Page 3 of Already Home

They went inside. Jenna turned on the lights, then glancedaround at the chaos.

She saw shelves against the walls and freestanding racks in themiddle of the main room. A newly installed kitchen setup gleamed from one side.The desk for the cash register was in place. Boxes were stacked nearly five feethigh. Unpacking was going to take days.

Daunting didn’t begin to describe it, but Jenna didn’t care.Hard work was exactly what she was looking for. If she was exhausted, shewouldn’t have as much time to think. Besides, this was America. According tolegend, all that stood between her and success was a little hard work.Fortunately, the ability to do what needed doing had always been one of herstrongest attributes.

“Nice,” Violet said, walking around. “The high ceilings aregreat. Some of the places around here have a second floor, so the ceilings arelower.” She headed for the kitchen area, set down her purse and tugged on hersleeves. As she pulled up the lace, Jenna caught sight of a tattoo of flowers onthe inside of her wrist.

Violet wasn’t anything like Jenna had imagined. She’d picturedsomeone older. Someone more...conservative. But Violet had energy and anengaging smile. The pixie cut gelled to a fashion-forward mess suited her, asdid the Goth-inspired makeup. Violet looked both fun and approachable.

Ten years of working in restaurant kitchens had taught Jenna totrust her gut when it came to hiring. For all his telling her that she didn’tknow what she was talking about, Aaron had listened to her gut, too.

“You enjoy working with the public?” Jenna asked.

She knew that was going to be the most difficult area for her.She was used to being behind the scenes, not dealing with the front of thehouse. Ordering, organizing, working under pressure—those were easy. But smilingin the face of harried customers? Not so much.

“Most days,” Violet said with a laugh. “I think the differencebetween a place like this and, say, a big-box store is branding. You go to aretail chain with certain expectations. Sometimes it’s price or convenience. Butmaking a special trip to your store requires a little more thought. Customershave to want to come here.”

She ran her hands across the stainless steel counters by thestove.

“I think the key to success is to give customers an experiencethey can’t get anywhere else. Not only different products, but personalizedservice. You have to make them want to come back.” Violet smiled again, her eyesdancing with excitement. “I do love a good challenge.”

“Good thing—because we’re going to have that here.”

Violet faced her. “Maybe not. What’s the competition? I don’tthink there are any other places like this in the area, but I didn’t do theresearch.”

Jenna stared at her. Research? She did her best not to wince.Right. Because most people had a plan when they opened a store. They checked outthe area, ran the numbers, worked on a profit and loss statement. Things Jennawould have done had she been opening a restaurant.

“We’re going to offer something unique here,” Jenna said.“Neighborhoods like that.”

“You’ve owned retail stores before?” Violet asked.

“Not exactly. I’m a sous chef.”

“Oh, wow. That’s great.” Violet moved to the open area in frontof the sink and held her arms open wide. “We could set up cooking stations here.People love to get their hands dirty. With that big oven and the six burners,they can all be cooking and baking together. People would kill to get real tipsfrom someone like you.”

Jenna shook her head. “I wasn’t going to have the customerscook. I’ll be doing demonstrations. Showing techniques for differentdishes.”

Violet’s arms dropped to her side. “That would be good, too,”she said with measurably less enthusiasm. “Will you have prepared the dishes inadvance so they get to sample what you’re doing?”

“Of course.”

“That’s nice.” She walked toward the boxes and read the labels.“So you’ve never exactly run a store before?”

“No.”

Violet bit down on her lower lip. “Are you hiring amanager?”

“I’ll be the manager. At least for now.” Jenna squared hershoulders. It was time to get to the interview. “I’m looking for someone to workfull-time with me. We’ll be open six days a week. I’d prefer you take yoursecond day off on Monday through Thursday. I’m guessing Friday and Saturday willbe busiest. I’m going to offer different kinds of cooking classes. Classicrecipes, easy to make, foods that can be frozen and served days or weekslater.”

Stuff she could do in her sleep.

A part of her whispered it might be fun to experiment a little.To have customers surprise her with ingredients and then come up with somethingon the fly. She could—

Without wanting to, she remembered experimenting with breadpudding as an appetizer rather than a dessert. Using savory flavors, chilies andspices rather than sugar. Aaron had grabbed one of her samples before she couldtaste it herself. He’d taken one bite and quickly spit it back into hishand.

Then he’d patted her on the back and said, “It’s good that youtry.”

As if she were some kid who’d made a mud pie. Some kid who hadtrouble learning and needed a lot of praise.

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