Christmas at the Restaurant (The Nantucket Restaurant #2)(3)
It was early still when she walked into Mimi’s Place, and no one else was there yet, except for Paul. He was in the kitchen taking inventory before placing a bigger-than-usual order. Their business was way up over prior years, and they expected that this year’s stroll weekend would be even bigger than last year. She and Emma and Paul had been planning for months to make sure the weekend was a success.
Paul had really outdone himself with some new menu items, and a special wine dinner was scheduled for the Thursday before the stroll officially kicked off on Friday. The wine dinner had been Emma’s idea and Mandy immediately loved it. Paul was a little hesitant at first but came around when they reminded him he’d have free rein to go bigger and wilder with the menu, if that’s where his ideas took him. His first suggestion was to reach out to the Charles Krug winery, which was one of his and Emma’s favorites to see if they’d like to partner and suggest some wines for his menu.
Mandy’s contribution was to put some dinner packages together once Paul decided on a prix fixe menu they’d offer for that weekend. It would be one price for a four-course meal, with a choice of appetizer, salad, entree and dessert and an optional wine add-on. She made flyers, both paper and digital and sent them to all the local hotels and bed and breakfasts.
As a result, they had a healthy amount of reservations booked throughout the weekend, and she was confident that they’d have more walk-ins than usual because the foot traffic along Main Street would be heavy with people strolling along, admiring all the creative holiday window displays and eventually working up an appetite.
She’d been sad thinking that she wouldn’t be able to join the crowds this year. The Nantucket Stroll was always one of her favorite events, and she and the children had a long-standing tradition of putting on their new winter hats and mittens and heading out on Saturday afternoon to explore the downtown area and soak up the Christmas experience. It was magnified when snow was in the forecast and the first few flakes swirled around them.
Their favorite part of the day was when Santa arrived on the Coast Guard Cutter. He walked down the wharf and was then driven to the Jared Coffin House where the kids would wait in line to sit on his lap. They were too big for that now, but they still liked to see Santa arrive, and they loved walking around town, shopping a little and trying the various free samples that were offered by different stores.
Mandy was glad that Emma had insisted that she still go this year. She was going to have the kids stay with Cory for the entire weekend and skip the festivities, but Emma and Jill assured her they could do without her for a few hours on Saturday afternoon. So, the kids would still be with Cory, but he had agreed to bring them by in the morning and collect them before she needed to head into the restaurant later that afternoon.
Mandy said hello to Paul, then went into her office, settled behind her desk and opened up her computer and checkbook. Every Monday, she went through their bills and paid them. She was just finishing up the last one, for the electric company when she glanced out the window and felt a thrill at the sight of snowflakes dancing and twirling in the air. It was only the second time they’d seen snow that year. The first had been a brief dusting a few days before Thanksgiving. She checked the weather forecast on her phone and saw that no significant snowfall was expected. The weather was predicted to be cold and mostly clear for the rest of the week with possible flurries again over the weekend. In short, perfect Nantucket Stroll weather.
She collected the stack of stamped envelopes and told Paul she was running to the Post Office. It was just a short walk away, down by the wharf on Federal St. The snow was still flurrying a little, and it put Mandy in a festive, holiday mood on a Monday which was usually their quietest day. On the way back to the restaurant, she stopped into the Corner Table cafe to grab a coffee and got one for Emma and Paul too.
Emma was just walking in when Mandy returned and smiled when she saw her sister and the coffees.
“Oh, thank you. I was running late and didn’t have time to stop and get one.” They had very good coffee at the restaurant, but something about getting it from a coffee shop just made it taste better, especially when Mandy splurged on a caramel cappuccino.
“Have you seen the forecast? More flurries for the weekend expected.”
Emma looked pleased. “No, I hadn’t seen that. Good. I’m excited. Paul is too, and he said Jared is working out great. He’s glad to have his help, especially for this weekend.”
Jared Hawthorne was their newest employee. He’d started several months ago in the sous chef role and was Paul’s right hand. He came highly recommended after spending five years in a similar role with another Nantucket restaurant that was recently sold and was under new management. Mandy hadn’t gotten to know Jared well yet, as he was very quiet, but he seemed pleasant enough. She had noticed that several of their waitresses seemed to have crushes on him.
Jared was in his early thirties, and he had the kind of looks that made you pause—dark hair that was slightly too long, deep green eyes with ridiculously long lashes, a square jaw and a slight dimple in his chin. If Mandy was younger, she’d probably have a crush too.
Jared seemed oblivious to it all and unlike other kitchen staff they’d had who could be grouchy toward the servers, he was friendly to everyone, which only made the girls more interested. They tried to flirt with him, but he didn’t seem to take notice and kept his focus on his work.