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answer. “Karen wasn’t scheduled last night and it was crazy in the kitchen. If I hadn’t shown up—”
    “We’d have managed,” Erik interrupted. “We always do.”
    “Come on, Erik, Helen’s right,” Dana Sue cut in. “We really are understaffed for the size of the dinner crowd lately. I’ve interviewed half a dozen people for prep work and given two of them a trial run, but neither one was right for us. I really need to accelerate that search. I’ve been putting off doing anything about it, because I wasn’t sure the popularity of this place would last. That sometimes happens after rave reviews. The kitchen can’t keep up for a few weeks and then people go back to their usual routine and you’ve got more staff underfoot and counting on you than you need and you have to let people go.”
    “Hiring someone to do prep work is one thing,” Erik conceded. “But as long as we’re still counting on Karen to be here, how does that solve the problem if she bails?”
    “Another trained person can come in if Karen has an emergency,” Helen said.
    “And be paid overtime wages?” Erik asked. “How is that fair to Dana Sue? She has to think about costs, you know. And prep work is a far cry from being her assistant or sous chef. We need someone who can move into that position, now that I’m assistant manager.”
    Karen studied Erik and Helen and knew there was something going on between them that had nothing to do with her. It was clear, though, that this discussion wasn’t going to work in her favor unless she stepped in with a solution of her own. Fortunately sometime in the middle of the night she’d actually come up with one. Until now she’d been hesitant to offer it, but it was beginning to seem as if she had nothing to lose.
    “I have an idea,” she said quietly.
    All three of them looked at her in surprise, almost as if they’d forgotten she was there.
    “Go ahead,” Helen encouraged.
    “I worked with another cook at the diner ’til she had to leave. She had the same problem I’m having now. She was a single mom and her kids had to come first. Doug fired her, just the way I know you two have been debating about firing me. Anyway, Tess was really, really good, but she took a job telemarketing, so she could work at home. I know she hates it and would love to get back to work in a restaurant.”
    Erik’s scowl deepened. “If she’s already been fired for being unreliable, why would we ask for more problems by hiring her?”
    “Because, frankly, she’s got exactly the skills you need,” Karen told him, determined not to back down in the face of his skepticism. She needed to fight for herself. To do that she had to convince them to at least give Tess a try. “She’s fast. She’s a quick learner. She’s creative. She doesn’t get rattled in a crisis. And she already knows her way around a kitchen.”
    “That still doesn’t address the key problem,” Erik said.
    “Let her finish, for goodness’ sakes,” Helen snapped.
    “Well, pardon me all to hell for wondering how this solves anything,” Erik retorted, his gaze locked with Helen’s.
    Suddenly Karen got it. Whatever tiff those two had gotten into, it was because something personal was going on between them. She hadn’t heard anything about them dating, but that didn’t mean it hadn’t happened. There were enough sparks bouncing around to set the tablecloth on fire.
    Biting back a grin, she waved a hand to catch their attention. Dana Sue looked equally amused.
    “Here’s my idea,” Karen said. “Let me and Tess share the job as sous-chef.”
    Helen looked startled, but to Karen’s relief Dana Sue looked intrigued.
    “How would that work?” Dana Sue asked. “Don’t you both need a full-time job?”
    Karen nodded. “But you’re open six days a week, right? And you’re open more than eight hours a day. One of us could work three days, the other four, and you could schedule our shifts to overlap. You need the extra