Page 16 of A Swan for Christmas

Finn’s been right this whole time. I don’t know what I was thinking.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

He glanced up to see Dora’s worried expression. Her brow wrinkled as her gaze traveled to the mangled piece of paper she’d given him which he still held clutched between his fingers.

“I’m sorry, Dora. I didn’t find out what the specials are or anything.”

She pinched her lips together and placed her hands on her hips, her frown deepening. Now she’ll be mad at me too and tell Vic that I’m hopeless at this job. He didn’t know what he’d do if Vic was angry and disappointed with him.

“Did Skip mouth off at you?” She let out a small growl which reminded Kellan that Vic had told him she was a bobcat shifter. “I’ll claw his eyes out!”

Kellan blinked repeatedly as it sunk in that she wasn’t mad at him, but at Skip. “I didn’t mean to get anyone in trouble.”

She snorted. “He makes plenty of his own trouble. He’s a sour old wolf who should be taught a lesson.”

Kellan’s stomach clenched again. Whenever Finn would say that to him, it would be awful. He didn’t want to be responsible for anyone getting hurt, no matter how rude they were.

“Please don’t do that.” He chewed on his lip as he shredded the last bits of the poor piece of paper. “Maybe… maybe he’s calmed down now. I’ll go try again.”

Dora crossed her arms. “Are you sure? I can tell he upset you.”

He nodded his head before he could change his mind and shake it. “Can I have another piece of paper?”

She sighed then tore him off a sheet from a small spiral notebook. “I hope you guys straighten this out before Vic gets here, otherwise I’m betting he’ll go all Alpha on Skip’s ass since it’s clear he’s taken you under his protection.”

Kellan’s eyes widened. “I’d better hurry then.” He glanced over his shoulder as he remembered his customers. Their menus were closed and had been pushed to the edge of the table. “Oh no, they’re ready to order.”

Dora came out from behind the register. “Let me at least grab this for you, hon.”

He regarded her. “Okay, thanks.” Kellan smiled, his nerves finally calming a bit. “We’ll share.”

While Dora took the customers’ orders, Kellan headed back to the kitchen to face his nemesis. He wasn’t sure if pretending nothing had happened was the best move—that strategy had never worked out well for him with Finn—or if he should attempt to start over with the surly cook.

When he reached the swinging door, he peeked through the round safety window. At first, he couldn’t spot Skip, but then he popped out from behind the rack of pies. Kellan jumped, even though Skip had no idea he was there spying on him. He inhaled deeply and tugged on the bottom of his apron before pushing his way into the kitchen again.

“Skip? We need to know what tonight’s specials and the soup of the day are.” He held his breath as he braced himself for the explosion.

Skip rubbed his chin then held up a finger. “Lemme check the walk-in real quick.”

Kellan let out in a rush the big breath he’d been holding. He frowned, surprised at Skip’s sudden change of attitude. Skip reappeared a minute later.

“Let’s see, today’s the last day for that walleye, so I’ll do it pan-fried with an herbed crust. Choice of baked potato or sweet potato fries on the side, and the veggie is green beans with almonds. Make it fourteen ninety-five. I also have six orders of the pork chops from yesterday too. Same price on that. ”

Kellan scribbled everything down as Skip described, then took a chance by offering a comment and a smile. “Sounds good.”

Skip jerked up his head and regarded Kellan. He grunted. “Yeah, well, I’ve been doing this for a while.” He checked under one of the lids on the line. “Looks like Dan made up a big batch of chicken noodle soup this morning.” After covering it again, he stuck his thumbs in the bib of his apron. “So, uh, sorry about earlier. You seem like a nice kid. I’ve just got a headache, that’s all.”

Kellan arched his eyebrows. “Apology accepted.” He cleared his throat as he called every ounce of his nerve to the surface. “But I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t yell at me and I promise not to yell at you, either.” He swallowed hard as he waited for Skip’s reaction.

Skip pursed his lips as he rocked on his heels. Finally, he let out another grunt. “Deal. Don’t like being snarled at either.”

Kellan broke into a wide smile. “Awesome. Um, I guess I’d better get out there so I don’t leave Dora alone.”

Right as he was pushing through the door, Skip called out, “Hey, kid. I’ll save a piece of the fish for you.”

Kellan gave Skip a quick nod in acknowledgement. “Thanks, Skip. That’s really nice of you.”

As he made his way through the dining room to share with Dora what specials they had, his heart was much lighter and not only was he no longer intimidated by the grouchy cook, but he thought he might grow to like him after a while. For all he knew, Skip was all alone or maybe he’d lost his mate when the virus killed off Vic’s pack members. Kellan decided he’d ask Vic about it later.