Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Miles
Two Weeks Later
“Okay, what do you need from me to get this started?” I asked, leaning forward as my grandma subtly squeezed my knee beneath the table.
“We have some paperwork we’ll need to complete, but since you’ve already secured the funding, we can get started on this as soon as you’d like.”
I grinned like an idiot, then looked at my grandma, who was beaming proudly.
I took the pen the realtor offered and started signing the stack of papers she’d set in front of me.
After Kat left, I’d found myself walking around Seattle more often than I had in the short time I’d lived there. Darryl and Anthony were pros at handling the food truck, and I was rarely needed there anymore. They knew the recipes better than me now and had even added in a few of their own.
Shortly after the competition, Clarissa offered Darryl a full-time position at Ambrosia, but he turned it down after confirming he could continue working for me.
He was doing well and continued to stay with Erick, helping with stuff around the house to earn his keep.
He’d even offered to pay rent, but Erick had refused his money and asked if he could help him renovate some of the outdated rooms and add on to the back of the house.
It’d been a match made in heaven and allowed Darryl the flexibility to save up the money he’d made from Miles High Food Club.
During one of my many walks, I’d come across an abandoned building that was close to a homeless camp. I knew instantly that I wanted to purchase it and turn it into something that could help them.
One night, my grandma, Erick, and I sat down and discussed options.
They both knew how dear to my heart it was to give back to the community, and Erick had a contact that helped me with getting a business loan to buy the building.
I knew that my business model was different than most and that it was risky with what I wanted to do, but that didn’t stop me.
Once we finished signing all the paperwork, I took my grandma to dinner to celebrate this new chapter in our lives.
“To new beginnings,” I toasted, lifting my glass in the air as my grandma, Erick, Darryl, Anthony, and his girlfriend joined me. “Thank you all so much for embarking on this new adventure with me.”
“Cheers,” they replied in unison, the sound of the flutes clicking together and filling the air around us.
I blinked the tear away and took a sip of champagne.
“I still can’t believe you’re closing Miles High Food Club,” Anthony said with a warm smile. “Now how are you going to pick up drunk women at two in the morning?”
I laughed and rolled my eyes.
“Hey, Miles High Food Club will still be there, just not as a food truck.” I exhaled heavily as the words rolled off my tongue. “Plus, I could use a break from the drunk women.”
Everyone laughed, lightening the mood around us.
It had been hard to announce that I was closing the food truck down this week, but it was reassuring that Darryl and Anthony agreed to come on board when I offered them jobs a few weeks ago.
I had been able to take out enough in the loan to pay them for an entire month before the new restaurant opened, and Lord knew that I needed all the help I could get to get the place up and running on time.
It was a short deadline that I’d given myself, but people came together and volunteered to help out however they could.
Erick had insisted that he would bring the guys staying with him by next week when we officially broke ground on the new Miles High Food Club.
Now that everything was in place and we were ready to get started, it felt surreal and a little hard to swallow.
“What do you think?” Anthony asked, pulling me away from my thoughts.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized with a shake of my head. “What were you saying?”
“I said that Clarissa stopped by the truck earlier and asked if you wanted her to put you in contact with some of the vendors she used. Jamie also offered to come by and help set up the kitchen once you’re ready.”
“Oh, yeah, that sounds great. Thanks.”
Whenever I thought about Clarissa or Jamie, my mind immediately went to Kat.
It’d been five weeks since she left for San Antonio, and I hated that we left things the way we did between us.
It wasn’t like we were angry with each other or fighting, but pretending there wasn’t something there when there was, was just as hard.
Jamie had mentioned a few times that Kat was doing great and loving her new job, so I tried to be happy for her, but I wasn’t.
I missed her more than I could have ever imagined.
But her happiness was all I’d ever wanted, so I sucked up my feelings and tucked them to the side with the grief I’d never dealt with after losing my dad and moved on.