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"But... but Asher can't work here!" I sputtered. I quickly painted a picture of his personality for my aunt, hoping the birthday-party story would discourage her. Then I added, "There's not enough room in the truck for four of us, and I'm sure he doesn't know a thing about cooking or food, and we have so much to do to get ready for Flavorfest already...." And he'll ruin everything, I almost said, but didn't.Cleo smiled. "It'll be fine," she said as she finished buckling the veggie containers into their seat belts for the ride home. "Like I told Mrs. Rivers, Gabe and I were talking about hiring some extra help anyway."Gabe nodded while he locked the cabinets so nothing would fly open. "I'm going to be busy working on my grad thesis for the next couple of months, and there's an evening horticulture class Cleo wants to take at Berkeley.""Besides," Cleo added, "having Asher around will give us more time to work on our Flavorfest menu."Doubt must have been all over my face, because Cleo laughed and tweaked my nose playfully. "Come on, Tessa. Just cut him some slack, and I'm sure your cooking instincts will rub off on him in no time. Okay?"I sighed, but because I love Cleo and didn't want to argue with her, I reluctantly bit into the inevitable. "Okay," I said. "But if he gives all of our customers botulism, don't blame me."Cleo laughed so hard she snorted, which is one of the things I love best about her. "Done," she finally said.Cleo's reassurance didn't help, though. I was sure of one thing: There were about to be way too many cooks in the Tasty Truck kitchen.
