She opened the door and entered her dark house. She headed to her room without bothering to turn on the lights.
Chapter 18
Olivia had lost count of how many people had come to the cafe today for its grand opening. She hadn’t had a moment to so much as take a breath for hours. Evelyn was working at a feverish pace in the kitchen, and Melody ping-ponged between helping in the kitchen and waiting on tables. At this rate, she’d need to hire even more help. That is, if things kept up like this and it wasn’t just people wanting to see the cafe since it was so new. But the crowd today had outdone her highest projections.
If she survived the hectic pace…
Emily hurried into the cafe, her school bag slung off one shoulder.“Mom, look how busy we are. This is great.”
“How was school?”
“Fine. But I’m going to grab some photos of this and post on social media. Then I’ll help out wherever you need me.”
“Thanks. It’s been busy like this all day.”And who knew what the dinner rush might look like.
She found out soon enough. Every table was taken, and people milled around the store, waiting for their turn to sit. That was an unexpected benefit as they bought items at the general store while they waited. Emily took names for the waitlist, then went to find them in the store when tables opened up.
Heather walked into the cafe, took one look around, and hurried up to her.“You guys are packed.”
“Been like this most of the day.”
“I’m going to head to the kitchen and help Mom.”
“I’m sure she can use it.”
She popped into the kitchen a few minutes later to get the next order and looked over at Evelyn.“How you holding up?”
“I’m doing okay. Wow, we’ve been busy. So happy I prepared extra. And I was glad to see Heather show up to help.”
Heather looked up from slicing a fresh loaf of sourdough bread.“I’m thinking you two are going to have to hire more help.”
“I was thinking the same thing. We’ll see how it goes for a few days and see if things settle down.”
“I’m going to come in and help until you figure it out.”
“Oh, Heather, you don’t have to do that,”Evelyn protested.
“But I want to. I did invest in the cafe, you know. I want you guys to succeed. And by the looks of this crowd, you will.”
“Aunt Evelyn’s soup is a big hit. So is her turkey and bacon sandwich. Everyone keeps talking about the sauce on it.”
“That was one of the family recipes.”Evelyn pointed to the ever-present binder of recipes with the weathered and faded original recipes copied and printed out for keeping here at the cafe. The original recipe cards were safe at home.
“You almost make me want to learn to make all those recipes.”Olivia grinned as she grabbed the two plates waiting for her. She hurried back out with the food.
“Olivia, dear, this soup is excellent.”One of the Jenkins twins stopped her as she walked past their table.
“I’m glad you like it.”
“We’re happy for a new place to eat in town. Just delicious,”the other twin said.“We’ll be back again for sure. I predict the Parker Cafe will be a big success.”
“Sea Glass Cafe,”she gently corrected.
“Right. We’ll be back soon.”
“And we’ll be glad to see you.”Who knew she could be happy about seeing the twins again? Usually, she did her best to avoid them. But a paying customer? Two, actually? She’d never turn that away.
The dinner rush was just beginning to ebb when Austin showed up.“Hey, Austin.”
