while holding a sharp knife wasn’t a smart idea.
She grabbed the lettuce and colander and returned to rinsing away any dirt, but the phone call had disturbed her peace of mind. When was her mom going to hear from the doctor anyway? He’d told Debbie that he’d contact her sometime this week, but that could mean anywhere from Monday through Friday. It was going to be a long week for everyone in the Briggs family.
Meg closed her eyes for a moment. The scans would come back clear, and her mom was going to be fine.
When her mom had called to tell her that she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer, Meg had been working as a sous-chef at a prestigious restaurant in Portland. Although her career trajectory had been promising there, worrying about her mother had been too distracting, and Meg knew she’d regret not moving home if something happened. Family was more important than anything else.
She’d been lucky to find the job at the Willa Bay Lodge, but it was a small restaurant, and as far as she knew, Taylor had no intention of leaving anytime soon. There were many good restaurants in Willa Bay, but the story was pretty much the same everywhere else – in a small town, people stayed in their jobs until they were ready to retire.
“Hey, Meg,” Cassie said.
Startled, Meg looked up. “You’re not working today, right?”
Cassie smiled. “Not here. But I’ve got a cake in the fridge for a client’s wedding tonight, and I need to deliver it.”
“Need any help?” Meg scanned the counter and stove. Everything was on track for dinner. “I can take a break.”
“That would be great.” Some of the tension left Cassie’s shoulders. “The bride wanted a six-tier cake, and it came out bigger than I’d expected. I was wondering how I’d manage it myself.”
They entered the walk-in refrigerator together, and Meg helped Cassie lift the piece of plywood that she’d built the cake on. They took slow steps in unison as they neared the kitchen door. Cassie pushed her back against the door to open it. As they walked down the back hallway and out the door, Meg half-expected one of the office doors to open suddenly and cause the cake to catapult to the floor.
Luckily, they made it to Cassie’s van without incident. Cassie had removed the back seats to allow room for the cake, and once it was safely ensconced in the vehicle, she shut the back liftgate.
“Do you have time to grab a cup of coffee?” Cassie asked. “I don’t have to be at the wedding for another couple of hours.”
Meg did a mental check on the status of everything in the kitchen. “Yeah. I could do with a latte. Let me tell Taylor I’m heading out for my lunch break, so he can keep an eye on the Bolognese sauce.” She started walking back to the Lodge and Cassie followed her.
“Ooh. I love your Bolognese sauce.” Cassie’s stomach grumbled audibly. “Are you serving it with the linguini noodles like you did last week?”
“Nope. We’re testing out a new menu tonight. Zucchini lasagna.” Meg smiled with pride. “Oh, by the way, I’m using up all the zucchini if that’s okay with you.”
“That’s fine. It sounds really good. Maybe not as delicious as real noodles, but I
’m sure it’ll be great.” Cassie paused when they got to the kitchen. “I’ll wait here while you check in with Taylor. Have you seen Zoe today?”
Meg nodded. “She’s out in the garden.” She looked up at the big round clock on the wall. “There’s a wedding starting in about twenty minutes.”
“Ah. I’m going to sneak a peek of the wedding if you don’t mind.” Cassie blushed. “I just love weddings. They’re so full of romance and hope for the future.”
Meg laughed. “And then it all comes crashing down.” She’d never understood the allure of a big wedding ceremony and reception. When it came time for her own wedding, which might never happen at the rate she was going, she wanted only a small ceremony with close friends and family.
Cassie grimaced. “True. I thought what Kyle and I had would last forever. Little did I know forever only meant ten years.” She sighed. “I hope I find love like that again – the good parts, I mean, not the bad.”
Meg gave her a quick hug. “I know you will. Any man would be lucky to have you in his life.”
A cloud of sadness came over Cassie’s face. “Maybe someday. Right now, I have too much on my plate to even think about finding someone new.” She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and smiled weakly at Meg. “I’ll meet you outside, okay?”
“I’ll be there in a minute.” Meg walked over to Taylor’s office door and rapped on it sharply.
“Come in,” Taylor called out. He’d removed his headphones, but he was staring at the computer screen. “I’m still trying to figure out next week’s menu. The cost of beef went up so much last week that I’m thinking we may need to cut back a little. I hate to pass the cost on to our customers.”
She crossed the room to look over his shoulder. He moved aside slightly to allow her a better view of the computer monitor, and she caught a pleasant whiff of his aftershave.
She pointed to one of the entrées. “What if we replace the filet mignon with salmon? I know that halibut is in season, and we wanted to offer it as our seafood dish, but we could do a nice salmon with a lemon-caper cream sauce too. We’ll still have the beef stroganoff for people who want beef, but it will give us something at a lower price point.” It was a fine line to walk between the higher-priced menu items that the tourists were willing to pay for and what the locals could afford. One of the owner’s core beliefs was that the Lodge should have an accessible special-occasion restaurant for locals, not just out-of-town guests.
A wide smile crossed Taylor’s face. “I love it. Thanks, Meg. You’re really saving the day today.” He clicked the cell with filet mignon in it, replacing it with the salmon dish.
She stepped back from the desk, pride welling up in her chest. Creating the menu was something she looked forward to doing when she eventually moved up to a head chef position. Back in Portland, she never would have been encouraged to have any input on the menu, but Taylor seemed to value her opinion, even if he did have the final say.
“I’m going to head out for lunch with Cassie, if that’s okay with you.” With him sitting in the office chair, she had to tilt her head down to meet his eyes – a weird feeling because he was over six feet in height, and even being tall herself, she was used to looking up at him. She’d never taken notice of the warmth in his dark-brown eyes before, or how the corners of his mouth crinkled pleasantly when he smiled.
She shook her head. Cassie’s comment about Taylor having a crush on her was starting to get to her. He was her boss, and she was only interested in him professionally.
“Yep, it’s fine with me.” He gestured to his screen. “I’m almost finished here.”
She backed up until she was standing in the open doorway, eager to put some distance between them and the confusing thoughts about him that had just popped into her head. “The sauce for the lasagna is simmering on the stove. Can you check on it while I’m gone? I should be back in thirty minutes.”
“Will do.” He looked like he was about to say something else, but went back to the menu planning.
Meg gave the sauce one last stir and went out the service exit to the gardens. A small wedding – probably under fifty people – had been set up in the Pergola Garden. Rows of white chairs were bisected by a wide aisle leading up to the picturesque archway overlooking the water. Violet ribbons lined the chairs along the aisle, and white roses intertwined with purple flowers she didn’t recognize adorned the cross-hatching of the pergola. It was beautiful in its simplicity, something Zoe had a gift for creating.
Zoe was in full event coordinator mode, stalking from one end of the gardens to the other while relaying instructions to the grounds crew and the catering staff. A woman in a pink lace dress, who Meg guessed to be the mother-of-the-bride, was firing questions at Zoe so fast that Meg wondered how her friend could keep up. Zoe kept her cool, though, and everything hummed along like a fine-tuned machine.
Meg caught sight of Cassie, who was hanging out in the part of the garden closest to the Lodge. She waved at Meg, who walked over to join her.
“I don’t envy Zoe,” Meg whispered to Cassie. “I don’t know how she does it.”
“Me neither,” Cassie confessed. “I have some contact with the bride and groom when they’re ordering the cake, but to be in charge of putting it all together?” She shivered. “That job is not for me, but Zoe will be an amazing event manager.”
“Look at Zoe’s face. She’s so calm! If that were me, I’d be screaming at the woman she’s talking with.” Meg eyed the woman in the pink dress pestering Zoe, who was obviously extremely busy.
“Let’s go before Zoe sees us and ropes us into helping.” Cassie’s eyes twinkled. She may have been kidding about Zoe asking them to help, but it had happened before. Sometimes, when everything that could go wrong did, it was all hands on deck to make sure the event got back on track. This time, though, it looked like Zoe had everything under control.
“I’m starving. Can we go to the Wedding Belles Cafe? I can get a latte and maybe a chocolate chip muffin.” Meg checked her watch. “It’ll only take about ten minutes to walk to town, and I could use the exercise.”
“Me too.” Cassie patted her stomach, which pooched out a little. “I’ve been testing too many new cake recipes lately. If I had time, I’d join a gym.” She scrunched up her face. “Thank goodness I really don’t have much extra time, or I’d have to come up with a different excuse to not exercise.”
Meg laughed. She and Cassie had been friends since preschool. Cassie had always preferred to stay home baking or reading instead of riding bikes or playing outside. It had come as no surprise to anyone when Cassie had eventually gone to pastry school.
They walked the half mile to town on the sidewalk along Willa Bay Drive. Private lanes leading to waterfront residences and B&Bs snaked off the main road, and every so often, a glimmer of blue waves showed through a gap in the trees. When they neared the point where the Willomish River emptied into the bay, the forests opened up to reveal a park with a grass field, a playground, and a paved promenade that provided public access to the river. An iron bridge painted a shade of red similar to the Golden Gate in San Francisco arched high over the water. On the other side was a marina and a boat ramp.
Meg relished the stretch in her legs as they traversed the bridge. The fitness tracker she wore told her that the exhaustion in her calves every night was warranted, but her frequent steps across the kitchen weren’t the same as a long walk with variable terrain.
When they reached the main drag through town, Cassie held up her hand, breathing hard. “Give me a minute.”
Meg tried hard to suppress a smile.
Cassie caught Meg’s smirk and mock-glared at her. “Okay, okay. So I need to exercise more regularly.”
“I didn’t say anything.” Meg grinned at her. “But if you want to go jogging with me sometime, I’m up for it.”
Cassie stared at her feet and said in a low voice, “I may take you up on that.”
Meg eyed her with surprise. She’d
good-naturedly teased Cassie about her hatred of exercise for all of their lives, but she’d never heard her friend reply so seriously. “Really?”
Cassie nodded. “It’s time I started taking care of myself. My stress levels are through the roof. Maybe exercise will help.”
Meg put her hand on Cassie’s shoulder. “Are you doing okay? For real?”
Cassie smiled, but it didn’t quite meet her eyes. “I’m fine. There’s just a lot going on in my life right now.”
“Well, I’m here if you want to talk about it.” Meg hated seeing her oldest friend like this, but she didn’t know what to do for her.
“Thank you. I may take you up on that offer one of these days.” Cassie gave her a more genuine grin. “For now, though, that cinnamon dolce latte is calling my name.” She took off down the street, leaving Meg to jog after her.
Meg didn’t want to push the issue, but she figured Cassie would talk to her about it when she was ready. Until then, Meg was glad that she’d decided to return to Willa Bay, not only to be there for her family, but to support her friends as well.
5
Zoe
“We’re all set for December twenty-third.” Zoe smiled at her new clients, gathering the papers they had just signed into a neat pile.
“I’m so excited!” The bride-to-be squealed and threw her arms around her fiancé’s neck. “This place is absolutely perfect.”
He patted her on the back with an amused smile on his face. “I’m glad you like it. I wasn’t sure we’d ever find something that fulfilled all of your requirements for a venue. I was beginning to worry you didn’t actually want to get married.” He winked at Zoe, then kissed his fiancée to let her know he was kidding.