Page 36 of Her Summer Hope

He glowered. “Not yet.”

She let out a brief prayer of thanks without letting him see it. She pulled on a spare apron and washed her hands.

She went to the refrigerator and took out the four corned beef roasts. She rinsed them under cold water to remove some of the salt and found the seasoning that she needed. She pulled two heavy Dutch ovens from the shelf and rubbed the inside with oil before sprinkling the roasts with a bit of fresh pepper.

She seared each side for a moment before adding a bit of water to the pots and placing the fat side up. She sprinkled in the seasonings and placed them in the oven. She set the timer on her phone and checked the cold pantry for the vegetables she’d need later.

The potatoes and carrots were there.

“Why no cabbage?”

The voice behind her made her jump and she spun around. The chef was blocking the only exit. He crossed his arms and waited.

She didn’t appreciate his intimidation, not at all.

“Look around,” she said. “Do you see any cabbage anywhere?”

He frowned, confused. “Why didn’t you put it on the list?”

“Why should I cost my employer any more money when I can make a perfectly good meal without it? There’s no need to go buying extra food when it isn’t necessary,” she said.

Plus, there was the fact that she was a fraud. She wasn’t going to be an expensive inconvenience as well.

He looked at her like she was crazy. “They can afford it, trust me.”

“That’s not the point,” she snapped.

He sighed and threw his hands up. “Crazy woman.”

“There’s requisition forms for a reason…” he left the room muttering as she finished her quick inventory.

She checked her watch again. She’d need to be back at four to make the horseradish cream sauce and roast the vegetables. She wanted to make a pineapple cake for dessert too. She could do that while the food was roasting.

She walked out of the pantry and straight into a hard body.

“Oof,” she said, putting her hands on the man’s chest and pushing away.

She knew by smell alone that it was Kyle, and for a second she was extremely glad it wasn’t the chef she had run into…or Wyatt.

She had a feeling he would chew her out for it and she’d reached her limit for the day.

“Sorry.”

“Madison,” Kyle said, looking her over with amusement sparkling in his eyes. “Been swimming?"

She grinned and tried to ignore the fingers wrapped around her upper arms. He seemed to flinch and quickly let her go, backing away.

“Almost felt like it when I was running for the door,” she joked back, enjoying their easy banter.

“It’s coming down that hard out there?” he asked, looking at her dripping hair and soaked shirt.

"Not too bad now, but I went to the grocery store before I came here. It was really pouring then and I didn’t have time to change.”

“I can see that,” he said, smirking at her before his smile dropped away. “Did you fall?”

She looked down at her shin and swore in her head. There was a spot of blood on her jeans, but even if there hadn’t been, the giant wet mark on her leg would have given her mishap away.

She chuckled self-deprecatingly. “Yeah. I was in a hurry and slid on the steps out there. It’s nothing, really,” she said.