Deep Freeze Christmas by Marian P. Merritt Page B

her. "King, that's king. See if you can find the bags of shrimp for tonight's meal." He pointed toward a door off the back of the kitchen." CG said something about a freezer room in there."
    "Great, I'll see what I can find." She opened the door that led down a hallway. The first door led into a pantry the size of her bedroom in her tiny apartment. She was pretty sure she'd died and gone to chef-heaven, a to-die-for kitchen, and now this. Stocked shelves lined the walls with a counter down the middle with drawers underneath. Anything they needed, she was pretty sure they'd find in here.
    She backed out and went down the hallway again in search of the "freezer room." Another door jetted off to the right, she opened it and understood why CG had said freezer room instead of walk-in freezer. The room held seven commercial grade freezers with another door leading into a large walk-in freezer.
    She found bags of shrimp and a few other items they'd need for tonight's meal. Before she headed back to the kitchen, the door at the end of the hallway beckoned. Where did it lead? When she opened it, a blast of cold air rushed in and took her breath away followed by a blur of white the size of a small horse. Before she knew what hit her, she was flat on her back getting sloppy dog kisses—all over her face.
    "Max. Stop!" CG appeared and captured Max's leash. "Stop, boy! Sit."
    Max picked the worst time to obey. He stopped licking and sat—on Leona.
    CG pulled the near hundred pound, snow-dripping lab off her. "I'm so sorry. He's still a puppy, and we're working on manners. Seems the snow makes him a little frisky. Are you OK?"
    "Yes, I'm fine." She laughed and rubbed the dog's ear. "Still a puppy? I can't imagine how big he'll be when he's full grown. Hello, Max."
    "He should grow into those feet at about one hundred pounds."
    Max sat on the floor next to her, leaned over, and licked her face again.
    She laughed and rubbed his head. His dark eyes followed her hand and seemed to relax at her touch. "Nice to meet you, Max."
    "Here let me help you up." CG offered his hand. After she stood, he gathered the frozen items before Max had a chance to check them out.
    Leona took the items into the kitchen while CG led Max out the back door. She plopped the cold items onto the counter. "You've got to check out the pantry and freezer. Aaa-mazing."
    "I'm sure it is. I wouldn't expect less from CG. You OK?" Chef Julian pointed to her jacket.
    She looked down. Several large muddy paw prints adorned the front of her white jacket. "Yikes. Guess I need to change."
    "Oh and Leona, you might want to wash your face, too." Chef gave her one of his famous grins and a nod.
    After Max's licking, she could only imagine what her face looked like. It would just take a minute to run upstairs and change. She climbed the back stairs and turned the corner headed to her room.
    "Hello, there." The smooth voice belonged to six feet of pure handsome. She felt sure she'd be a puddle before long if he kept staring at her with those crystal blue eyes. This had to be CG's son.
    He pointed to her jacket. "I see you've met Max."
    "Um…yes, we met." She laughed. "Quite intimately, I might add."
    He held out his hand. "I'm Cameron Fleming, CG's son."
    "Cameron, I'm Leona Buquet, the Sous Chef. It's nice to meet you." She shook his hand.
    "Buquet, are you from Louisiana?"
    "I am." She finally let go of his hand.
    "I used—"
    "Cameron, there you are." A sultry voice drifted from behind Cameron and when its owner materialized, Leona recognized the gorgeous actress, Marissa Madison, known for her high-maintenance expectations and temper tantrums when she didn't get her way.
    Following celebrity gossip was a vice Leona still worked against.
    Marissa scanned Leona's jacket and then her face and hair. She raised an eyebrow and then scrunched her nose. "Did something explode in the kitchen?"
    "No, the dog—"
    "Well, we'll let you get washed up. Wouldn't want you preparing our food like