Liv: Nope.
A second frowning face appeared. Liv shared her friend’s sentiment.
When she returned to the table with Matt’s drink and a basket of freshly baked rolls, the menu was still open, but he was focused on his phone rather than his meal choices.
He set the device aside, though, before she got the water glass off her tray.
“So, how have you been?” Matt had been friendly from day one, despite his wealth and family connections. And even though he’d since become a household name, that hadn’t changed.
Overall, she’d been great. At the moment, she was an anxiety bundle on two legs. Until she got some answers from either her dad or grandfather, she didn’t see that changing. However, Matt didn’t need to know any of that. Not to mention, he’d asked to be polite, not because he really cared. In all fairness, she often asked people she ran into the same question simply to be polite.
“Fine. Yourself?”
She expected an immediate reply like hers. Instead, he seemed to consider the question before answering. “No complaints.”
Something about his tone suggested that wasn’t entirely true, but she accepted his answer and moved on to her reason for standing there. After all, her job was to serve him lunch, not provide him with counseling.
“Do you know what you’d like, or do you need more time?”
“I’m undecided. Is there anything you suggest?”
There wasn’t an item on the menu she didn’t like. They also had some tasty specials available today.
“Depends. Are you in the mood for a full meal or a sandwich?”
“A meal. I didn’t have much for breakfast.”
“If you like salmon, you should have the honey garlic glazed salmon. It’s one of today’s specials. You can order the dinner or the lunch portion.”
Unless she hadn’t eaten all day, the lunch portion was more than enough, especially if she ate the garden salad that came with it.
“That sounds really good. I’ll go with the dinner portion. And I’ll also have a cup of the lobster bisque.”
She accepted the menu Matt held out to her. “What kind of dressing would you like on your salad?”
“The house dressing.”
The house dressing, a recipe her grandfather had developed not long after opening the restaurant, was extremely popular. Countless times over the years, customers asked where they could buy it. She’d tried to convince her grandfather to see what they’d need to do to produce it in larger batches and bottle it so they could at least sell it in the restaurant. Unfortunately, while her dad was on board with the idea, her grandfather wasn’t, and even though he’d turned much of the day-to-day operations over to her parents and her, he still played a role in what did or didn’t happen.
Order memorized, Liv stepped back. “I’ll be right back with your salad.”
She was inputting Matt’s order into the computer when the restaurant’s door opened and a trio of women walked inside. So much for keeping Maggie out of the dining room and away from Matt. While she could serve the new customers too, it would be unfair to Maggie, who was saving most of what she made to pay for classes at the community college. However, Liv would seat them. With a bit of luck, they’d prefer to sit outside.
“Good afternoon. Would you like to eat inside or on the patio?” Liv asked as she grabbed three menus.
The taller of the trio looked at her companions and shrugged. “Up to you two. It doesn’t matter to me.”
“Outside gets my vote,” the blonde replied.
Mine too.
“We’ll sit outside,” the oldest of the group, who Liv suspected was the mother of the other two, replied.
After showing them to a table with a great view of the water, Liv returned to the kitchen, where Maggie and Russ were still talking. Maggie had never said anything, but Liv suspected she had a thing for Russ. Based on the amount of time they spent talking when they worked together and the looks the grill chef sent Maggie, the attraction was mutual.
“You’ve got a party of three, Maggie. I seated them outside at table six.”
Maggie nodded. “Thanks. I’ll head out right now.”
