not going anywhere. I know a farm-to-fork concept will thrive out here. I studied the demographics before I bought the building and took out the loan. But I need locally sourced produce and protein sources to make it successful. I’m hoping to be 100 percent local, but there may be products I might have to use from at least organic sources. Like olive oil.”
“You could use local butter. There’s no reason to break your farm-to-table pledge if you are really committed to local sourcing.” Ian glanced at his watch again, standing to end the meeting. “I really have to go. I’m expected at the cheese commission in Meridian at two. We’re discussing a memorial for Gerald.”
“What about my suppliers?” Angie stood and watched as Ian opened the door, holding it for her.
“I’ll send out an email to the group. If you insist on trying, I can’t stand in your way. But don’t think that it’s going to be easy. Most of these guys don’t like change. And they really don’t like new ideas. Just talk about honoring their food and they might choose to work with you.” He tossed his head toward the door and Angie followed him out. He locked the small office, turning the in sign to out. “But I can’t make them sell to you. You’re on your own there.”
“I’m sure I can be convincing.” Angie put on her best smile.
He stopped in the hallway. “Please, take this the way it’s intended. But don’t smile like that when you’re talking to the guys. You look creepy.” He turned around and headed out to the street.
“I do not look creepy.” She called after him. She examined her reflection in the glass of the doors, trying out her smile again. Okay, so it looked a little creepy. Her cell rang. “Hello?”
“Where are you? I thought we were going to the winery for lunch?” Felicia whined. “I’m starving.”
“I’m right down the street.” Angie pushed open the door. Ian was getting into an older wagon with logos on the side announcing the River Vista Farmers Market. She supposed she should thank him, but he hadn’t been particularly supportive of her ideas. In fact, he’d insinuated she’d fail. Well, she’d show him. Creepy, he was creepy, not her. She spun left and headed to the restaurant.
The short walk did nothing to cool the steam. That man was infuriating. If he wasn’t key to The County Seat being successful, she’d show him what he could do with his concern about her smile. This is why she liked being in the kitchen. There, no one bothered her, except maybe a waitress with a bad attitude or a sous chef who wasn’t pulling his weight. Those things she could handle.
She found Felicia sitting outside with a book in her hand. Another Highlander romance from what she could tell by the cover. When her friend saw her, she popped up. “I’m so hungry, I could eat this book.”
“Sorry, I got tied up.” She motioned to the back of the building. “I parked in the back. Let’s go before I decided to go back and trash his office.”
“I take it the meeting went badly? What are we going to do about supplies?” Felicia followed Angie around the building, trying to keep up.
“Oh, he’s letting people sell to us. He doesn’t think I’ll be very effective working with his farmers though. He treats me like…” She paused and considered the last hour. “A helpless female.”
“Oh, boy.” Felicia climbed into the passenger seat.
Angie started up the car and looked over at her friend. “That’s all you got? Oh, boy?”
Felicia squirmed in her seat. “It’s just that I know how you can get. If you think you’ve been slighted, well, you go a little overboard to fix things.”
“I’ve never gone overboard.” Angie pulled the car out of the small lot and drove out of town.
Felicia turned toward her. “What about the time you sent 12 dozen cookies to the reviewer who didn’t like your dessert?”
“She deserved them. She wouldn’t know a good dessert from a store-bought cookie.”
“And the time you bought out every avocado, lime, and tomato the market had on hand because they refused to special order your produce?”
That had been a little extreme. They’d been making some sort of salsa special for the next week, trying to use up all the produce before it went bad. “It worked didn’t it? The manager called me the next day and set up an ordering process.”
“You can’t always get what you want by bulldozing people. You need to find some charm and use that.” Felicia smiled. “Like me. I’ve made a lot of new friends since we moved here. There was a rocking band down at the bar last night. I love that I can just walk home when I stay out too late.”
“You really should be careful. Bad things can happen here, just like they do in the big city.” Angie snuck a look at her friend. Man, she sounded like an old lady. Or maybe like Kirk, the vet. And from the look on Felicia’s face, she was taking the unsolicited advice just as well as Angie had from Kirk.
“I’m a big girl. If I want to be griped at, I’ll call my mother.” Felicia slumped in her chair. “What has your goat today? Did Ian really tick you off that bad?”
The car was quiet for a while, then Angie blew out a breath. “I don’t know if it’s Mr. Moss’s death, or just being home. Maybe a combination of everything. He was so sweet, and he knew Nona. I wish I’d known him when I lived here as a kid. But I was too busy doing kid stuff. If she’d offered to take me out there, I probably would have begged off to read or go to the town pool.”
“Kids think everything’s going to be the same forever. They don’t have the ability to think past the next swim party.” Felicia leaned forward. “Speaking of swimming, did you know they float in rafts and on inner tubes down Indian Creek? There’s a park where people leave their vehicles, then they float downstream to another spot where someone drives them back. I was talking about floating the Boise River soon and Tank told me about the creek just outside town.”
Angie smiled at the memories that came flooding in. She’d been a teenager the last time she floated the creek. Who had she been dating then? She couldn’t remember his name but he was tall, dark, handsome, and the captain of the football team. The summer romance hadn’t lasted past fall when she’d gone off to college, but he’d been fun.
“By the look on your face, you did know about the creek. You have to tell me the story behind that blush.” Felicia crossed her leg under her and turned toward Angie, leaning back against the door.
“Just memories.” Angie ignored the plea in her friend’s voice and turned up the radio station. She hadn’t had a country station set on her vehicle for years. Now that she’d returned home, she found the station she used to listen to was still going strong. “Tell me about the hiring. Any hiccups?”
“I’m still looking for your sous chef, but the college says they might have someone locally who would be interested. I guess they graduated a few years ago but haven’t worked in the field.” Felicia pulled out her phone. “Good news is I’m fully staffed for front of the house. We have our first training next week. I was hoping you’d come.”
“That would be perfect. We could do a trial run on a few of the menu items the same day if you can get my kitchen staff in for a few hours before and we’ll do a family meal together.” Angie started humming
