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maybe she’d think they did it just to piss her off. Either way, the exchange wouldn’t be pretty, but as much as she hated to admit it, she’d gotten herself in this mess. She needed to make things right.

    â€œOrder up, one Heard of Buffalo? and one Hippy Dippy .”
    Quinn jumped at the sound of Hal’s voice, once again so surprisingly close. She hadn’t been prepared to talk with her yet. She’d spent all morning going through various scenarios, from being ignored to being thrown out. She’d thought about just getting her food and leaving just to prove she could follow rules, but then again, maybe it would be better to show she could wait patiently for Hal to finish all her work before approaching and offering her most sane-sounding apology. Now all of her careful contingency planning was wiped out by another unexpected personal appearance.
    â€œI waited in line,” she said brusquely. Not a brilliant opening, but it’s what came out.
    Hal smiled faintly, her brown eyes wary but not unfriendly. “She can be taught.”
    Quinn smiled through gritted teeth, “I guess I deserved that, but I didn’t expect a personal delivery.”
    â€œYou didn’t earn one. Your, uh, boyfriend here ordered a Heard Of Buffalo? , and it’s our last one for the day, which is why it’s a little light on the filling.” She extended the sandwich to him, then fished seven dollars out of the front pocket of her chef’s jacket. “It’s also free.”
    Ian took the sandwich but tried to refuse the refund. “This looks great to me.”
    â€œNo, really, we don’t skimp on our customers.” Hal offered the money again, and this time Quinn took it.
    â€œThank you. That’s admirable, but the change is mine. After the amazing sandwich you made me on Tuesday, I wanted to share your work with my little brother .”
    Hal’s eyes widened, and she turned back to scan Ian’s features one more time before her smile returned. “Now that you mention it, you two do have the same chin. He got all the height, though.”
    â€œYou’re one to talk about height,” Quinn said, standing up straighter to emphasize the two or three inches she had on her. “You seem much taller in the truck.”
    â€œIt’s all in the swagger. Which reminds me, I need to get back to it.” Her social demeanor faded back into her more neutral business expression. “I’m sorry for not being able to fill your order to the standards we’ve set for ourselves at Cheesy Does It.”
    Quinn glanced behind her and the long non-line of customers. “Are you going to give a personal apology to all the people still waiting in vain?”
    â€œIf I could, I would. But that would only prolong their wait.” A muscle twitched in Hal’s jaw. “We have magnetic ‘sold out’ signs to cover up items on the big menu.”
    â€œThat’s going to turn a lot of people away hungry and angry.”
    â€œThank you for that brilliant business observation.”
    â€œIf you’d prepared adequately you—”
    â€œPrepared adequately?” Hal snapped. “Are you joking? You know nothing about how I prepared.”
    â€œNo need to get angry. I was merely noting that if you’d brought more ingredients—”
    â€œYou were merely butting into my business again, and I don’t need it. There’s a limited amount of space in the truck. We prep things at home to save room and only carry as much as past experience suggests we’ll need.”
    â€œIt looks like your current demand exceeds your experience.”
    â€œAnother genius note from the ‘no shit’ category.” Frustration hung thick in Hal’s voice. “So unless you can make some Buffalo chicken wing dip appear or summon another chef to cover Sully while she runs home to get some, you need to step off.” With that,