Free Fire Me Up by Kimberly Kincaid Page B

it’s a mistake.”
    â€œOne he’s not around to rectify.”
    â€œHe’s . . . not feeling well.” Teagan swallowed past the softball in her throat. She hadn’t told any of the staff that her father was likely going to have to take a leave of absence. It had been bad enough getting him to go home and call Dr. Riley’s office to at least get advice on stabilizing the episode he’d had earlier. Telling him they needed to figure out a way to run the bar until he was well enough to come back full-time was an argument that would have to wait until later, but she couldn’t run anything without a cook.
    She tried again, desperate. “I’ll talk to him about it tomorrow, first thing. I’m sure he can clear it right up, but until then, I really need you, Lou. The only other person in the kitchen tonight is Jesse, and he can’t cook any more than I can.”
    Lou didn’t budge. “Jesse’s check bounced too, and I’ve got to be honest. If your father can’t even cover the dishwasher’s pay, that ain’t a good sign.” He took a step closer, his age-creased eyes sweeping from side to side as he met her under the halo of the overhead light. “Look, I like your father, I really do. But I’ve got a family to think about.”
    â€œWe’ll get your check straightened out, I swear, if you just—”
    â€œI’m not talking about just my check, Teagan. I need to keep my kneecaps intact, you know?”
    She yanked her brows inward, straightening her spine in a blend of shock and confusion. “What are you talking about?”
    Lou examined her with apparent surprise of his own. “You don’t know?”
    â€œKnow what?” Fear flooded Teagan’s belly. Seriously, she couldn’t handle one more thing going wrong tonight. As it was, they were probably weeded to no end in both the kitchen and at the bar from this little tête-à-tête. “God, Lou. What is going on?”
    But he just shook his head. “You need to have a long talk with your father, that’s what. I’m not getting mixed up in this.” He took a step back, then another, each one causing Teagan’s heart to lurch. “I’m sorry. But I didn’t sign on for trouble.”
    â€œLou, wait!” She stumbled after him, calling again to no avail.
    He was gone.
    Teagan scraped in a deep breath, squinting her eyes closed against the swing of blazing headlights from a pickup truck doing a U-turn in the parking lot beyond. A million questions bubbled up in her head, but she had more pressing issues right now. Namely figuring out how to survive the night with a staff of five people rather than seven none of whom knew how to cook.
    At all.
    Teagan dropped her chin toward her chest, trying like hell to come up with a plan. She could no more run the kitchen than she could sprout wings and fly. There were reasons she stayed as far from the food as possible, reasons she didn’t want to contemplate.
    But thinking about that was a luxury she couldn’t afford, so Teagan turned on her heel and marched back inside. She could take care of this. She would take care of this, even if it was a disaster.
    There were no other options.
    â€œJesse!” she barked out, rounding the corner with haste. Please God, let this guy have some kitchen skills. He’d only been back home in Pine Mountain for a couple of months, and even though she’d known him since grade school, Teagan had been so busy working one job or another lately that she hadn’t gotten past basic pleasantries with him.
    â€œYes, ma’am?” Jesse poked his head out of the dishwashing station set up adjacent to the main kitchen, his blond hair cropped so close to his skull it was barely a step from shaved clean.
    â€œIt’s you and me in the kitchen for the rest of the night.” She whipped a clean apron from the neat stack on the wooden shelf