“Have any of you decided what you want?”
“I want a job,” Angie said.
Claudia was taken aback. “Seriously? I thought you were bartending at one of the local hotels. One of the nicer hotels.”
“I was…I mean, I am. But my boss there is so hoity-toity. I miss everyone here. Maybe you could use someone part time?”
This was the answer to a prayer. The only other employees Claudia had hired were a couple of students who could only work evenings.
“Think about it,” Tory said. “As I recall, you became the bar’s manager because you were a klutzy cocktail waitress. It was bad enough when you bathed someone in beer, but imagine spilling hot tea in a customer’s lap.”
Claudia’s cheeks heated. It was true, but she’d hoped her sobriety would result in a steadier hand.
The bells jingled again. More customers.
Angie nodded to the front door. “It looks like you could use some help. I’ve already handed the guys our menus.”
“Hey. I was just about to…” Whoa. Take your pride and shove it, she told herself.
Sadie caught her eye and gave her a slight nod.
If I don’t take Angie up on her offer, I should fire myself. “Can you start right now?”
Angie laughed and jumped up. “You betcha.”
Claudia ripped the order pad and handed half of it to her. “Grab a pen from behind the counter and have at it. Give the orders to Chris in the kitchen.”
Brandee ordered a cup of Irish breakfast tea and plain salad, reminding Claudia she was lactose intolerant. The guys asked for coffee and cucumber-watercress sandwiches. Kurt joked that he just ordered them to find out what the heck a watercress was.
The day progressed smoothly and Claudia’s prediction about a slow start couldn’t have been more wrong. Every regular from the old bar and a bunch of new faces showed up. Had Sadie known this was going to happen?
The one thing that really baffled Claudia was why the woman wearing the giant hat was staying all day. She sipped her tea slowly and nibbled at her scone. Claudia checked on her regularly and was always dismissed with a wave of the woman’s gloved hand.
Eventually, Claudia talked her into a fresh pot of tea, figuring the other one must have grown cold by then.
When she picked up the pot with both hands, heat seared her. “Yikes!” She quickly set it down and blew on her fingers. Chelsea, one of the evening waitresses, rushed over. “Are you all right?”
Claudia inspected her fingers. They stung and were dark pink, but not red or blistered. “I—I think so.”
Chelsea mumbled under her breath, “You’d better get a good tip after that.”
The strange woman rose and faced them. “You want a good tip? Here it is… Try picking up teapots by the handles, numbnuts.”
Stunned, Claudia watched the woman glide to the cash register, drop a twenty-dollar bill next to it, and saunter out the door as if nothing had happened.
Anthony straightened his tie, using the shop window as a mirror. He was anxious for some inexplicable reason. He trusted Claudia completely, and Ruxandra had promised to stay away, so what could possibly go wrong?
Breezing into the small office sandwiched between the checkout counter and the entrance to the kitchen, Anthony spotted Claudia rubbing something onto the palm of her hand. As soon as he caught sight of the tube of ointment with the Red Cross symbol on it, he rushed to her side.
“What happened? Are you all right?”
Claudia sighed. “Yes. I was just stupid. I picked up a hot teapot by the base instead of using the handle.”
Anthony took her hand in his and inspected the burn. “I’m no doctor, but I’d say it’s a minor burn. No blisters. Does it hurt?”
She shrugged. “Not as much as it did a few minutes ago. It’s just a dull throb now.”
“I’ll take you to the emergency room, just to be sure.”
Claudia held up her glossy hand. “No! They might try to give me pain medication. I won’t take anything addictive.”
“Won’t Kurt’s protection spell take care of that?”
“I don’t know, and I don’t want to take any chances with my sobriety.”
“You’re amazing.” Anthony lifted her palm to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on her fingertips and another on her wrist. Then he kissed his way up her arm until he met the column of her neck and nibbled his way up to her jaw. She giggled and scrunched her shoulder and jaw together as if it tickled.
He captured her lips in a passionate kiss and she twined her arms around his neck, kissing him back just as fervently.
When they broke the kiss, she grinned. “You kissed me like Gomez Addams kissing Morticia.”
“Who?”
“Morticia. You know. From The Addams Family?”
Anthony shrugged. “I’ve never heard of them. Do they live around here?”
Claudia laughed. “No. It’s a TV show. You probably missed the reruns, but it was hilarious. Someday I’ll pull up an old episode on my computer and we can watch it together.”
“That would be nice.” Doing anything with Claudia sounded good—especially if it inspired more hot kisses.
“So I imagine you want to know how our first day went, other than this slight mishap.”
“Absolutely.” Anthony took the chair beside the desk and let Claudia sit in the larger one behind it.
“It was surprisingly busy. We saw many of the old regulars from the bar, as well as new faces. There was a whole group of ladies all wearing red hats. We had to push some tables together, but it worked out just fine.”
“Red hats?”
“Yeah. They weren’t all the same type of hat…like they weren’t all wearing red berets or anything. Just fashionable hats for the—um, older female set.”
“Ah, yes. I had heard we might be visited by the Red Hat Society.”
“It’s a society?”
“Yes. As I understand it, they just get together to have fun. A member spoke to me about the upcoming grand opening when she saw an ad.”
“Ah. So the online ad worked.”
Anthony looked at her sideways. “I thought we weren’t going to circulate flyers or put ads in the newspaper.”
Claudia grinned and shrugged. “I didn’t do those things. I used the Internet. We had a little money left over because Kurt provided the candles.” She touched his hand. “I just want you to succeed.”
“And I wanted to start slowly so you wouldn’t be overwhelmed.”
She sighed. “Maybe you were right. But Angie came to my rescue.”
“Angie? Our Angie?”
“Yup. Apparently she doesn’t like her job at the fancy-schmancy hotel, so I hired her on the spot. She’s happy. I’m happy. And I hope you’re happy.”
Anthony remembered having to mesmerize the bartender who almost cried wolf—or “werewolf,” as it were. It was the bar’s closest call to being outed as a paranormal meeting place, and what a disaster that would have been.
“I think she’ll work out great,” Claudia continued. “Whether it’s tea or beer, she has a steady hand. I’ve never seen her spill a drop of anything. Me, on the other hand…”
True. Time to change the subject again. “So, it looks like the crew is getting back together.”
She chuckled. “Seems that way.”
“And how did Sadie do?”
“I think she had a good day too. Some of the Red Hat Society ladies had their tea leaves read and said they’d tell their friends.”