“I like dinosaurs.”
“I do a great dinosaur,” Anna assured her. “Can I read to you for a little while and see how you like it? You can choose the book. Any book.”
Delphi considered and then nodded and held out her book.Anna sat down next to her and Hattie gave a grateful smile.
“Thank you. I’ll be back in a minute.”
“While you’re doing that, I’ll get that final room ready,” Chloe said. “And then I’ll draw up a plan for tomorrow. I’ll check the bookings, look at everyone’s preferences and make sure every room is perfect. If I have a problem, I’ll let you know. Don’t worry.”
“How can I not worry? You can’t do the work of two people,” Hattie said and Chloe flexed her biceps.
“Watch me. At least half of Stephanie’s work was managing me, so I figure that if I manage myself that’s a big chunk of the job done.”
Erica laughed and even Hattie looked more hopeful.
FOURTEEN
Claudia
Claudia’s happiest memories involved food. Sometimes when she was lying awake at night stressed, she’d let her mind fill with the scents and sounds of the kitchen. She’d remember standing on a chair helping her grandmother sift flour. She’d think about punching her fist into dough. The scent of bread, freshly baked. The sweetness of peaches, the trickle of juice on her chin. The pungent aroma of a perfect espresso. To Claudia, food was a form of expression.
But right now she was all business.
She’d heard of Chef Tucker. Knew someone who knew someone who had worked with him. Rumor had it that his food was good but his personality was as appealing as burnt toast.
That had to give her an advantage, surely? Not that she didn’t have her own flaws, but she definitely wasn’t burnt toast.
She walked into the kitchen and took it all in at a glance.
The staff was frozen, panicked, talking to each other in low voices.As far as she could see, nothing was getting done.
Hattie cleared her throat. “As you probably all know by now, Chef Tucker has gone. So has Stephanie. Neither will be returning.”
Glances were exchanged. Judging from their expressions, this was the first they’d heard about Stephanie’s abrupt departure.
One of them spoke up. “But Chef is the most important thing about this place.”
“No. The most important person in the Maple Sugar Inn is the guest.” Hattie walked farther into the room. “When someone makes a reservation here, they do it because we’ve made them a promise. We’ve promised to serve them delicious food, in comfortable and welcoming surroundings. That’s what they expect when they book, and that’s what they’re going to get. Every person who works here is important, but no one person is more important than the other. We’re a team. Chef Tucker may have gone, but you’re still here and I know you’ll all do a brilliant job. And now I want to introduce you to Claudia. She’s a top chef from California, and it’s our good fortune that she’ll be working with us tonight.”
Top chef.
In other circumstances, modesty might have persuaded Claudia to argue with that description, but she decided modesty didn’t have a place in this kitchen.
One of the junior staff frowned. “Like a guest chef?”
“Yes. A guest chef. We’re lucky to have her.”
Claudia gave them a friendly nod. “We’ll do introductions later. The priority is to serve an excellent meal to the guests who are dining with us tonight. I’m going to change, and when I’m back we’ll discuss our strategy.”
She followed Hattie out of the kitchen and found her leaning against the wall with her eyes closed.
Claudia wasn’t sure how to handle the moment. Shake her? Hug her? “Are you okay?”
“Fine.” Hattie kept her eyes shut. “I’m fine.”
“Right.” Maybe she should call Anna. Anna always knew the right thing to say. “It was a great speech you made back there.”
Hattie opened her eyes. “Really?”
