Page 48 of Grant’s Blaze

Walking in with my arms piled high with office supplies, I surprised everyone because I wasn’t supposed to be starting until Monday.

“Good morning!” I said after setting down my load. I scanned the faces for Hannah but didn’t see her. “Where is Hannah?” As soon as the question was out of my mouth, I heard her confident, alto voice come from behind me.

“Here I am!” she said cheerfully. “I was taking inventory for the day in the walk-in. I like to do that just to make sure everything we’ll be using today is still fresh and wasn’t used on the fly for something else. If we need to run out for an ingredient, I’d rather know now than in the middle of cooking. Am I right?”

“You scare me a little bit,” I told my young friend with a suspicious look.

“Why?” She looked like she didn’t know whether to laugh or be offended.

“Because that is so insightful and wise. Frankly, you intimidate the hell out of me. I’m very glad you work for me instead of my competition, let’s just put it that way.” I slung my arm around her shoulders and walked with her back into the refrigerator. “Do you need to get anything else in here? I’ll help you.”

“Are you staying all day? I thought you weren’t starting until Monday? Don’t get me wrong, I’m so happy you’re here, and I hope you’re staying all day. I’ve been looking forward to you coming back.” She talked while shuffling through the produce on the top shelf.

“I’m here for the day. I’m going a little stir-crazy at home. Grant has gone back to work, and I’ve been tossed out with the bathwater.” I made a dramatically sad face and slumped my shoulders down low in an attempt to look even more pitiful.

She stopped what she was doing and turned to look at me.

“Whaaat?” She gave her head a little shake and looked adorably confused. That combination was the first time I’d ever seen the girl act her age. She continued to chuckle while her one-word question hung in the air.

“You know the saying, ‘Don’t toss the baby out with the bathwater’?”

“I most definitely do not know that saying. What does it mean?”

“Ummm…” I put my index finger to my chin, thinking of how to explain the antiquated idiom. “It means you shouldn’t get rid of something good while you are getting rid of something bad. So, I guess if taken literally, the author is dumping out the dirty bathwater, but oops! The sweet little baby was still in the basin.”

“How bizarre!” She laughed.

“Not really when you think about it. Especially knowing that children bathed after the adults and everyone used the same bathwater. I think the baby was probably the last to get washed. Ewwww, right?”

We both wrinkled our noses at the idea.

“Okay, it looks like everything is in here that we need for today and in good shape. I was worried about the basil most of all,” Hannah said, getting back to business.

“I can understand that. It turns quickly no matter what trick I’ve tried.”

“That, and we had to snag a bunch of it yesterday as a sub for some chives that didn’t make it from last week. You know the back corner there”—she pointed to the back quadrant of the walk-in refrigerator—“is consistently colder than the rest of the cooler. Have you noticed that before? I have stuff frost there all the time.”

“Yeah, and I’m sorry Abbi or I never mentioned that before we just up and left you here on your own. I think I owe you an apology all around for that, though.” I stopped walking and waited for her to turn and look at me. I really wanted her to hear my apology.

“Don’t worry about it, Rio. I’m glad I could help.”

“I’m serious, Hannah. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you here. It made a huge difference knowing Abstract was in good hands while I was busy getting my shit together.”

“Let me ask you this. If you don’t mind, I mean.”

“Shoot.” And I didn’t mind. Firstly, I liked Hannah. She was the first woman I’d met in a long time who I clicked with. To be honest, I really needed a female friend, too.

“Do you feel like you have your life on the right track now? Was the time away well spent?” She held my gaze while asking. Her blue eyes were such a deep indigo, I wasn’t sure how I hadn’t noticed them before. The dark color added to her seriousness and intensity.

“I do,” I finally answered. “It really helped to go away with Grant. I faced some things I’d been running from since Sean’s accident. Grant”—I looked skyward while trying to decide how to word my next thought—“is an alpha male. I’m not sure if you know what I mean when I say that…” I left my comment open deliberately, wanting her to supply if she knew what I meant without me having to define the term unnecessarily. I really liked this young lady, but she was much more innocent than I was used to being around. That was the impression I had, at least.

She settled the whole inner debate I was having with an impressive eye roll. “Rio. I know what an alpha male is.”

With a nod, I said, “Good. I didn’t want to have to give you that lesson first thing this morning. But the reason I brought it up is because he was firm with me when I needed it and helped me come up with a plan to improve some bad habits I’d developed when I was a young girl.”

I thought about what I was saying for a moment and then continued. “And that wasn’t my late husband’s fault either, because I hid a lot from him.” I smiled, remembering how easy it was to wrap that big bear around my finger. “Plus, he was a big pushover.”

Hannah took both my hands in hers and said, “Then it was all worth it. The time you took away from this place. I will help you anytime, in any way I can—in a heartbeat.”