Page 2 of Baby, Be Mine

“I’ll make Esther call her.”

I pressed my lips together against a smile. Gillian Waller was the head of waitstaff and bartenders and could be a tad difficult. She’d been with me since The Mason Jar had been little more than a shack on the water and was indispensable when it came to running this place. Unfortunately, she was well aware of her worth and lorded it over the staff when she was on the warpath.

Mondays were her day off and there was generally hell to pay if we called her in.

The sound of a hissing hydraulic had me turning around and rushing back down the stairs. I winced as a bus circled the parking lot.

How had I missed the damn memo about a flea market in the heart of Crescent Cove? Then again, I’d been juggling so many things lately, checking my email tended to fall to the bottom of the list.

“Oh, crap.” Rami went onto her toes beside me and peered at the stream of people coming off the bus. “I’ll make those calls.”

“Good idea.” I rerouted to the front desk. My interviews would have to wait until I could get this under control.

I touched Sara Beth’s elbow. “Ladies, welcome to The Mason Jar. How many in your party?”

I felt her relax as she called ahead another party. “I can help you over here.”

A woman in a startlingly neon floral dress came up to the desk. “Eleven.”

I nearly choked, but my smile never wavered. “Okay, let me get that set up for you.” I peeked over my shoulder. “Would you mind a patio seat? Or prefer inside?”

“Inside.”

Of course she wanted inside. I kept the smile on my face and waved Esther over.

Esther scanned the room in that way she had—she was one of the best servers who’d ever worked here—and quickly crossed the dining room to meet me.

“I need a seating for eleven.”

“Sorry. I meant thirteen,” the older woman added oh so helpfully.

“Right. Thirteen.”

Esther’s dark eyes widened, but she nodded. “On it.”

I glanced at the bar where the trio of potential new hires were waiting. I’d called in two women and a man for a second interview for the entertainment coordinator I desperately needed. If I was going to utilize the outdoor spaces in the best way possible, it would require someone who knew what the hell they were doing.

One of the interviewees turned to look at me. She had wild, sun-kissed blond hair and blue eyes bright enough for me to notice across the room. She wore a summery hot pink dress that showed off tanned shoulders and an armful of bracelets in various stones and metals.

Emmaline Hauser.

The name was burned into my brain. We’d done a Zoom interview for the first round, and she’d made me laugh the whole time. Sharp, smart, and effervescent, bubbling with excitement and ideas, Emma was a top contender for the job as far as I was concerned.

Even if part of me was a little too intrigued by her, I knew she was ideal for what I was looking for. Someone who could light up a room and yet was forceful enough to keep people in line. She had a drama background which seemed incongruous for the job, and yet she was the one who’d come up with the best ideas for events so far.

But right now, she’d have to wait.

They all would.

I needed to worry about feeding a dozen octogenarians who seemed ready to cause a scene. By the time me and my staff got the front porch cleared and people seated, I was thirty minutes behind for the first interview.

I swung by the second level bar area and hurried behind the counter. “Sorry, guys. I didn’t know we’d end up with a late breakfast rush.”

“Not a bad problem to have.” Emmaline laced her fingers on the glossy bar top. Her fingers were just as colorfully bejeweled as her arm.

“Definitely not.” I quickly filled three glasses of water and passed them out. “I’ll be a few more minutes, but I didn’t want to leave you here without something to drink.”

“I could go for something harder,” Jim Something-or-other said as he leaned heavily on the bar. Looked like he might have partied a bit harder than he should have before an interview.

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