Roadside Attraction (Castle View Series Book 2) (4 page)

“That could be true, but really Brad’s always been all about Brad.” He kissed her head. “So who did you hire?”

“Just a guy who’s in town temporarily. His bike broke down and he needs money to get it fixed.” Maggie walked her brother to her office door. “No worries.”

“You and Mom are always picking up strays. This is why the plan will work, if we can sell Destiny as a girl in need.” He grinned. “Heaven help us once she finds out the truth. Hopefully, she’ll be used to having her around before that time.”

“I don’t want to be there when she does. Mom doesn’t mince words when she thinks someone has overstepped.” Even her children, she said to herself.

Mark shrugged. “I’d rather her be mad at me than lying in a hospital bed because she fell off a ladder washing the upstairs windows. This will work out fine, you’ll see.”

“If you say so.” Maggie wasn’t as convinced as her brothers were, but the other option was for Maggie to move back in with her mom and she didn’t think that would be any more palatable for her mother.

“Don’t forget you owe me your marketing plan.” He paused at the door. “You did work on it, right?”

“I’m sending you the report now.” She pointed to the laptop. “Or I would be if I could actually get some work done this morning.”

“Then I’ll leave you alone.” He didn’t move. “This is the best thing we can do right now. You have to realize that.”

She nodded. She did know it was time. Most days when she popped in to see mom, she found her sitting at her kitchen table, writing in a notebook. She seemed distracted and a little confused at times too. Having someone there with medical training would be a lifesaver.

She went back to her laptop, but her thoughts were on her mother and the past. She’d been a daddy’s girl, running to her father when he came in from the barn. But Mom had been the one she’d gone to when she’d come home from her date, crying because Ken Forrey had told her he was in love with someone else.

Mom had always been there to put her back together and solve all problems with a new cookie recipe or banana splits. Her mother used food and conversations to ease her children’s problems. And Maggie couldn’t envision a world where Sandy Castle wasn’t sitting at her kitchen table, waiting for her to visit.

The clock chimed and Maggie realized the place would open for lunch in less than an hour. She needed to be in the kitchen helping with prep rather than here, worrying about a future that was hopefully years away.

She hit send on the email, then picked up the phone. She quickly dialed the number, leaning back into her chair, waiting for the call to be connected. When the call was answered, she smiled. “Hey, Mom, what’s going on?”

By the time she’d finished with her call and checked on the prep crew in the kitchen, the doors were ready to open for the lunch crowd. She loved talking to the town folks who made the trip out for a quick mid-day lunch or a long work event. Today she knew the local bank manager would be there with two of her tellers. The woman seemed to be a great boss. Once a quarter, she brought every one of her employees out to the Tiger Café for a long lunch where they talked about their branch’s goals as well as just what was going on in each person’s life.

Castle View did a joint employee event in June and December each year, with catered food and wine, it was about time to start planning this year’s event. She made a note to talk to Mark and Brad about the specifics at their weekly meeting on Monday.

“You ready to open?” Cari stood beside her as Maggie glanced around the dining room, making sure everything was in place.

“I should be asking you. The kitchen okay?” Maggie didn’t want to ask about Josh, not directly.

Cari sighed and Maggie went on alert.

“What? What happened?” Maggie put her hand on the other woman’s arm.

“You know how Tony gets. He’s in one of his moods. Something about his wife and some man. I think he’s finally gone totally off his rocker. He threw a knife at the new guy just for laughing.”

“Wait, Tony’s throwing knives?” Maggie couldn’t let him get away with this. What if he actually hurt someone? Her workman’s compensation insurance was too high as it was. “I’ll go talk to him.”

Just then the kitchen door burst open and Tony stormed out. He threw his apron and a set of keys to the building at Maggie. “I quit. I should have left this dive months ago when I had that offer from Boise, but no, I let you talk me into staying. Look what it got me.” He shook his porky finger. “Nothing. It got me absolutely nothing.”

“Be reasonable, we have ten reservations for lunch and more for dinner.” Maggie followed him to the front door.

“Not my problem. You go cook if you’re so perfect.” And with that, Tony stormed out the door, leaving Cari and Maggie staring at each other. A couple walked in the door after watching Tony leave.

“You’re open, right?” The man asked, tentatively. Maggie grabbed two menus and pasted on a smile.

“Of course we are. Right this way.” As she walked away, she leaned toward Cari. “I’ll be right back. Call Sara and see if she can hostess for lunch too. I guess I’m cooking today.”

As she seated her customers, she wondered if she could pull off lunch and dinner. She hadn’t cooked for a service in years. She ran through the list of people she knew with chef experience, but everyone was employed or across the country. She should have looked for a replacement months ago. Tony was a hot head. She’d known this day would come.

Smiling, she touched the table and told the couple their waitress would be with them in a few minutes. She only hoped their lunches would be as timely.

Bustling into the kitchen, she ran into Josh who was moving things around on the prep station. She cocked her head, confused by his intensity. “What are you doing?”

“Your chef didn’t know crap about setting up a station. I mean, really, who puts vegetables haphazardly in between the meats.” Josh shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe it’s an Idaho thing.”

“I mean, why are you at the stove?” The kitchen was empty besides the two of them. She ran a skeleton crew during the week, especially at lunch. Until tourist season really took off there wasn’t much reason to keep staff on. That was the reason she’d felt comfortable letting Mike take off this week. Now she regretted it.

“I’m replacing your chef.” He looked around the empty kitchen. “Unless you have some robot hiding in the back room, I’m your best bet.”

“Running a professional kitchen isn’t like grilling in your backyard.” Maggie shook her head. “I’m sorry, I just don’t think you realize how hard it will be. Our dishes aren’t simple.”

Josh held up the kitchen book with the recipes listed. “I’ve got the guidebook. Besides, I’ve cooked in a restaurant before. It’s been a few months, so I could be rusty, but darling, I’m all you got.”

Maggie looked out into the dining room. A line of people stood at the hostess stand. Sure, people show up today. She blew out an exasperated breath. Even if she had someone to call in, it would be hours before they could get here from Spokane. She hesitated, looking back at Josh.

“Trust me. I know what I’m doing.” His voice was calm, even. For a second, she wondered if he was only talking about the cooking. What was he still doing around here anyway?

“I guess I don’t have any choice. Let me know if you need help or want some direction. I’ve got to go seat these people so Cari can start getting orders in.” She pushed through the kitchen doors, pasting a smile on her lips that she didn’t feel. All she had to do was get through lunch. Then she could get a replacement chef out here. She picked up menus. “Sorry for the wait, table for two?”

Two hours later, the dining room was almost empty again. Four customers where still in the dining room. One couple sat near the windows watching the tiger enclosure and another was sipping wine and talking about their grandkids they’d just visited. They’d both finished their meals and were just enjoying the atmosphere. She nodded to Cari. “Great job. I’m going into talk to our temporary chef.”

Cari put a hand on her arm, slowing her. “He did great Maggie. The dishes looked better than when Tony was cooking. Maybe we could keep him around?”

Maggie shrugged. “I don’t know what his plans are.”
Hell, I hadn’t expected to ever see the guy again.
She took a deep breath and went into the kitchen.

Josh was there, cleaning off the grill. His Sea World baseball cap was turned backwards and his hair had been pulled back into a ponytail. He was whistling. He smiled when he saw her walk in. “Hey, I’m glad you’re here. I want you to try something.”

“Look, I appreciate you stepping in, but I’ll call in a replacement from the temp agency for the dinner service.” She paused as he came around the stove. He’d put on one of the chef coats that Tony had refused to wear. On Josh, it looked natural. And sexy as hell.

He set a plate down on the prep bar. “Taste this. I think you’re using the wrong sauce for your trout dish.”

“I developed that recipe myself.” She’d actually developed all the recipes, but he didn’t need to know that.

He broke off a piece and held the fork up to her mouth. “Taste this. I think it’s perfect.”

A burst of freshness surrounded her taste buds and she tried to decipher what he’d changed.

He smiled as he watched her. “See, its better, right? I mean the recipes you have are fine, but dated. And you’re missing out on a lot of the fresh ingredients you can get locally. Why buy frozen seafood when you can source local fish and get a much better product. Sure, you don’t get the convenience, but when you have to thaw everything, that argument doesn’t hold water.”

“It’s good.” She took another bite. “What did you change?”

He waved her question away. “Don’t worry, I’ll update your recipe book, but there’s several dishes I’d like to work on.” He grinned. “Don’t look so freaked out. Tonight, this is the only change you’ll see on the menu. I’ll run everything new by you before serving it to your guests. I know what I’m doing.”

“Hey Maggie, Susan’s on the phone. Can you take the call?” Cari stuck her head into the kitchen.

“Look, we’ll talk more about this, but for today, are you okay with doing dinner service?” If she had to call someone in, she needed to do it now.

He didn’t look up as he answered, just moved back to the stove. “I’m not going anywhere for at least a week. I can cook for you until I leave.”

Well, that would give her time to hire someone permanently rather than just calling the temp agency. And a week was more than she’d expected.

“I’ve got to take this call.” She left through the double doors wondering who Josh really was and why he was so comfortable cooking in her kitchen.

***

Josh kicked himself. He should just be relaxing at the no tell-motel he’d rented, but no. He had to jump in to save the day. And the damsel in distress. Although Maggie Castle didn’t seem to be in much distress, except for needing a chef. A role he could play perfectly after cooking in his family’s restaurant since he’d turned sixteen.

He looked around the kitchen and then at the clock. Cari had promised him a ride back into town at three. And he’d have time enough for a quick nap while he ran his clothes through the washer. Then back here for dinner service. For someone who was supposed to be enjoying his hard-fought freedom, he seemed to be pretty domesticated.

One week, maybe two, wouldn’t kill him. He could play chef for that long without falling back into the black hole he’d crawled out of just a few months ago. Although today he hadn’t stressed. Cooking had been like it had when he started, pure joy. He stepped outside and walked down the hill to where he’d seen the tiger enclosures. Maybe if he watched the large cats, he’d have a better idea of how to deal with human encounters since he didn’t seem to be doing the best job of it lately.

Two females were in the same cage and Josh sat on the stone bench outside the second layer of wire, watching them. He read the sign outside the cage –
Tiki and Tava
. One seemed perfectly content lying in the sun, her big paws stretched out like a house cat finding the sun. The other batted around a large ball. When it came in front of the sleeping tiger, Josh expected the other one to join in the game, but the cat didn’t move. The second cat nosed the ball toward the reclining one and she reached out with one paw, catching the side of the ball and throwing it away from the pair. As the active cat took off after the escaping ball, the other huffed softly.

“You just don’t feel like playing today?” Josh matched his gaze with the penned animal. “I totally get where you’re coming from.”

A small voice came from behind him. “Tava’s blind.”

He turned around and saw a little girl who couldn’t have been older than his niece. What, Rosa was six or seven? “She’s blind?”

“They’re sisters and Tiki takes care of her sister.” She came and sat next to him. “I’m Becca. My mommy, I mean, mom, runs this place.”

He held his hand out. “Josh. I’m working at the restaurant for a few weeks.”

Becca nodded, still not looking at him. “I thought about being a baker like Maggie, but I don’t think I want to work around food all the time. I want something funner.”

“Maggie bakes?” Josh smiled a little at how much he could find out about the amazing Miss Maggie without even asking her. Gotta love small towns.

“She does brownies, and cakes, and tiger cookies. She’s really good too.” She considered him a moment. “Are you her boyfriend?”

Josh choked. He been about to nod at the idea that Maggie was good at anything she put her mind to do. Then the conversation had gone sideways in a split second. “I guess we’re friends.”

The kid seemed to accept that answer. “Do you like tigers?”

The question threw Josh out of his Maggie imagining and back to reality. “I guess so. I mean, it’s not like they’re pets.”

The girl nodded. “I like tigers, especially Tiki and Tava. They both love me. I can tell.”

“And what’s the rule with the tigers, Becca?” Maggie’s warm voice came from back behind him.

“Anything that goes into their cages, they get to keep.” She held up both hands and wiggled. “Including my fingers.”

Maggie sat down beside Josh and smiled at Becca. “Perfect.” She didn’t look at Josh when she spoke to him. “Becca and her mom are fairly new to Castle View. Abigail moved back last year to take over the sanctuary and then fell in love with my brother, Mark. I’m sure she got the short end of that deal. Now he doesn’t have to pay her for running the sanctuary so it’s almost in the black.”

“Mark’s nice. He’s building us a house on the mountain so someday my daddy can come visit me here when he’s not so busy with work.” Becca stared at the tigers. “I’ll make sure to tell him the tiger rule though when he comes.”

They heard Becca’s name being called from the barn. Becca’s face lit up at the sound. “We have to go shopping today. Mom says all my clothes are too small so we’re taking a trip to Spokane. And we’re staying over at a real hotel.”

They watched as Becca sprinted toward the barn entrance. Suddenly she stopped and waved. “Bye Maggie. Bye Josh.”

Then she disappeared into the barn. Josh looked over at Maggie. “She’s quite the conversationalist.”

“Oh, God, tell me she didn’t blurt out all the Castle View secrets,” Maggie joked, still watching the tigers. Tiki had tired of playing with the ball and now was lying next to her sister, licking her ears.

“Just one.” This made Maggie turn and look at him. He laughed at the fear on the woman’s face. “She said you were the best baker in the world, but she didn’t want your job.”

Maggie’s face relaxed. “Okay, that’s two secrets. I told Cari I’d come find you. She’s ready to head into town now. Are you sure you’re okay with your battlefield promotion from dishwasher to chef today? I can still call someone from the temp agency in for tomorrow’s service.”

“What, you think I’m not good enough?” He watched her reaction. God, she was beautiful. He need to get his bike fixed and get out of this town so he didn’t have to look at that face day in and day out. His resolve to travel the country and bum around for the next few years would go right out the window. How sad to be stopped just two states into his goal.