Read A Brit on the Side (Castle Calder Book 1) for Free Online Page A

tall and lean, an older version of Jasper without the glasses, and has a grin that could melt the polar ice caps. He’s also about eight years younger than Mrs. St Julien, which I’m sure is why I can call him Paul, no problem, but stutter over Hannah. When they came to Parents Weekend, half the girls on our floor had an instant crush on Paul. It didn’t even faze Scarlett; she said it would be weird if they didn’t.
    Now, he calls across the room, his voice warm and booming, “Bea. I heard you were about. Welcome to merry old England.”
    The couple at the bar smile and I do too. “Thanks. It’s great to be here. How are you?”
    “Great, just great.” He comes over and claps a hand around my shoulder. “They’ve put you to work already, have they?”
    Claire jumps in. “Emma’s not in tonight, so Bea said she’d help out. Besides, it’s good to get stuck in, right?”
    “Absolutely,” Paul says. He turns to me, his expression serious. “If the jet lag catches up with you, though, don’t be afraid to bugger off. Scarlett and Claire could serve tonight’s reservations with their eyes closed.”
    Claire laughs. “Well, that’s probably a bad idea.”
    Paul laughs, too, but his attention has shifted to the people at the bar. As he asks, “You folks doing all right tonight?” Claire nudges me back towards the dining room.
    “He’s in host mode, so let me show you a few things before we eat,” she says.
    And show me, she does. Knowing I’m working in the kitchen, not the dining room, is the only thing keeping me from freaking out over Claire’s whirlwind tour. She shows me the small red light by the clock that means hot food is waiting on the counter and the stack of dishes in the warming drawers. She explains the timing of approaching the table and how to gauge whether the customer is more of a chatter or a chewer. For someone who’s never worked in a restaurant before, it feels complicated, although Claire assures me it’s not.
    “It’s all about reading people,” she says as we head back to the kitchen. “We’re not working for gratuity, but you still want people to leave good feedback about their dining experience, so it’s important to read the situation.”
    As she pushes the door to the kitchen open, the smell of food fills my nose and my mouth waters in anticipation. Scarlett is texting with one hand, stirring a pot with another as Lou takes a tray out of the oven. Claire breaths in. “That smells amazing.”
    It does. And it tastes even better as we’re all standing around the counter eating five minutes later. The chicken is tender and moist, covered in the best mushroom sauce I’ve ever tasted. I let Lou put an entire chicken breast and a full scoop of sautéed green beans on my plate, even though it’s twice what I’d normally eat. I’m pretty sure the mushroom sauce has cream in it too, but it’s worth every calorie. Judging by the lack of conversation as we eat, everyone’s either as hungry or as preoccupied with the fat content of the sauce as I am. I’d bet against the latter.
    Scarlett is the first one to put her plate down, a small portion of chicken and green beans pushed neatly to the side. She never cleans her plate, a strategy she swears keeps the dreaded D-word out of her vocabulary. At home, I try to follow her lead, but tonight I can’t. It’s too damn delicious. She wipes her hands on her apron, looks at me and says, “Right. Are you ready for your first Calder dinner?”
    I swallow and give a small smile. “Maybe?”
    Claire and Lou put their plates down too. Claire straightens and tugs the V of her T-shirt up, tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and smiles. “Okay, let’s do this.” To me, she says, “Good luck. If it feels overwhelming, remember, it gets easier.”
    Right. I smile again, bolstered by the fact Claire said ‘if’, not ‘when’.

Chapter Five
    T hree hours later , when Scarlett walks into the game room brandishing a bottle of