from the moment Eliza had walked in the door, he’d thought she was the one. There was just something about her that made her look like she belonged in the restaurant—he could already imagine her weaving between the tables on a busy night, chatting to the customers, directing the waitstaff, helping make McKinnel’s the place where people wanted to be.
His older brother, Callum, would probably berate him for hiring someone without calling their references or finishing a proper interview but this was Lachlan’s restaurant and sometimes you had to go with your gut. He ignored the voice in his head that told him how wrong his gut had been about Linda—there’d been adolescent hormones involved there, so it didn’t count.
As far as he could see, the only thing against Eliza was that she couldn’t cook—but considering he wasn’t hiring her for the kitchen, that didn’t actually matter. It was her personal skills that counted and the way she’d taken Hallie away from the drama impressed him. Not that Hallie was difficult but he believed Eliza would be able to handle difficult customers, leaving him to focus on the restaurant, which was his area of expertise.
“When can you start?” he asked her.
“What?” She blinked. “You’re offering me the job? Don’t you want to ask me more questions? Check my references?”
“I’ll call your references later but they won’t change my mind, will they?”
“They better not,” she said. “Wow. Okay.”
“Is that a yes?”
She deliberated so long, he thought she was about to reject his offer, but finally she said, “Will Monday be okay? I have a few things I need to organize first.”
As today was Friday, that seemed reasonable. “That would be fine, but if you need a little longer, that’s okay, too. And let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. Now, my daughter here is hungry and I think I recall you saying you were, as well. Would you like to have an early lunch with us?”
Again she deliberated, but not quite so long this time. “If it’s not an imposition?”
“Not at all. It will give us a chance to talk a little more and you can start to try some of the dishes I’ll be putting on the menu. Come on, let’s head back inside.”
“Can we have mac’n’cheese, Dad?” Hallie asked as they started toward the restaurant.
“Of course,” he replied.
“That’s my favorite food, too,” Eliza said, smiling down at his little girl and Lachlan felt the tension that had built inside him with Linda’s arrival start to dissolve again.
They went inside and Hallie and Eliza sat at one of the tables while Lachlan went back into the kitchen to make lunch.
He made two separate dishes—one for his daughter sans the whiskey and one for his newest employee with all the trimmings. As he worked, he kept one ear to the door, smiling as he heard Hallie chattering away to Eliza, telling her about school, the distillery and the fact her two new aunties were both having babies very soon. It didn’t sound like she was too affected by her mother’s sudden departure and for that he was grateful. Although Eliza didn’t say much, her replies were soft and encouraging and the belief he’d made the right decision in hiring her solidified inside him.
“This smells delicious,” she said a few minutes later when he emerged from the kitchen, carrying three bowls of steaming pasta.
“Thanks, Daddy,” Hallie said before picking up her fork and diving in as if this were the first meal she’d had in months. He had to wonder if Linda had given her breakfast but again he bit his tongue.
“Let’s hope it tastes as good as it looks.” Lachlan sat down beside the girls and waited in anticipation as Eliza tasted her first mouthful. He was a good chef but he knew from her résumé that she’d worked in restaurants with some of the best chefs in America and he found he really wanted to impress her.
“Wow,” came her one-word reply after a few moments. It wasn’t the word but the way she said it and her almost-black eyes that lit up as she did so that made his heart soar.
“It’s okay?”
She smiled. “Okay is an understatement.”
He let out a breath he hadn’t even known he’d been holding and picked up his own fork. But before he’d even loaded it with macaroni, the door of the restaurant burst open again and in came half his siblings.
“What’s for lunch?” Mac said, before he, Blair and Sophie—his youngest sister by two and a half minutes—halted in their tracks.
“Sorry,” Blair said.
“We didn’t know you had company,” Sophie added.
Lachlan stood and gestured to Eliza. “This is Eliza. I’ve just offered her the position of head hostess. Eliza, these are three of my siblings, Sophie, Mac and Blair.” He pointed to each of them as he spoke.
“Wow. Cool. Hi. Nice to meet you.” Sophie rushed forward, offered her hand to shake Eliza’s and then pulled out a seat at the table.
Mac and Blair also followed with handshakes and Lachlan couldn’t help noticing the way his younger brothers looked appreciatively over his new employee. Mac’s appreciation wasn’t surprising—he might not date much since splitting with his longtime girlfriend a year ago, but he wasn’t dead. And Lachlan had to concede you’d have to be dead not to notice how easy on the eye Eliza was.
But Blair’s interest surprised him—granted, he was divorced but most of the time he and his ex-wife, Claire, acted like newlyweds. It was very confusing for everyone.
Whatever, he made a mental note to warn them both off Eliza later—he didn’t want any flings with his brothers getting in the way of her doing her job.
“Hi, Auntie Sophie, Uncle Mac and Uncle Blair,” Hallie said through a mouthful of macaroni.
“Hey, short stuff.” Sophie ruffled Hallie’s hair. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in school?”
Sophie half looked at Lachlan as she said this and he mouthed back, Linda.
Sophie nodded—he’d fill her in later—then she leaned in and sniffed Hallie’s lunch. “Mmm, that smell’s to die for.”
“Okay, okay.” Lachlan shook his head as his brothers also pulled up seats. “I’ll go get you all a serving.” He knew he wouldn’t get rid of them until he did so.
“So where are you from?” Sophie asked when they all had steaming bowls of the best mac’n’cheese in Oregon in front of them.
“New York,” Eliza replied.
“Long way from home,” Blair commented.
Eliza shrugged. “I’m looking for a change of scenery and a new adventure.”
Mac nodded. “I can relate. So where are you living?”
“Um...I actually came straight here from the airport,” she admitted, glancing over and meeting Lachlan’s gaze. “That’s one of those few things I need to organize.”
“Hey, why don’t you check out the apartment next door to us?” Sophie suggested. “The old tenants moved out last month, and the landlord is still looking for a new one. It’s nothing flashy, but it’s cozy and not far from here.”
“Us?” Eliza asked.
Sophie grinned. “Me and my twin sister, Annabel. She’s a firefighter, but I’m sure you’ll meet her soon enough. If you’re interested, I could call the landlord and see if she can show you round this afternoon.”
“That would be wonderful. Thank you. And then I’ll need to deliver my rental car back to the airport and work out more permanent transport.”
“We can probably help