The Restaurant (The Nantucket Restaurant #1)(48)

But Jill laughed. “No. He just thinks he owes me for his recent trip here. It will be fun. We’re going to some new restaurant he loves that I haven’t been to yet.”

“That does sound fun.”

Emma finished her breakfast and went upstairs to shower and change. When she came back down an hour later, she stopped short when she stepped in the kitchen and saw Jill staring at Izzy.

“Look at your crazy cat.” Jill laughed. Jill had been so deep into what she was doing that she didn’t realize at first that Izzy was trying to get her attention. The fluffy cat had climbed onto the kitchen table and was sitting just behind the laptop with her little nose resting on the edge. She stared at Jill until she finally saw her and reached out to pat her.

“Izzy, get off the table.” Emma tried to sound stern but failed utterly, and Izzy just looked at her and didn’t move Finally, Emma went over and scooped her up.

“She is too cute,” Jill said. They’d both fallen in love with Izzy and it was hard not to spoil her. Jill liked having her around while she worked. Izzy often slept in the chair next to her or brushed against her feet to get her attention.

“She’ll miss you this weekend,” Emma said.

“I’ll miss her too.” Jill went to pat her, but then her phone buzzed again as her email dinged and she had to shift her focus back to work.

“Have a good weekend. I’ll see you when you get home on Sunday,” Emma said.





Jill’s flight was at six. She was too busy to get out earlier. Billy had wanted her to come into the office and go for an after-work drink, but she wasn’t going to get in early enough to do that and truth be told, she was just as happy to go straight to her own condo and get a good night’s sleep and then be well rested to get into the office early the next day.

High winds caused her flight to be delayed a half hour, and it was just after eight by the time her Uber pulled up to her condo building. It was nice to relax in her own place and sleep in her own bed. She woke early the next day, did an online yoga class and felt energized as she jumped into the shower. An hour later, she walked through the doors of her office. Billy was already there and grinned when he saw her.

“You almost beat me. I got here literally two seconds ago.” He gave her a hug, and they caught up over coffee in his office. It didn’t take long before the rest of the team arrived. They had their morning meeting and then it was non-stop action for the rest of the day. Jill barely had time to eat a sandwich at her desk, it was so busy. She loved it though, and it was great to see the team. She wanted to get back to the office at least once a month, twice if at all possible. Now that she was settled on Nantucket and into a routine with the restaurant, it would be easier to take some weekends away.

Around four, Billy came into her office and leaned on the side of her desk. “Are you sure you can’t come for just one with us? What time are you meeting your date?” Jill was amused that Billy either didn’t remember or just didn’t want to say Mac’s name.

“Not until seven.”

“So, you have time to come out with us for a little while. We’ll just go around the corner, to our usual spot.” It was tempting. And Jill was half-wishing that she didn’t have plans with Mac and could just relax with everyone after work.

“Okay, I’ll come for a little while. What time are we heading over?”

Billy jumped up. “Great, I’ll let the others know and we’re wrapping it up at five sharp. Come to my office and we’ll head out then.”

Jill started winding down her day and by five, was ready to go. They all headed to their favorite bar and took their usual spots.

“Dill pickle martini for you?” Billy asked once they were settled. It was Jill’s favorite cocktail. They made it with cucumber vodka and homemade pickles.

But Jill shook her head. “No vodka for me. I need to pace myself. Just a wine, I think. Cabernet. And a glass of water.”

It was fun to hang out with everyone from the office. Jill realized how much she’d missed it. She especially missed the energy and enthusiasm of their newer recruiters. One of their newest, Stacy, had just landed her first client and had an offer pending on her own candidate, so it would be what they called a ‘double-bubble’, when you had both the job order and candidate sides of the placement. Like real estate, the placement fees were split between the holder of the job listing and the person with the candidate. And that amount was then split with the house, which was Jill and Billy.

While they were all chatting at the bar, Stacy’s phone rang and she looked like she was about to throw up as she went outside to take the call. A few minutes later, she came back, white as a ghost and looked a bit in shock.

“What happened, Stacy? Did your candidate say no?” Billy looked sympathetic.

But Stacy shook her head and took a moment to speak. “No, he actually said yes. He took the job.”

A chorus of cheers erupted, and Billy waved the bartender over and ordered a bottle of their most expensive champagne.

“Congrats on your first double-bubble. It’s time to celebrate.” Billy handed out flutes of champagne to everyone.

“Awesome job, Stacy. To the first of many double-bubbles,” Jill said.

The mood was festive as everyone toasted Stacy and she looked like she couldn’t quite believe what had happened. Jill was thrilled for her. She glanced at the time, to make sure she wouldn’t be late to meet Mac. Billy caught her doing it and frowned.