Lynne Marshall - Cooking Up Romance

And waited.

Until the silence became painful.

Looking down the site, half of the men sat on the concrete slabs of the houses eating from lunch pails, and a dozen or two had hopped into cars and driven off for someone else’s fast food, no doubt. They didn’t even bother to look at her as they drove by. She hadn’t won a single man over by handing out her desserts last Friday. She guessed she was not good enough to pay for. She’d never once used the word crestfallen in casual conversation, but it turned out to be the perfect word to best explain how she felt right then.

As her heart sank, dragging her self-esteem with it, Zack came out from the office leading a line of three other employees behind him. One woman, two men. Not counting Little Miss Enthusiasm. He stepped up to the window, a sympathetic smile creasing his mouth. “Lunch is on me,” he said over his shoulder to the office staff, his left hand resting on the food truck counter. When all her concentration should’ve been on the noble act Zack had just performed, instead she couldn’t help noticing there was no sign of a wedding ring.

The small group of employees looked over her menu and each made their order. No two alike. Next Zack gave her his—Put a Steak in It, no onions.

“May I have my own wrap, Dad?” Little Emma spoke up.

“Sure, Shortcake.”

His sweet gesture of buying everyone lunch made Lacy’s eyes go glassy, but instead of letting humiliation take over, she got right to work making the best dang batch of wraps she knew how. Being a hand talker, she’d learned over the years she couldn’t talk and prepare food at the same time, so she went quiet. Otherwise, she’d never get anything made. Out of gratitude, when she was finished, she threw in a pie for each of them.

“Coffee’s on me, if you’d like,” she said, as she processed the last order and gave Zack his change. They all obviously appreciated her throwing in the free stuff, but seriously, she’d made a fifty-cup urn of coffee that was going down the drain anyway.

He winked, and she felt twelve again, nearly blushed, too. Which wasn’t right because he was married, and that interchange had been so wrong. As she cleaned the workstation, her stomach twisted with defeat. She’d had such high hopes for this job, and after today’s sorry showing, he probably wouldn’t even invite her back for Wednesday.

Just about ready to give up, she noticed two construction guys moseying over toward her truck. Maybe they were curious after seeing their boss and the office crew get their lunch. They read over her menu and both ordered the steak wrap. If they really liked the food, maybe they’d come back and tell their work friends, too. If she was still there on Wednesday.

Then, as she made their wraps, a couple more guys made their way to her order window. “Ham It Up and Name That Tuna. Got it!”

All it took was someone leading the way. Thanks, Zack!

The female employee was the only one to take her lunch back to her desk. Everyone who stuck around to eat stood, since there wasn’t any place to sit. Hadn’t Zack said he’d set up something last Friday? Though standing, they all seemed to really enjoy their meals. At least there was that.

“This is the best tuna sandwich I ever had!” Emma said with her usual intensity.

“Let me have a bite,” Zack said.

“No Dad, you have your own.”

“I thought we shared stuff.”

“Oh, okay.”

He took a huge bite as Emma griped loudly. “Hey, leave some for me.”

“It is delicious, but I can’t believe you’re going to finish it.”

“Well, I might leave room for some puddin’ pie.”

“Then let’s wrap this up and take it home,” Zack said, extra loud, making a point to catch Lacy’s gaze, like a proud kid while saying the title of her truck.

As down as she felt over the lack of customers, she couldn’t help but smile.

But, hey, Zack had already broken his promise to set up places for people to sit. Everyone was forced to stand to eat the two-handed wraps, a messy business. He probably didn’t expect her to come back, or he wanted to see how the turnout was first before he made the effort, so why bother now. Good call, too, after the day’s paltry sales.

With only fifteen minutes remaining in the lunch hour break, and after selling only a dozen wraps, Lacy got an idea. She made a cell phone call to Zack, who’d gone back inside the office.

“Mr. Gardner, is it okay if I take some wrap samples to the guys out on the construction site?”

“I don’t see why not,” he said, after a second of silence. Construction had stopped. “Just watch out for nails and…”

“I will. Promise. Thanks!” She hustled to make two of each wrap on her menu, then cut them all into four pieces. With Emma sticking around like she was on the clock, Lacy grabbed two trays and, after covering them with a paper liner, put half of the sandwiches on each of the trays.

“Emma, can you carry one of these trays for me?”

“Okay!” Bright-eyes was on it.

Lacy grabbed a stack of flyer-styled menus, stuffed them in her apron pocket and headed out the door. Since the crowd hadn’t come to her, she’d go to the crew.

With Emma grinning and playing the perfect hostess, offering samples to the men who worked for her father, and with Lacy playing backup, they passed out every single quarter-wrap. Who could possibly refuse? Better yet, the men seemed to like them. Really like them. So she got another idea.

“If you bring the flyer with you on Wednesday, and buy a wrap, I’ll throw in a free coffee and hand pie of your choice.”

A few of the men took the menus right off. As more of them ate the various wraps, another handful took flyers. The interested response was better than nothing.

Heading back to her truck to clean up and shut down, some of the men who’d returned from eating off-site followed her.

“I’ll take a flyer,” one of them said, then another and another.

“I’ve still got coffee if you’d like a cup.”

Half a dozen stuck around for that, and since they were hanging around, she gave them some of the leftover hand pies, of which there were many. The assorted pies clearly got their approval, and soon a few more guys wandered over. Who didn’t want a free dessert?

It hadn’t been a winning day, but at least she hadn’t fallen completely on her face.

When she was all set to leave, she thought she should take a walk to the office, to see if Zack even wanted her coming back on Wednesday.

Hating the insecurity that was strung around her like Christmas tree lights after New Year’s, she stepped inside, doing her best to hide her true mood. One of the guys Zack had bought lunch for looked up from his desk and smiled. “That was a great seafood wrap.”

“Oh, thank you. Glad you liked it. I, uh, was hoping to talk to Mr. Gardner?”

The mobile office was small, and she could see Zack’s modest room in the back corner. He knew she was there, and the guy in the front area didn’t have a chance to reply before Zack gestured for her to come over.

Not wanting to appear timid, she mustered what was left of her confidence, holding her head high before she stepped inside. Thankfully, she’d remembered to take off her toque and remove the hair net.

“So what do you think?” Zack started.

“Wasn’t a very good showing. I was hoping a lot more guys would try out the food.”

“We’ve been here a month now, and they’ve gotten used to their routines. I think you should give it another shot, that is if you think it’s worth your effort. Come back on Wednesday and Friday, too—if you don’t have a better place to park somewhere else?”

Sitting behind his desk, laptop open, looking so darn appealing and being about as considerate as a person could be, Zack said the words she’d hoped for. Come back. She fought the urge to rush to him and throw her arms around his neck. Pure fantasy, of course, since she’d never do that to a near stranger, no matter how wonderful they were. Especially if they might be married. And a potential work contract.