‘Certainly,’ replied Ella, who had to admit she was secretly enjoying herself. She felt her confidence building by the second as she opened up her notepad and sang her way through the delicious meals that she’d tasted only a few moments ago.

‘Which would you recommend?’ Tiffany was once again putting Ella on the spot but she answered immediately.

‘Without a doubt, the escalope of Pork à la Milanese garnished with fresh rocket, piccolo tomatoes, shaved pecorino and fresh lemon,’ replied Ella, not knowing why she’d just spoken in a French accent, leaving Tiffany to raise an eyebrow and Isla and Felicity stifling their laughter at their nearby table.

‘And what is pecorino?’ quizzed Tiffany, testing Ella’s knowledge.

‘The most delicious Italian cheese,’ replied Ella confidently, thankful she had listened to Gianni and had jotted that information down on her pad, otherwise she wouldn’t have had a clue. ‘I think you’ll love it.’

‘Okay, I’ll take your word for it.’ Tiffany plumped for the pork and handed the menu back to Ella, who turned around to discover Felicity and Isla giving her a thumbs up and Callie watching her from the back of the restaurant.

With a spring in her step, she spotted Amy coming back through the double doors. ‘Amy, I’m so sorry. Tiffany collared me about the food, so I just took the order. I hope that’s okay?’

‘Of course it’s okay! And thank you for coming to my rescue with the wine menu – it was my fault, I’d forgotten to put them out on the table.’

‘I think we got away with it. I’ll put her food order into the kitchen, but I didn’t mean to take over.’

‘You didn’t, don’t worry.’ Amy was thankful. ‘You’re such a natural with the customers. Happy first day!’

Ella smiled brightly as she tore Tiffany’s order from her pad and handed it over to the kitchen. Callie placed her hand on her shoulder. ‘Look at you! Keeping Tiffany happy. Flynn will be pleased, not to mention Gianni.’

‘I hope so. Is Roman still in with Flynn?’ Ella had just realised she hadn’t seen him leave the office yet and the boat was due to leave soon.

‘It appears that way. Wilbur is going to take the boat back to Heartcross and I’m going to cover the bar. Don’t stand around, go and work those tables. Amy can take carry on with her section now.’

‘Okey dokey,’ Ella replied. Even though she hadn’t quite worked a full hour yet, she loved being surrounded by people, the hustle and bustle of the kitchen and doing the best she could to please the customers. It was so different from her last job, sitting all day by herself in her shop, waiting for customers to walk through the door.