“I know I’ve talked to a few of you already, but I’ll reiterate what I’ve said. There are two things I won’t ever tolerate, and that is tardiness and laziness. Everyone has a job, and I expect y’all to do it to the best of your ability. These last few weeks of the year will determine who I give raises to and who will stay the same regarding their pay. Show me you want it. I expect the best out of my staff. My parents earned it from you. I plan on earning it as well, but if we’re going to stay in the game, we have to be on our game. Always. Until further notice, we’ll be having these weekly staff meetings to go over things I see. Make sure to put Wednesdays at eight in the morning on your calendars. Because if you don’t show up to them, assume you no longer have a job,” I said.

“This isn’t the military,” Jason murmured.

“I’m well aware of that, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be demanding excellence,” I said.

Jason’s eyes leveled with mine.

“This isn’t how your parents ran this restaurant. And if that’s what you expect from us, then I believe you’ll find yourself understaffed and overworked,” he said.

“Well, if you have a problem with it, I’m sure I could find a cook somewhere who would enjoy your job and show up on time. Don’t like it? You can walk out of the same door you came in thirty minutes ago,” I said.

I watched the man slump into his chair, but he didn’t say anything. None of the other staff seemed to mind it. In fact, most of them seemed impressed. Not that I was looking to impress them, but it told me something about their work ethic. Workers and bosses who respected one another worked in chorus to make something better. I’d learned that while working on Navy ships at sea. If there wasn’t respect for the chain of command and all those people on that chain, then the links fell apart.

Jason was a link I could stand to lose. But I wanted to give him a chance. I wanted to see in him what my parents had apparently seen when hiring him.

“Miss Campbell, could you stay a second?” I asked.

Ira turned around and held my gaze for a second.

“Uh, yeah. Sure. I can do that,” she said.

“Thank you. I’d appreciate it.”

“Love is in the air,” Jason said mockingly.

“Strike two,” I said as I glared at the man.

He huffed at me before shaking his head and turning toward the door. Ira stuck around while the rest of the staff filtered out the door, and Jason gave me one last look. I kept my eye on him until he was fully out the door before I turned my gaze to Ira.

She looked spectacularly beautiful that morning.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“I wanted to thank you for all of your help over the past few days. From showing me the systems to staying later on your shifts because I screwed up this week’s schedule,” I said.

“It’s not a problem. I could always use the money.”

“I just wanted to personally thank you for all your help.”

“Well, I’m happy you’re running things. I loved your parents, but they did let some things fall to the wayside.”

I snickered. “Yeah. Are you lumping the decor into that statement? Because I am.”

Ira giggled. “Oh, yes. There are definitely some things about the decorations that fell to the wayside when they were here. But they ran a tight ship in other areas. Like their filing systems. They were meticulous about it.”

“Many people think I got my organizational skills from the military. But those who think that never knew my parents.”

“Your father’s organization would’ve crippled the military to its knees.”

“The whole military. All branches,” I said, chuckling.

I gazed into her eyes while Ira giggled, sharing in the hilarity with me. It was nice, talking with someone who personally knew my parents, really knew them. Not like the people in the community did. It was refreshing, and cathartic.

“Is there anything else?” Ira asked.

Her voice ripped me from my trance.

“Just that you have today off. I didn’t know if you noticed, but I know you have it notated that you usually want Saturdays off. I could use you this Saturday, so I was hoping giving you Wednesday off would be all right,” I said.

“I saw it, and it’s fine. Saturdays are usually rough after Dad’s treatments on Friday, but he’s been doing good with them lately.”

“I didn’t realize that’s why you took them off. If I need to—”

Ira held her hand up. “Don’t go backtracking on your decisions now, tough stuff. It’s fine.”

“Can I walk you out?” I asked.

“Sure. I think Rachel’s out there.”

“Rachel?”

“My friend. She drives me to and from work.”

“Do you not have a car?”

“My father has a truck. But it’s a stick shift, and I don’t know how to drive one,” she said.

“Well, maybe I could teach you. To repay you for walking me through things here,” I said.

“You don’t have to do that. I’d probably be terrible at it anyway. Trust me, I think the entire town is thanking my best friend for driving me to and from places, because I’m a terrible driver. Even with an automatic.”

“Well, if you ever get a wild streak and want to learn, let me know. I’d be happy to teach you,” I said.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, smiling.

I Ira out to the car and saw her off with Rachel. We smiled and talked, and I set up a time to come by her father’s place and give her stick shift lessons. She thanked me again before I opened her car door, seeing her into her friend’s car. But when I closed the door and turned back around, I saw Jason leaning up against the side of the building. He had his arms folded over his chest and donned this nasty little grin.

“Your shift doesn’t start until eleven,” I said.

“Figured I’d be early rather than late,” he said mockingly.

“Sarcasm won’t get you far with me.”

“Your pride’s wounded easily, isn’t it?” he asked.

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing. Just… you’re not as warm as your parents.”

“Well, I’m not here to make friends. I’m here to run the business they left behind for me.”

“Uh-huh,” he said.

I didn’t like the way he said that, but I let it slide. He had one more strike, and then it was game over. And I made sure to keep meticulous records in case he tried to kick up dust about it. Because I knew he would. I had no idea what my parents had seen in that asshole, but he wouldn’t last three weeks with the way I ran things.

Thank fuck.