Worth the Risk

the head mixologist, was setting up for the evening rush.
    Just when bartenders became mixologists, Brad couldn’t say, but they did deserve the more impressive title. The bar was the cash cow of most restaurants and Black Jack’s was no exception. Like most mixologists in successful bars, Trevor had created his own specialty, the snakebite.
    “Where’s Allen?” he asked the short fireplug of a man.
    Trevor looked up and said, “He quit. There’s a message in your office. He took the job as executive chef at Valentino’s.”
    The air left Brad’s lungs in a dizzying rush. “Without giving me notice?”
    Trevor shrugged one shoulder. “Allen told you more than once that he wanted to move up.”
    “True,” Brad conceded. He was Black Jack’s executive chef and didn’t intend to give up the position. Since his other restaurants already had executive chefs, he didn’t have anywhere to move Allen. “I assumed he would have given me more notice.”
    Trevor shrugged again in his laid-back way. “The position came up unexpectedly and they needed him ASAP. They offered him a bundle.”
    Unbelievable, Brad thought. He was going to have to do the work of two people until he could find another sous-chef.

Chapter 3
    Lexi walked through the front door of her house, her new briefcase under her arm. She’d just interviewed at a fourth accounting firm. Another cube farm, she thought. She might as well become a factory worker. Calculating people’s taxes wasn’t what she’d had in mind when she started her MBA, but in this weak economy, it seemed to be where the jobs were.
    Once she’d gained some experience to add to her résumé, she could look for a smaller firm.
    “Amber,” she called when she didn’t see her sister at the dining room table doing homework.
    The delicious scent of chocolate hung in the air. Lexi wasn’t surprised. Since Brad Westcott had announced his dessert contest, Amber had been obsessed with creating a winning recipe. She tried to hide her efforts by meticulously cleaning up after herself and donating the “experiments” to the senior center nearby, but Lexi wasn’t fooled. The telltale scent of baked goods was impossible to hide.
    Lexi changed into work clothes and went out into the garden. Spring was here, but heat shimmered up from the ground in visible waves as if it were the middle of summer. Netting shaded the more sensitive plants, but everything desperately needed water.
    Naturally, Amber had been too busy baking to water the plants. Baby vegetables were very sensitive. They could easily wilt in the scorching heat even though they were shaded. Once a baby veggie flopped over, there was no reviving it. Lexi uncoiled the soaking hoses from their bins and placed them so they would slowly fill the dry trenches that snaked through the garden.
    The yard wasn’t big compared to a real farm, but it was large for the area and entirely devoted to gardening except for a small locked shed that held the equipment. In this area of Houston, what wasn’t locked up was stolen.
    Even the gates to the backyard had industrial padlocks on them. The neighborhood children weren’t inclined to steal the vegetables, but they’d been known to tear up the garden beds just for fun.
    Three hours later, she left her muddy sneakers on the back porch and went into the house. Still no sign of Amber. She was probably kicking back at a friend’s or had taken the bus to the mall.
    What would become of the garden when Lexi found a job at an accounting firm? She certainly couldn’t trust Amber to run the operation alone. Chefs at several of the most prominent restaurants in the city counted on City Seeds’ produce.
    Lexi would need to find an assistant. She thought about Urban Plots, a community garden several blocks away. Local people planted and tended their own spaces in a lot provided by the city. Maybe someone there would want to make some extra money by helping Amber.
    The front door suddenly burst open, bringing with it a gust of heat. Amber rushed into the house. “I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” she shouted.
    Her sister was so excited that Lexi hated to scold her for not having watered the garden. It seemed lately that all they did was argue.
    “What have you got?” Lexi asked with all the patience her tired body could muster.
    “I know what I’m going to bake for the contest.” Amber collapsed onto the sofa that had been ancient years ago when they’d come to live with Aunt Callie.