“She’s from Oregon,” Flynn said. “Comes highly recommended by the manager I hired. She’s looking for a fresh start. Recently divorced and has no attachments in the state she lives in, so she’s free to move. Her credentials are really damn good, and if she’s as good as my new manager, Ken, says she is, then I think she might fit what I’m looking for.”

“You gonna make her cook for you?” Barrett asked.

“I dunno.”

“You should. I would.”

“I don’t know if that’s necessary.”

Barrett shrugged. “Why not? No better way to find out if someone is as good as they say they are on paper than to put them to the test. You should invite her to the house for dinner. Have her prepare a meal for us. I mean for you.”

Harmony laughed. “Nothing like putting pressure on someone, Barrett.”

“It’s not a horrible idea,” Flynn said. “I’ll talk to her this afternoon. If I feel like she could work out, I might suggest dinner.”

“If that happens, be sure to text your brother,” Harmony said. “I wouldn’t want to miss it.”

“Plus, we like food,” Barrett said.

Flynn smirked. “Yeah, yeah.”

The subject shifted from Flynn’s restaurant to football, so Harmony sipped the tea she’d ordered and listened in as Barrett and Flynn argued various defensive strategies until their food arrived.

She not only ogled her plate, but Barrett’s and Flynn’s as well. “Wow.”

“I told you how great it was, didn’t I?” Flynn said.

Harmony dug into her salmon omelet, savoring every bite of goodness. “This is amazing. In fact, it’s so good, I want to eat it twice.”

All Barrett did was grunt, which she assumed meant he agreed. They all ate and made very little conversation, and when they were finished, she told Flynn he’d taken them to the best restaurant ever.

“At least until mine opens,” he said with a grin.

“True. I hope to come back and have dinner at your restaurant when it opens.”

“You have an invitation for opening night. Have Barrett bring you.”

She shifted her glance to Barrett, figuring he’d be uncomfortable with that. But he only leveled a knowing smile at her.

Hmm.

After lunch they walked a short way to the restaurant. It was just a shell right now, but Harmony loved the location.

“It’s perfect, Flynn,” she said. “I can see why you chose this area.”

He smiled. “Thanks. It’ll be even better when there’s something inside.”

“That’ll happen soon enough,” Barrett said.

Flynn took them on a tour of the inside of the restaurant, then they parted ways and Flynn took off to run some errands before his meeting, leaving her and Barrett alone.

“What do you want to do first?” Barrett asked.

“I have no idea. I’ve never been here, so I’m going to rely on you to be tour guide for me.”

“Okay. Let’s roll on out of here.”

Harmony couldn’t wait to see everything—or as much of everything—that San Francisco had to offer.

Twenty-Two

After running some errands, Flynn came back to the restaurant and met with his new manager, Ken, prior to the interview with the proposed chef. And since Ken had a lot of years of restaurant management experience, they discussed some inventory items and went back and forth on the layout. Since the place was gutted right now and no walls were up, he had some time to decide on placement before he met with the architect and contractors.

Right now they had a folding table and four chairs situated in the middle of the concrete floor. All he had was a vision.

“The windows out front afford a lot of light,” Ken said, “which will be great for your daytime crowd. You’ll have to decide what kind of ambience you want for evenings.”

“Cozy. Inviting. And we have the space out back that will provide ample seating. I’d like to do garden seating. Since we’re on the corner, I think that’ll attract people walking by.”

Ken nodded. “Agree, and it’s a good idea. Our weather permits almost year-long outside eating, and if you put heat lamps out there during cooler weather, the diehards won’t mind eating out there at all.”

“That’s a great suggestion.” He plugged that into the notes feature on his tablet so he wouldn’t forget.

“When’s the meeting with the architect?” Ken asked.

“Monday.”

“I think you have a good idea of what you want. And he’s done the walk-through with you, right?”

“Yes. We’ve talked at length, so he knows what I’m looking for in terms of seating space and cooking area. He said he’d have some mock-ups.”

“I’m already looking forward to this place opening. And you know you didn’t need to start paying me, since it’s going to be at least four to six months until you’re operational. I could have kept my old job.”

Flynn smiled. “Trust me, I’m going to need you around, especially once football season starts gearing up and I’m on the road and busy with my job. I’m going to need you on the scene to manage the day to day, work on staffing issues and inventory, plus keep me updated.”

Ken nodded. “You got it. And speaking of staffing, Amelia should be here soon.”

“I’m looking forward to meeting her.”