Page 103 of A Hard Fit

“But I’m starving!” The teenager groaned.

“Let’s just go,” the other adult said. “We can get food on the way home.”

Markos watched them depart like a puppy being left at the pound. “More people are going to start leaving.”

Finn and Rory looked at each other.

“Are you going to…” Rory started.

Finn nodded. “I’m gonna try.” They gave each other a quick kiss, then Finn turned to Markos. “I have an idea. Can you give me free rein with the grill? I want to give away some food.”

“Absolutely.”

Markos led them through a staff door into the kitchen and found a tall, lanky woman with a clipboard. “This is my grill manager, Nadya,” Markos said. “Nadya, this is Finn. Give him whatever he needs.” He nodded once. “Let’s go, Rory. I hope you can fucking fix this.”

Finn and Rory shared one more look before Rory followed Markos out of the kitchen.

“It’s a mess out there,” Nadya said. “Things are going fine in here, but we can’t get the orders in fast enough.”

“I think I can help. Can you get everyone’s attention for me?”

Nadya clapped her hands and bellowed, “Listen up, crew!”

The staff paused what they were doing, regarding the large, redheaded interloper warily.

“Hi, everyone. I’m Finn. I’m with Breakpoint, Thrill Island’s advertising company. And we need to make a whole bunch of people real happy real quick. I’d like you to cook all the hot dogs you can.”

“All?” repeated Nadya.

“All. And I need someone to contact a supplier and get more delivered here as soon as possible. Now, how many can we crank out within the next ten minutes?”

Eleven minutes later, Finn left the kitchen clad in a Thrill Grill apron and carrying a tray of hot dogs, followed by a handful of kitchen staff bearing the same load. The smell of park food—grease and sunshine—made Finn’s stomach growl. He would need a hot dog of his own later.

He approached the cranky family at the front of the long line. “We are so sorry about the wait,” Finn said. “But maybe you can help me out. I just went on a hot dog heist and I need to get rid of the evidence. Can I interest you all in a complementary hot dog?”

“Really?” the mom replied, eyes lighting up. “Yes, please.” She collected a hot dog for each of her family members while the kids cheered. One of the employees behind Finn offered ketchup or mustard from the squirt bottles he carried.

Finn repeated his task with the next family as the other staff spread out with their trays down the line.

“It’s the least you can do,” a woman muttered at him as she collected a stack of hot dogs. “We’ve been in this line for forty-five minutes.”

“We’re so sorry about that, ma’am. We would also like to offer you these coupons for a free slushie after four p.m.” Finn handed her a fat stack of glossy coupons.

“Thank you,” she said, slightly mollified. “The kids will like that.”

Finn continued down the line until he ran out of hot dogs, then he went in to collect the next batch and distributed those, too. A group of teens christened him ‘Hot Dog Dude’ and tried to get him to stay and eat one with them, but he politely declined. His tray was just about empty a third time when he turned to greet the next family, and came face to face with Jackson, Amy and Minnie.

“Oh, hi.” Finn held up his tray. “Um…would you like a complementary hot dog?”

“Are you…working here?” Jackson asked, taking in the apron.

“Just, er, helping. The Wi-Fi went down, so Rory went to deal with that and I was, uh…” He waved at the crowd around him. “Keeping the guests happy while they waited.”

That was when he took a moment to look around him. The mood had taken a one-eighty from when they had first arrived. Lots of the guests had taken a seat at the new tables, happy with the free food, while some had stayed in the much more manageable line to add to their meals.

“I love hot dods!” one little boy exclaimed nearby, dancing in his seat while his mom wiped the ketchup sliding down his chin.

“That was nice of you to step in,” Amy said. “And yes, thank you, we would love some hot dogs.”

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