Jo watched as each of the other three working in the kitchen kept their heads down as if afraid to so much as breathe. It was far from the working atmosphere Noah and she wanted for the pub, and for the most part The Ivy Inn was run with minimal friction. Both she and Noah had spent a lot of time making sure they had staff they could trust and who happened to be cool people to work with. Any niggles were dealt with as soon as they arose, and Jo wanted this niggle ironed out quickly.

‘Erin, your staff know what they’re doing. Trust them. And lunch service is over at half two, which gives you plenty of time to get everything sorted for tonight’s dinner. Did you get the vegan menu sorted with the high-maintenance happy couple?’

‘Of course I did,’ Erin sighed. ‘But it would all be much easier if people just listened to what I asked them to do!’

Jo took a deep breath. Erin was not making this easier for her. ‘Can I help out here for a bit? Noah won’t mind. I’ll work with you on some of the prep for tonight and the others can get on with lunch. Would that help?’ Jo would never claim to be gifted in the kitchen but she knew enough of her flatmate’s high standards to be able to chop veg and mix up a stock without too much instruction.

Erin huffed, blowing a stray strand of hair which had escaped from her chef’s hat away from her face. ‘No. I’m fine. We’re fine. They’ve done a lot.’

Jo raised her eyebrows.

‘They’re a good team,’ Erin said, and if Jo wasn’t mistaken, her friend was becoming a little emotional. ‘It’s just a bit stressful and, well…’

The kitchen staff looked up, as if they had emotional breakdown radars, and Jo was more than a little confused. Erin was lovely and loving, but when it came to work, she had a strict ‘show no weakness’ policy.

‘Erin, do you want to take a couple of minutes out? C’mon. Come and get a breath of air with me?’ She took Erin by the arm and was even more surprised to find her friend didn’t fight her off, and she led her out of the kitchen.

Just as they reached the door, Erin stopped and called to her staff, ‘You are a good team, you know. I have every faith in you.’ Or at least Jo thought that was what she said, because the last few words came out as a jumbled, half-sobbed mess.

Jo led her to the office, where Paddy immediately ran over to say hello and promptly ran away again as soon as he copped out that Erin was upset.