We're still celebrating CHRISTMAS IN JULY Over on the CHRISTMAS COMES TO DICKENS FB page, so here's a little tease from my 2024 addition, A CHEF'S KISS CHRISTMAS. SO, if you read last year's entry, DON'T MESS WITH THE MISTLETOE, you will recognize Julia Charles here today. Things have changed for the lovely waitress in this past year...
At one point, the noise level rose considerably, and his head flicked toward the swing doors. They blew open as someone pushed them so hard that they bounced back against the wall and then flung forward again as a unit. Amy's outstretched hand held them at bay, her other hand wrapped around Julia's upper arm. The younger woman was waddling, the advanced state of her pregnancy evident today.
"Tony," Amy barked, "Get me a chair."
He'd been around kitchen emergencies his entire life. Grease fires, ovens shooting flames from food catching fire, a fryolator overheating, a mishandled knife or two. He recognized the urgency in Amy's voice.
Like a lightning strike, he shot to the office and returned with Amy's desk chair.
Julia, sweating and panting, eased down into it with her mother-in-law's and his help.
"Now RayLynn already called for an ambulance, darlin'," she told the younger woman as she patted her hand, "and I'm gonna call Michael right now and start the Charles' family phone tree." She pulled her cell from her apron pocket and pressed a single button.
From the gist of what he'd just heard, Tony deduced Julia was in labor.
He was about to ask her if he could get her anything or help in any way, but the words were never unleashed because the swing door flew open again, and two paramedics from Dickens Memorial Hospital sailed through grasping a gurney.
Questions were asked and answered, a device was threaded around her ample waist with an explanation it was a fetal heart monitor to gage the baby's heartrate.
Five minutes after they arrived, Julia was secured, monitor in place, along with an Intravenous inserted, and on her way out the door to the hospital.
Amy grabbed her coat from the peg by the back door, and as she shrugged into it told him, "You're in charge while I'm gone," before breezing out the door. "Keep my kitchen running."
He didn't hesitate before saying, "Yes, Ma'am." It was only after the doors closed behind her that he realized he'd agreed without any hesitation or worry.
Something to think about later.
For now, there were hungry people in the dining room.
They made it through the breakfast rush, the lunch crush, and the midafternoon lull. Amy had called twice to check on everything and give baby updates. Julia was still in labor, her pilot husband Michael by her side, along with Julia's eight-year-old daughter from her first marriage, Blake.
She asked him to hold down the fort for a few more hours. Since he'd been planning to, he told her he would.
The last weekend of the month ( July 26-27, ) It will be my turn to take over as a DICKEN'S Author on the FB page. At that time, I'll reveal my 2024 cover. It's a beauty!
No comments:
Post a Comment