In Over Her Head (Anchor Island #5) - Terri Osburn Page 0,2
participate,” Nick answered. “From Corolla on down. The winner gets a feature in Food & Fare magazine.”
This would be the perfect way to introduce herself as one of the best chefs in the area, and to bring attention to the restaurant. Winning recipes started racing through her mind. “Then Pilar's will participate as well.”
“Not an option,” Nick said.
The hell it wasn’t. “Why not?”
“Because Will is on the festival committee,” Mia explained. “It’s considered a conflict of interest.”
That was easily fixed. “Then she’ll get off the committee.”
Three sets of eyes blinked as if Lauren had suggested her boss be killed.
“Will created the festival,” Nota said. “She would never step away. This event is her baby.”
No way in hell would Lauren sit on the sidelines while every restaurant on the coast competed for best food. Yes, her menu alone would bring in customers—eventually. Winning this prize and getting national coverage would bring them now. She needed this in order to prove that she belonged in the kitchen, contrary to what some in her past would say.
“We’ll see about that,” Lauren said.
An awkward silence fell over the foursome until Mia said, “Well, we have a birthday to celebrate. Grandma, give me two minutes to clean up and I’ll be ready to go.”
“Take your time, dear.”
“Happy birthday,” Lauren said to Nick. She’d spent her last four birthdays alone. It must have been nice to have even this small family unit with whom to celebrate.
“Thanks.” Changing the subject, he said, “When are you bringing the staff back?”
Lauren had yet to pick her team. “We’ll be holding interviews next week.”
His weight shifted as he rose to his full height and faced her head-on. Lauren was five ten, but Nick had her by at least four inches, and his shoulders suddenly blocked the entire entrance.
“What’s wrong with the staff you have?”
“I just told you I don’t have a staff.” If he thought a challenging stance would intimidate her, he was mistaken. “Once I conduct interviews, I’ll build a competent crew. I need people who know their way around a kitchen. Not a fry cook and a grill runner.”
“The Marina staff know more about this kitchen and this island than you do,” he informed her. “Letting them go would be a mistake.”
“They don’t know my kitchen.”
“They can learn.”
“I’ll find that out in the interviews then, won’t I?”
With furrowed brows, he stared her down for several seconds. “This is a tight-knit community,” he finally said. “We take care of our own, and that means we hire our own. Don’t make assumptions about us, and if you want this place to succeed, don’t make enemies before you open the doors.”
Undaunted, Lauren raised a brow. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t hire locals, and I also didn’t ask for your advice.”
To her surprise, Nota laughed. “You two would make an excellent match. You’re exactly alike.”
Lauren doubted either statement was true. “I have more calls to make,” she said, nodding toward the older woman. “I hope to see you again once we’re open. I have a lamb chop recipe I think you’d enjoy.”
Long before culinary school, Lauren had possessed a talent for knowing the food a person would like just from meeting them. Her assumptions were rarely wrong.
“I’m looking forward to it, my dear.”
“All done,” Mia said, rejoining them. “Lauren, I left my supplies in the storage room like before in case Will wants any changes. Once she gives her final approval, I’ll take it all home.”
“Not a problem.”
Nick escorted Nota to the door while Mia lingered behind. “I want to apologize for my grandmother. She’s determined to see Nick and I married off, and unfortunately, that puts her in constant mate-recruitment mode. You know how grandmothers are.”
Lauren never met either of her grandmothers, so no, she didn’t know.
“She seems nice.” A glance toward the door revealed how tightly Nota clung to her grandson’s arm, and how carefully he ushered her along, as if she might break at the slightest misstep. “You’re lucky to have her.”
“We are,” Mia agreed. “Thanks for being so nice this week. That tour guide offer still stands. Maybe a little sightseeing will inspire items for your menu.”
Keeping her response noncommittal, she said, “Maybe. Have a nice evening.”
“You, too.”
Mia caught up with her family at the door and they disappeared together into the sunshine. A stab of jealousy sliced through Lauren, but she swept it away with a deep sigh and went back to her office.
“I told you we didn’t need to do this,” Nick said as Mia lowered