“Good. She’s all right.”
Andrew would have guessed that the blunt words were very high praise, indeed, from Nathaniel Holiday. “Yes. She’s very much all right.”
Apparently satisfied, Nate made his exit. Andrew didn’t bother to offer to show him out.
Shaking his head, he looked at the chaos on his desk.
What further surprises would Nicole bring into his life?
Surprisingly enough, he found that he was rather looking forward to them.
“HEY, HONEY. How about another beer over here?”
Nicky nodded in response to the summons and hurried with a heavy tray of food to a table of impatient diners. “Here you go, folks,” she said cheerfully, setting heaping plates in front of the two gray-haired couples at the table. “Can I get you anything else?”
“Ketchup,” one of the men requested, looking at the thick cottage fries on his plate.
Nicky patiently lifted the bottle that had been sitting two inches from his elbow and nudged it closer. “Here it is, sir. Anything else?”
“That will be all for now.”
She hurried to serve the man who’d asked for beer.
“Customer at table six,” the cute, pony-tailed hostess informed her as soon as she’d taken care of that request.
Nicky nodded and pulled her order pad out of the red-and-white gingham apron she wore over the restaurant uniform of black jeans and a red T-shirt with the name of the establishment embroidered in white on the left breast. Only one guest was seated at table six, face hidden behind a menu. At Nicky’s approach, he lowered it.
“Andrew!” she said, startled. “What are you doing here?”
“I had a sudden craving for barbecue,” he replied gravely.
She giggled and touched his cheek fleetingly with her fingertips. “You came to check out my new job, didn’t you? I assure you it’s a perfectly safe place to work.”
“I can see that,” he agreed, glancing around at the almost too cute, faux Western decor. The clientele was primarily middle-aged and working class, rather sparse on this Monday evening so soon after the holidays.
He looked back at her. “When did you find this job?”
“This morning. They needed someone immediately for the evening shift, and since I just happened to be available, they hired me.”
“I didn’t realize you were looking for this type of work.”
A bit self-conscious, and wondering if she saw disapproval in his eyes, Nicky shrugged. “I just needed something to get me by until something better comes along. I’ve had experience waiting tables, and I like working with people, so this will be fine for now.”
Andrew looked as though he started to say something and then changed his mind. He hesitated a moment, then said, “I hired your cousin today. At least, I think I did,” he added wryly.
She caught her breath. “You liked Nate’s work?”
“He probably is a genius, as you’ve said. Whether he can work within my requirements remains to be seen.”
“You won’t be sorry, Andrew.” She crossed her fingers as she spoke, knowing Nate too well to make airy guarantees.
Someone behind her loudly cleared a throat. Nicole glanced around, spotted her boss, nodded and turned back to Andrew. “Do you want to order something? I really have to get back to work.”
“I’ll have the pork, with fries and coleslaw.”
“Good choice. Want a beer with it?”
“Ice tea,” he corrected her. “I don’t like beer.”