Page 19 of Secrets of Riverside

Drawing in a slow, deep breath, Jarrah sat back again. With nowhere else to virtually wander to, all he could do was sit and stare at the towering redbrick building, while trying to come up with some answers of his own. The people who lived there would be middle class, and more on the younger side, he guessed, given it was Parramatta. It certainly wasn’t a place anyone from the dregs of society would call home. Who in the heck lived there? And what did Carlo want with them? Had it been a payoff for a job done, or was it a threat of what was to come? Did Tommy know anything about it, or was he just doing what he was told? A sudden, intense pounding at his temples had Jarrah pinching the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut. He needed to stop trying to hunt down answers, for now at least, because this wasn’t getting him anywhere.

Reaching out, he slapped his laptop shut. Then, with sheer grit and determination, he steered his mind to a nicer place, with a much nicer face to contemplate. Within seconds, a smile itched the corners of his lips and his tightly wound muscles began to lose a little of the tension. Ahhh, Millie-no-last-name, she was a picture of natural beauty. Happening across her just when he needed a cook as soon as possible made him feel like the hands of fate were at play, and somewhat working in his favour. He actually couldn’t believe his luck. Although he’d have to make sure he didn’t cross any boundaries, especially now she’d taken the job. He had to be a role model and walk the talk that he preached to all his staff, especially Tommy. But it was going to be tough. With her long blonde hair, striking cat-like sea-green eyes set in her heart-shaped face, and that little dimple that appeared on her chin when she smiled, holy hell she was an absolute stunner. And that certain thing that he couldn’t quite put his finger on, the thing that tempted him to break his own rules about being keen on a woman who worked for him, well, it both provoked and startled him.

Just as Jarrah found himself in a happier place than he’d been in five minutes earlier, Tommy’s booming voice carried from the hall. ‘Jarrah, are you in there?’ Seconds later he strode through the doorway. ‘I’ve been looking for you all over.’

Fairly certain he knew what this was going to be about, Jarrah bit back a huff. ‘Is everything okay?’

‘No, it’s not.’ Arriving at the desk, Tommy threw his hands in the air. ‘Millie let me know she’s starting on Monday and I can’t believe you’ve hired someone you know nothing about.’

‘We’ve hired other people we know nothing about, Tommy, so I don’t get why you’re so worked up about Millie.’ Pushing his chair back, Jarrah then rose, but stood his ground. ‘Does it have anything to do with the fact that I had to fire Jasmine?’

‘No, I, it, she …’ Tommy seemed to stumble over words until he found the right ones. ‘I’m the one who has to work with her, so it should’ve been run past me first.’

‘I did run it past you, Tommy, yesterday afternoon. I told you in no uncertain terms that I had offered her the job.’ He came around the side of the desk and placed a hand on Tommy’s tense shoulder. ‘Please try and understand that I had to find someone fast.’

Other than a weighty sigh, Tommy remained silent.

His patience wearing mighty thin, Jarrah huffed at Tommy’s indignation. ‘Look, you’re essentially her boss, so you can report back to me if she’s not as good as she reckons she is, okay?’ He made sure to keep his words professional and measured, leaving no room for an argument. ‘Just give her a go, would you?’

Tommy’s look of defiance spoke loud and clear that his bad attitude wasn’t going anywhere soon. Jarrah was just about to pull him up for it when a knock at the door halted their conversation.

‘Oh hey, Millie.’ A blonde tendril had come loose from her bun and he longed to close the distance and sweep it behind her ear. ‘You sleep good?’

‘I’ll leave you both to it,’ Tommy grumbled as he turned and stomped past her, pausing briefly in the doorway. ‘You start at six am, and the kitchen opens at seven sharp, six days a week, so make sure you’re on time Monday.’ His parting words hung heavily.

‘Don’t worry, I will be, Tommy.’ Watching him disappear, Millie blew out a breath, chasing the lock of hair back into place as she turned her attention to Jarrah. ‘And I slept pretty good, thank you.’ She offered a tight-lipped smile. ‘I overheard Tommy’s not happy with me getting the job.’ She grimaced and shrugged. ‘Mind you, he’s making it pretty clear to my face, too.’

‘Try not to take it to heart. He’s never happy lately, about anything.’ Jarrah tried to wave off her concern. ‘He’ll get over it eventually.’

‘I hope you’re right, because it’ll make things a lot more comfortable in the kitchen, but if he doesn’t get over it, for whatever reason, I won’t let him be a grumpy tyrant to me, either.’

Jarrah couldn’t help his admiring grin. ‘Good to know you’re not a pushover.’ She might have been tiny, but she was strong-willed, he had no doubt about it. ‘Would you like to come and meet some of the regulars?’

She smiled, nodding. ‘Yeah, why not.’

‘Come on then.’ He met her near the doorway. ‘Follow me.’

Five minutes later and they stood on the opposite side of the packed breakfast bar. ‘Hey there, you three larrikins, this is our new cook, Millie.’ Jarrah noted their plates were almost licked clean. Mary was doing them a huge favour, covering the shift today. He owed her one.

‘Hi.’ Smiling sweetly at the three sets of bushy furrowed brows, Millie shoved her hands into her cute denim-shorts pockets. ‘Nice to meet you all.’

For a few seconds, the three old-timers sized her up, and right before the stare-down became awkward, the eldest – nicknamed after his truck – dropped his fork then held out his weather-beaten hand. ‘Howdy, Millie, I’m Mack, good to meet ya.’

Gripping his hand, Millie shook it. ‘Hey, Mack.’

Mack thumbed to either side of him. ‘And these two grumpy bastards sitting next to me are Tom and Graham.’

‘Oi, fair play.’ His skin like leather, Tom elbowed Mack in the ribs, and then gave her a nod. ‘Don’t listen to him, he’s the biggest grump out of all of us.’ A goofy grin surfaced, then shone.

‘Out of the entirety of Queensland, you mean, don’t ya, Tom?’ The wrinkles around Graham’s eyes deepened as he chuckled.

With the three men erupting into snorts of laughter, Jarrah couldn’t help but chuckle along with them. Beside him, Millie’s laughter was music to his ears.

‘We might be three pains in the butt …’ After wiping his lips with a paper napkin, Mack gave Jarrah’s arm a friendly slap. ‘But as for this bloke, Miss Millie, I vouch for the fact that he’s the best of the best. You’ve made the right choice, working for him.’

‘Ah, stop it.’ Although he appreciated Mack’s compliment, Jarrah didn’t take well to praise. ‘Or you’re going to give me a big head.’ Jokes were always a good way around the embarrassment.

‘Going to give you a big head?’ Mack’s bushy brows rose high. ‘Don’t you mean you’ve already got one?’

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