' Luca!' A fresh wave of anger roiled through Erin as she made her way to stop the demise of her beloved gravy recipe. She caught him by the back stoves, sprinkling something into a pot. Threatened to throw me gravy over me head when it started sticking t’pan.Įrin raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, her steely gaze searching for her line chef - and boyfriend - in a sea of colliding white-uniformed bodies. It’s that line chef of yours, miss, he blubbered. Oh, stop crying, Derek, she muttered when she came across her particularly sweaty sous-chef, who had only been promoted because her usual was on maternity leave. The other staff members avoided eye contact with Erin as she made her way around the kitchen slowly.

They held no sign of burns yet, thank goodness. She appeared a moment later with two plates of jacket potatoes in her hands, ready for service.

Mavis’ frail voice drifted from somewhere behind the scorching stoves. Mavis, you better not be burning the fucking potatoes again! She channelled that sort of blazing aggression now just to prove it. They’d be no good on Hell’s Kitchen with Gordon Ramsay cursing them out over their shoulder. Was she not distracted by the ominous, overly-familiar smell of something charred, she might have rolled her eyes at the way her catering staff seemed to shrink just slightly. With Rory’s support and forgiveness and their growing bond, will she be able to leave behind a pain she’s held onto for fifteen years and make this a Christmas to remember, or will the festive season always remain a lonely one for Erin?Įrin Levine marched into the hectic kitchen of Spuds ‘n’ Puds and halted with a vehement sniff, the heels of her pumps clicking against the freshly mopped tiles.

With their new proximity as roommates as well as co-workers, Erin has to find a way to heal old wounds with Rory, but between a controlling boyfriend and a sudden reappearance from her estranged father, it’s not easy.

Her intention is to keep things professional despite the guilt festering from a mistake she never had the chance to rectify, but when she finds out that Rory is broke and sleeping in the food truck as well as working in it, she offers him her couch until he can get back on his feet. However, things head south when a face from her past reappears - and when he turns out to be the person renting out the space beside the restaurant with his dessert truck, there’s no avoiding Rory Peterson. Her restaurant, Spuds ‘n’ Puds, keeps growing steadily in popularity, and the fact that it lies in the heart of Manchester and its beloved annual Christmas markets only bolsters its success. Assertive executive chef, Erin Levine, is proud of the business she’s built from the ground up.

Honeymoon for One by Rachel Bowdler