Stay With Me, Contemporary Romance (Last Frontier Lodge Novels Book 5) by J.H. Croix Page B
Authors: J.H. Croix
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“It’s awesome! Time for me to go. Are you two coming down for dinner?”
Marley nodded. “Oh yeah. I’ve pretty much given up cooking dinner since we had Holly. We’ll be down for a little bit even if it’s just to grab something from the buffet.”
Jessa made her way downstairs and within an hour, she’d completely forgotten why she’d ever been nervous. She loved talking with people and found the customers at the lodge restaurant to be a varied bunch, a mix of locals and tourists from all over the world. Since the restaurant was crazy busy, Jessa found herself constantly manning the waitlist and chatting with the customers while they waited. Harry Lawson, Delia’s front manager, ran Jessa through the paces of what she needed to know and then left her to her own devices. He breezed by occasionally and threw encouraging smiles at her, even swinging by to deliver a glass of wine.
“I can drink when I’m working?” Jessa asked, amused by the idea.
Harry winked as he set the glass down with a flourish on the reception desk. “A glass a night is fine. Plus, you’re taste testing. This is a gooseberry wine from Diamond Creek Brewery. They mostly do beer, but they’ve been expanding into wines lately. You can let me know what you think and maybe we’ll serve it here.”
“Oh, sign me up! I love wine, but I’ve never even heard of gooseberry wine.” She lifted the glass and sniffed it. “It smells delicious,” she said as she glanced into Harry’s dark eyes. Harry was dark and angular—dark brown hair with eyes to match and a thin frame. He appeared to love his job and thrived on the restaurant running at full speed. He nodded at Jessa’s comment. “It does smell good, doesn’t it? Tell me what you think.”
She took a sip, the flavor rich and warm. “Wow! That’s really good.”
Harry grinned. “I thought so too. Delia wants to make sure enough people like it before she buys it. I’m leaving this bottle here,” he paused and lifted the bottle in his hand. “You can offer small glasses while people wait if they want to try it. I figure that might give us a good sample.”
“Perfect! Hand it over.” She carefully took the bottle from him and set in on the desk. She’d noticed the desk was stocked with small wineglasses earlier, so she opened the cabinet doors, pulled out some glasses and lined them in a semi-circle around the bottle of wine.
Harry smiled approvingly and gave a wave as he dashed off. He seemed to mostly spin about the restaurant, always in motion, always doing something. Customers loved him with his light and easy humor and engaging manner that made it feel as if you’d somehow known him forever. Jessa appreciated how welcoming he’d been of her. After he dashed off, she offered the gooseberry wine to the customers already waiting.
Hours later, the last of the customers wandered out into the falling darkness, and she locked the front door behind them. She quickly tidied up the reception area and carried the many wineglasses used for the taste testing into the kitchen on a tray, along with four empty bottles. To say the gooseberry wine was a hit was an understatement. She’d blown through it. When she pushed through the swinging door into the kitchen, she walked to the back corner to set the dishes in the massive rack to run through the commercial dishwasher and washed her hands in the sink. She glanced around and smiled. Delia was putting a tray of pastries in the refrigerator, ready for the oven first thing tomorrow morning, Harry was in the far corner entering something in the register there, and one of the line cooks was wiping down the prep counters. The space was calm and quiet.
Delia closed the refrigerator and leaned her hips against the stainless steel table that ran down the center of the kitchen. She reached her hands up to loosen her hair from the haphazard knot atop her head. It fell in honey gold waves around her shoulders. She sighed and glanced over to
Marley nodded. “Oh yeah. I’ve pretty much given up cooking dinner since we had Holly. We’ll be down for a little bit even if it’s just to grab something from the buffet.”
Jessa made her way downstairs and within an hour, she’d completely forgotten why she’d ever been nervous. She loved talking with people and found the customers at the lodge restaurant to be a varied bunch, a mix of locals and tourists from all over the world. Since the restaurant was crazy busy, Jessa found herself constantly manning the waitlist and chatting with the customers while they waited. Harry Lawson, Delia’s front manager, ran Jessa through the paces of what she needed to know and then left her to her own devices. He breezed by occasionally and threw encouraging smiles at her, even swinging by to deliver a glass of wine.
“I can drink when I’m working?” Jessa asked, amused by the idea.
Harry winked as he set the glass down with a flourish on the reception desk. “A glass a night is fine. Plus, you’re taste testing. This is a gooseberry wine from Diamond Creek Brewery. They mostly do beer, but they’ve been expanding into wines lately. You can let me know what you think and maybe we’ll serve it here.”
“Oh, sign me up! I love wine, but I’ve never even heard of gooseberry wine.” She lifted the glass and sniffed it. “It smells delicious,” she said as she glanced into Harry’s dark eyes. Harry was dark and angular—dark brown hair with eyes to match and a thin frame. He appeared to love his job and thrived on the restaurant running at full speed. He nodded at Jessa’s comment. “It does smell good, doesn’t it? Tell me what you think.”
She took a sip, the flavor rich and warm. “Wow! That’s really good.”
Harry grinned. “I thought so too. Delia wants to make sure enough people like it before she buys it. I’m leaving this bottle here,” he paused and lifted the bottle in his hand. “You can offer small glasses while people wait if they want to try it. I figure that might give us a good sample.”
“Perfect! Hand it over.” She carefully took the bottle from him and set in on the desk. She’d noticed the desk was stocked with small wineglasses earlier, so she opened the cabinet doors, pulled out some glasses and lined them in a semi-circle around the bottle of wine.
Harry smiled approvingly and gave a wave as he dashed off. He seemed to mostly spin about the restaurant, always in motion, always doing something. Customers loved him with his light and easy humor and engaging manner that made it feel as if you’d somehow known him forever. Jessa appreciated how welcoming he’d been of her. After he dashed off, she offered the gooseberry wine to the customers already waiting.
Hours later, the last of the customers wandered out into the falling darkness, and she locked the front door behind them. She quickly tidied up the reception area and carried the many wineglasses used for the taste testing into the kitchen on a tray, along with four empty bottles. To say the gooseberry wine was a hit was an understatement. She’d blown through it. When she pushed through the swinging door into the kitchen, she walked to the back corner to set the dishes in the massive rack to run through the commercial dishwasher and washed her hands in the sink. She glanced around and smiled. Delia was putting a tray of pastries in the refrigerator, ready for the oven first thing tomorrow morning, Harry was in the far corner entering something in the register there, and one of the line cooks was wiping down the prep counters. The space was calm and quiet.
Delia closed the refrigerator and leaned her hips against the stainless steel table that ran down the center of the kitchen. She reached her hands up to loosen her hair from the haphazard knot atop her head. It fell in honey gold waves around her shoulders. She sighed and glanced over to
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