It took longer than he expected; the terrain was much rougher, the island much steeper, and the brush much thicker. He regretted not eating at the restaurant that night, but at least his hart could snatch at leaves for nourishment.
Surely the resort’s edict not to graze on the grounds did not extend to the wilderness?
He didn’t feel guilty about it, either. Feeling guilty requiredfeeling.
He was numb. Only anger had a foothold in him, if he let it. And he didn’t dare let it in.
CHAPTER7
Felicity watched for the big, pale, asking-for-a-sunburn guy to come back for his meal, but he never did.
Between tables, she prodded Breck for anything else he might know about the hunky blond. Breck informed her that his name was Robert, because he remembered everyone’s names, and that there was a rumor that he was a rare white hart.
“Scarlet invited a bunch of the shifters who had been imprisoned in Beehag’s zoo back to stay for free,” Breck said speculatively. “Most of them didn’t accept, but maybe he’s one of them.”
Felicity had heard the stories by now. A wealthy madman had run a zoo-like compound on the north side of the island, keeping shifters in cages, trapped in their animal forms. There were whispers of torture and scientific experimentation, but even the idea of being gently imprisoned was awful. Felicity couldn’t imagine how dreadful it would be, imprisoned and unable to speak. Gizelle, the white-haired woman who had called her a Christmas elf, had been in the zoo since she was a child and spent several months in her gazelle form even after her release, which explained some of her sketchy behavior. Everyone adored and accepted her exactly as she was.
Night fell, the sun dropping into the ocean like a huge orange gumball rolling out of a gumball machine too fast to catch. The restaurant closed, and the last few people wandering down to the bar, or back to their cottages. Felicity cleared the tables and wished there was someone to talk to. Theodora had gone back to their room a little earlier. In the evening, she came in before the restaurant opened to set up, while Felicity stayed late and cleared up, but otherwise their shifts overlapped.
There were still people in the kitchen, though, and Felicity came in with a last load of dishes to put in the industrial washer. She drew to a stop.
Chef was hovering with the owner of the resort, Scarlet, by one of the smaller standing fridges. A technician was just standing up. “I swear, there’s nothing wrong. It’s working perfectly.”
“Shrimp doesn’t just go off like that if the fridge is working,” Chef argued. He was frowning, but Felicity didn’t think it was an angry frown, just puzzled. He looked up to see Felicity putting her load of dishes down. “Felicity! Do you know if anyone was in this cooler tonight?”
“I was,” Felicity said frankly, leaving her tray to step closer. “And Theodora was. It was a busy night for shrimp cocktails.”
“Did you leave it ajar?”
Felicity shook her head, cast her memory back, and shook her head more emphatically yet. “I didn’t. Iwouldn’t. I got plenty of lectures from my folks about leaving doors open.We’re not heating the whole outdoors! We pay for that cold air! You think I’m made of money?”
She was glad when everyone chuckled, but Felicity could see the problem now.
A platter of shrimp—the very one that she had drawn from!—was clearly not good. It had a sour smell and a slimy sheen to it. She didn’t need to be a food chemist to realize that it had gone very off. It looked like it had been left out in the sun for several days.
“Did you use gloves?” Breck wanted to know.
“Yes,” Felicity said promptly. “I’m very thorough with food safety. I took out just the shrimp I needed, and I didn’t touch the rest. It was fine. I swear, it didn’t look like this earlier tonight.”
“I don’t see how this could have happened,” Chef complained. “It’s just the one tray. Travis says the compressor is working fine, and those shrimp didnotlook like that at the start of the dinner shift.”
“I believe you,” Scarlet said, though her frosty voice suggested she was very unhappy about things. “But we have a protocol to follow. If that shrimp is suspect, we have to assume that the whole fridge warmed at some point when we didn’t notice and we can’t trust that any of the food is still safe. It will all have to be discarded.”
Felicity shuddered.
That cooler was full of expensive seafood. It was specifically apart from the bigger walk-in fridgebecauseof the value of the food it was holding. There were lobsters destined for the following night’s dinner, and shrimp for the cocktails, and Pacific wild king salmon that Chef had been testing recipes for.
Felicity knew it wasn’t her own fault. Could Theodora have done something to it? It must have been an accident. Theodora was the nicest server that Felicity had ever worked with, kind and unselfish. She didn’t have a mean bone in her body...but shewashiding some kind of secret.
And so was Felicity.
“It could have been worse,” Felicity said.
Everyone turned and looked at her as she dredged for a smile. “At least it didn’t ruin Christmas dinner!”
“My hams!” Chef cried, and he went at once to one of the walk-in fridges to verify that nothing else had spoiled.
“It’s a minor mystery,” Scarlet said, her lips pressed tight together. “But hopefully it is a onetime thing. Dispose of the contents and itemize what we need replaced. I’ll place an order from the mainland, but tomorrow is Christmas Eve, so I cannot expect immediate delivery.”
