CH50
It took some convincing to get the state to not send the samples to their lab and send it out-of-state instead. Kate followed Rick home and put all her samples in his laundry room after he opened the garage door. She had to work her way through Midas, Maggie, Patch, and Thor to do it however. They were very happy to see her.
Tomorrow was July 3rd, 2001 and Kate knew her mother was likely to be nervous. It would be her final day in the high school cooking class while she worked with the student cooks she had hired along with a few others out of that class. Kate knew that most of the others had been hired locally while just a few had moved here from Rapid City because of the job. Plus LT was scheduled to be out here on the 4th to look around. She had high hopes that he would like it. He was a good man and she could use him. She also needed to make a call and see if she could get her hands on a K-9 unit. She'd give up her PT-Cruiser if she had to when the new cars got here.
Kate was really tired and had to give credit to Rick that he managed to keep her awake and alert for when their military guy attacked them to kill them and take her evidence and samples. Now she was asleep the second her head hit the pillow next to Rick.
Come morning she found herself alone in the bed. She swung her legs over the side and shuffled downstairs to find her mother in the kitchen cooking breakfast with the coffee maker already working. "Hi Mom, how long have you been up?" Her mom didn't look like Kate did for some reason. "I couldn't sleep so I was up cleaning someone else's house and decided to start breakfast and coffee," Johanna told her as Kate drank down the last swallow of her cup of coffee and set it down on the counter to hug her mother. "It'll be fine Mom. You and Oscar have thought of everything." Kate re-filled her cup and took her time with this one.
"Here's your omelet, bacon, toast, and the juice is in the refrigerator. I suppose you're going into work today," Johanna commented as she started another omelet. "I don't have a choice Mom, we're short three deputies and one civilian. I'd like at least one or two more deputies but we're expecting a reduction in funding next year, so I might as well get used to it now instead of have to lay people off when it happens," Kate told her. "Yeah, that's one of the things that has me worried. My high school kids will go away to college like they should and I'll have to find replacements. And what if I hired the wrong people?" Johanna was rapidly headed off a cliff and Kate knew it. "Mom, will you relax!? Those people want these jobs so they're going to do the best they can." Kate tried to get her to calm down.
"Have you seen Rick?" Kate changed the subject. "He left early this morning. He said he had to go get something and that you would understand," Johanna said to her just as all of the dogs came rushing into the kitchen. Midas and Maggie sat there waiting for their breakfast while Patch and Thor had no such patience. Johanna put the omelet on a plate. "That's for Oscar when he shows up. I'm going to feed the dogs then put Alexis in the tub. If I don't see you before you leave have a good day at work." Johanna kissed her cheek, fed the dogs, and went upstairs. Midas and Maggie all but inhaled their breakfast and almost beat Johanna into Alexis's room.
Kate dragged herself back upstairs to shower and get dressed for the day, smiling all the way. She couldn't wait to see what Rick got her for her engagement ring knowing that she had said yes last night.
About 45 minutes later she stopped to have her evidence and samples packaged up safely and shipped to a lab she had used while working at the 12th precinct. Who the state sent theirs to was their problem. When she showed up at work she was immediately informed by Sloan that a Colonel Pike had called last night and asked who they sent their evidence to for analysis and Matt answered his question. "Excellent, thanks Sloan. Carry on." Kate went into her office and started making phone calls to see what it would take to get a K-9 unit.
A couple of phone calls later and she had someone coming out next week for an interview about moving here about when Greta was scheduled to show up. Once again getting new cars appeared to be a selling point. Everyone just had to put up with what they had now for 3 months.
It was almost lunch when Elizabeth knocked on her door. "There's an Amber Patinelli here to see about the part time position. She says the mayor sent her," Elizabeth told her. "Send her in," Kate said. The name Amber was a name she knew from somewhere but she just couldn't think where. The woman walked in. "Kate!?" Amber was a little shocked. "Amber!?" Kate suddenly realized where she had heard the name from. She was Samantha's mother! Kate got out from behind her desk and sat down in the chair next to her. "I knew I had heard that name somewhere!"
"I knew you were a deputy but I didn't know you were the sheriff," Amber admitted. "Acting sheriff until the mayor can call for an election," she corrected her. "I'm sure you'll win easily when you run for sheriff." Kate already had her vote. "Thanks, so you're here for a job." Kate got down to business. "Yes, my son was hired to work in the new restaurant opening tomorrow; he's so excited and so are his father and I. Money has been tight the last few years. My husband used to be one of the best auto mechanics in town until he hurt his hand and now he can barely hold a glass of water in it. He drives a delivery truck these days, but it doesn't come close to paying what he used to earn. I'd really like this job." Amber was running out of places to apply.
"I'm only hiring part-time I'm afraid. I need someone to work the night shift, meaning you would be here from midnight to six when the day shift reports in. You would be doing any number of things while you're here: helping with dispatch, helping with 911 calls, helping with filing, amongst other things," Kate said. "I've never worked in a sheriff's office before so I don't know much about dispatch and haven't worked 911 calls. Everything else would be easy enough though," Amber told her. "To be honest I didn't expect to find someone who had experience in either. The other women will teach you dispatch and how to handle 911 calls. We wouldn't throw you into the pool and pray you knew how to swim. You'll get at least 2 weeks of training before you're left on your own, though there will be a deputy and/or me here at all times," she told her.
"Does that mean I get the job?" Amber sounded so hopeful, like this was her last chance. Kate loved seeing the smile on Samantha's face and she hadn't known her mother had hired Amber's son. "Bring your daughter with you tomorrow; you can fill out your paperwork and I'll get you a key to the door. We'll get the other women to start your training tomorrow. If for some reason you need to bring Sam into work with you at night just remember to keep her away from whoever comes in here and not to touch anything she shouldn't," Kate told her watching her erupt into a large smile. "I won't let you down, I promise! You and Rick have been so very kind to Sam; she's been gushing ever since she came back from the trip she took," Amber admitted. "We just don't have the money to take her or our son anyplace, not like we would like to do."
"She's been a joy to have around and I know Alexis is happy to have made some friends after moving here. I heard about the bears, that was very unexpected," Kate commented. "It was a bit scary, but Sam has been talking about how Rick did this and did that," Amber said. "I know he's already started research on where to go next," Kate told her. "You two seem to be quite close," Amber remarked. "He proposed last night. It was so sweet and was just what I needed to hear at the time. He's off to Rapid City to purchase a ring, I think. He was gone when I got up in this morning," she informed her. "I'm very happy for you. He's such a nice man. I'd love to live in his home." Amber was like everyone else in town. They all loved his home, just like Kate's mom did.
"Rick is amazing, I love him so much," she admitted. "And he's not worried about you being a deputy or sheriff?" Amber questioned. Kate actually chuckled. "I hadn't even gotten the job as deputy yet and he was already pushing me to run for sheriff," she said. She stood up. "I'll have someone put the paperwork together that you need to read and sign. I'm assuming you can start tomorrow after you sign?" she asked her.
"If I can bring Sam with me, that won't be a problem," Amber answered her question. "I'll talk with Rick when he gets back, he might be willing to watch Sam for you while you're both working. What about your son?" Kate queried. "He's 18 as of last month and spends his time with my husband when he's not at school which is out for summer. We've worked out that my husband will pick him up at the restaurant when it closes and take him to work with him. And you don't need to ask Rick anything. We can work out something," Amber told her. "Do what you think is best but I'm still going to ask him. We have a spare bedroom that no one is really using." Except for Oscar and/or her mother, though they will be moving back home now.
Amber grinned at her. "You said 'we,'" she pointed out. Kate chuckled. "I did, didn't I? His house does feel like home to me even if I haven't actually moved in yet." She knew almost all of her clothes were still at home. Amber hugged her quickly. "I'm still happy for you, Rick is a good man." Kate escorted her to the front door. Closing it, she said, "I just hired a part-time night shift worker. Put all the paperwork together that she'll need to read and sign by tomorrow. She's going to start tomorrow evening. Start teaching her dispatch and 911 calls. If neither of those work out for her, we'll be forced to find someone else."
"Yes, ma'am." The women loved having someone else here. It meant it would take pressure off of them soon.
Kate was walking in with her lunch which was another sub, chips, and soda. "Ma'am, Greta called. She's given the movers the address of her new place here and has begun packing. She said she would meet the truck when it got here, get it all moved into her apartment and be in to start work the day after finding daycare for her daughter," Kate was told. "Finally, we really need her. I forgot to ask how old her daughter is." She internally kicked herself. "She's 4 ma'am," she was told. "Maybe another new friend for Alexis. It was only a two year difference." Kate was hopeful anyway and went into her office. She was learning fast just how much paperwork Roy did after she sat behind this desk.
'Hey babe, where are you?" She couldn't take it any longer, she needed to know if he had bought her ring yet. 'Still in Rapid City. Do you need something while I'm here?' Rick was smiling widely even though she couldn't see it. He was eating lunch while her ring was being sized for her. 'Just my fiancé," she commented.
'Oh, I just hired Samantha's mother to work part time for the night shift. She needs to find someplace for Samantha to stay the night sometimes and I volunteered us. I hope you don't mind.' She didn't think he would, especially since it was too late now. 'I didn't know my fiancé was such a softy.' Kate could hear him chuckling at her. 'And of course I don't mind. I'd be willing to bet Alexis would even share her room if she had a voice in the decision. Not that she does since we have a spare room which is something we need to talk about when I get back,' he told her. It had Kate smiling widely as her heartbeat increased. He was going to ask her to move in with him, she just knew it! She also knew what her response would be, too. At least he'd better be thinking about asking her or she was going to hurt him. She was his life mate after all.
Rick had chosen a ring that he thought she would like since his choices were limited with only three jewelry stores in town. It was round, excellent cut, H in color, and VVs1 in clarity. The center diamond was 2.11 carats with a single diamond to either side that were 0.12 carat weight each. It was 18k rose gold in an Aphrodite setting. The total price was something well within his range.
Kate planned to spend a lot of time in the office and sent Sloan out on patrol. She would handle any emergency calls that came in herself since they were still shorthanded.
Later that night she dragged herself up the stairs and found her mother and Oscar gone. Midas and Maggie were sleeping in Alexis's room and lifted up their heads to look at her when she slipped into the room to stroke her hair and kiss her head.
He was fast asleep and she didn't see a ring box anywhere which meant he was probably hiding it somewhere. She spent a whole entire second about thinking of looking for it but got ready for bed and slipped on one of Rick's dress shirts that she had stolen. She cuddled in close to Rick and was asleep in seconds.
He was gone again when she got up and shuffled downstairs. She found a note telling her that her breakfast was in the warmer. Coffee should be ready for her. He and Alexis would be with Johanna and Oscar helping her get ready for her grand opening tonight.
She groaned. She had to work and was going to miss her own mother's opening night. After all they had been through and she was going to miss it.
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"Okay, let's get started. My name is Oscar Lehman and it has been my privilege to help Johanna in her quest to open a new restaurant here in town. As most of you likely know this used to be a Wendys® fast food restaurant. You wouldn't know it looking at it today. Before we open tonight we're going to have a wet run instead of dry run. By this I mean we have some locals who have graciously offered their time to be guests. They are going to go outside and come in one group at a time."
"You two are going to seat them and keep track of where you seat them. The idea is that you do not place them all in one person's area but spread them out a little. Our wait staff will be using the latest in devices to take their orders with. This little beauty," and Oscar held one up as he continued, "is connected to the central system. There is one display at the front desk and one at the back. It is at these two places that you will retrieve a printed receipt for the meal should the customer desire one." It bore some resemblance to a laptop though it was fatter and had a light pen attached.
"The very first thing you do is enter your ID number followed by the table number. This device is broken down into areas: appetizers, entrees, soups, salads, and desserts. As they order and you press that place on the tablet it will bring up a picture and provide you with everything there is to know about that item. So if they ask you questions, you can read what it says and tell them. When you are done taking that table's order you will press the end button here," Oscar held it up for everyone to see. "There is also a space for you to type in specific instructions."
"Doing this will send the order to the read-out panels in the kitchen. The cooks will start work on each meal as they come in since they will be grouped by table. Payment is equally simple. You will scan their credit card like this." And Oscar slid a card to demonstrate. "You will then hand the card back to the person or persons if they want separate bills; I'll show you that later. You then hand them your pad and they'll use the pen that is attached to sign. They can scroll up and down to view what they are paying for and what they were charged for each meal. At this time they can add a tip as desired. Each customer will be offered three options: 15%, 20%, and to enter their own amount before signing."
"If they pay by cash, there are cash drawers at each of the two stations, up front and the one in back. As the cooks finish each meal they will place it on the pick-up table and once the table's meals are complete they will delete it from the screen. However that table's meals will be held in memory for 30 days or until space is needed in the system."
"All of this helps Johanna keep track of how much food she has and needs to order based on who orders what. Yesterday's and today's deliveries have already been placed in the system and she will have to do this for each and every delivery for food items. At the end of the day today after everyone is gone she will still be here, as will I, to determine what needs to be delivered tomorrow or the day after depending on what it is she needs."
"Now accidents are inevitable. Some of you will drop someone's entire meal on the floor or their lap." That caused a few chuckles. "Or the meals for an entire table. There will be a crashing sound as plates break and everyone including the customers will say something. Don't worry about it, you're not going to be fired unless that was your 8th or more time. In that case you may want to start searching for another job. Simply offer him, her, or them your most heartfelt apology and inform the kitchen that they need to do it all over again," Oscar informed them. "As well as clean up your mess." He got a few more chuckles.
"As I'm sure all of you know by now employees get a 50% discount on one meal of your choice per week. If you choose to eat it here it will be after closing hours or you can put it in a doggie box and take it home with you. Your choice. This is in addition to your pay and tips; do try to make use of it. You will find later that not every restaurant offers this." Johanna and Oscar had no illusions that if they took it home with them the meal would likely not be eaten by the employee, but they would handle that when the time came.
"Now if our guests would like to step outside and come in one group at a time, let's see if we can work out the bugs and get used to this system," Oscar said which got them outside and the cooks into the kitchen with the wait staff hanging around in the service aisle while the two receptionists went forward.
Samantha and her parents turned out to be first and a table was selected for the three of them. They were handed over to their son who was a waiter here. Jenny and her parents were next, followed by Paige and her parents, and then Sara and her parents. Last were Rick and Alexis since Kate was working. "All of the tables are taken. Put them in the queue and hand them a call box," Oscar instructed them, even though there were lots of empty tables. "Let them sit about 5 minutes and then send the signal that their table is ready," he told them and headed for the kitchen.
The first table's orders came up on the screen and Oscar watched the cooks begin work, followed by another and another, until even Rick and Alexis's requests were in the system. "Don't forget to talk to each other, especially to Johanna who has control back here. She is the one that will be deleting the tables from the screen as each is finished. She, and I, want to hear a time table. Five minutes for this or three minutes for that. Johanna, for her part, will do the same and call out when a table is off the screen. When you as a group stop talking to each other is when things go straight to hell back here," he warned all of them.
Since they had more wait staff than customers, those who had customers got help delivering the plates filled with food. Since all of the meals were free they faked running the credit card or acted like they were paid in cash and faked getting a receipt for the meal. The hostesses put each table as being open when the table was cleared and the dishwashers finally had something to do.
Oscar had everyone including their guests back in the main room. "Not bad for a bunch of rookies." He didn't see anything that needed to be corrected. "Now for the bad news or good news in Johanna's case. In 30 minutes those doors are going to open for real and I can already see people standing outside waiting to get in. This was only 5 tables and there are 42 tables total that, if we're lucky, are going to be filled until closing tonight. More people means more money, means more tips, means you get to keep your jobs. Hopefully for a long time."
"Now when this place is full it is going to get louder as people at their tables will start talking. Just relax, stay calm, and take your time. None of you have super human speed and except for the customer, none of us expect you to have either. A word of caution. The general public as a whole are ass-holes, myself included. Mindless, thoughtless, ill-tempered ass-holes and they will direct their anger at you." Oscar pointed to the wait staff. "Don't get mad, don't get physical. Take the blame and try and correct whatever his or her completely outrageous problem is. Just remember, if you piss him off too much it means no tip, he doesn't come back, business slows, and you lose your job. Johanna loses her business and the city loses another business that pays city taxes that pay for countless things that you don't even think about and take for granted."
"Your house burns down because the city couldn't afford to pay for enough fire fighters, and that's just the most obvious example. You're mad that the city doesn't fix that blasted pot hole that has only gotten bigger and deeper. Taxes pay to fix that pothole, so the more businesses there are the more taxes the city collects and the more things the city can do with that money."
"Twenty minutes, so clean up and take your places, and to our guests, Johanna and I thank you for your willingness to be guinea pigs," Oscar said. "We were glad to help, besides the food was terrific. Better than my wife cooks," a male voice called out followed quickly by "OW!" which was followed by laughter.
The doors opened at 5:00 pm and closed officially at 12:00 am, however they still had people at a dozen tables to wait for. It wasn't until 1:00 am that the doors were closed and locked. Five of the staff took advantage of the half off meal for this week and were serving themselves and eating at the largest table while they talked. By 2:00 am Johanna was sitting in her office, that was smaller than her walk-in closet at home, with Oscar standing right behind her. They were the only 2 people left in the building.
The cash was in the safe in the floor of her office and they were going over what was sold and what they still had which allowed Johanna to phone in a delivery for tomorrow from Rapid City. The total proceeds for the day was $11, 831.46. "That doesn't seem like a lot." Johanna's worries only grew. "Get out your calculator and put in today's proceeds times 308, which is the number of days you will be open each year. And that equals what?" he asked her.
$3,644,089.70
"Which puts you above the target of $3.5 million annually." He hugged her shoulders from behind and kissed the top of her head. "Likely you will not keep this up for an entire year, but if you even come close you'll be really close to our target earnings annually."
"Did you get to see the fireworks?" he asked knowing that he had not, only to watch Johanna shake her head. "Yeah, neither did I. But Rick said that combined with the fireworks the city shot off, it was the largest display the city had ever had in its history. We may need to think about expanding who wins since football and basketball don't fill the summer with any games. We may need to add someone like women's soccer perhaps," he suggested. "We'll talk about it." Johanna wanted to look at the schools schedule first.
"Let's gather up the dirty table cloths and linens, take them home, and throw them in the washer for tomorrow," Oscar offered followed by turning out all but the emergency lights, setting the alarm, and locking up for the night. "How did we really do?" Johanna questioned him as she drove them home. "Honestly? …Your kitchen was too slow. The last tables seated sat there for almost an hour and you stayed there all night long. One table would empty and the new people waited an hour to get their food. We need to talk with your cooks about how to speed that up by at least 5 or 10 minutes or it's going to cost you customers eventually."
"You're new and people were willing to cut you some slack. That first bus shows up with 50 people on board and they wait an hour or more…" He simply shook his head. "It didn't feel like an hour. I've never done so much cooking at one time in my life," she said wearily. Johanna didn't see where they were going to get that 5 or 10 minutes from. "We'll talk, I've got a couple of tricks I've learned over the years," he told her.