Epilogue
MAEVE
“Yes, chef!”
I grin every single time I hear those words. Allison keeps telling me I’m just in the honeymoon phase with my restaurant and that I’ll get sick of being in charge eventually, but I don’t think so. We’re only two months past opening, but everything has been incredible so far.
After we got back from what turned out to be a life-changing Christmas, the men insisted I move out of my little apartment and into a bigger place with the three of them, even going so far as to personally move my little herb garden to make sure that none of the plants were disturbed.
And although the terms of our deal had obviously changed quite a bit, Ford still insisted on giving me the money that he’d promised me, saying that he considered it an investment in our future.
With the financial backing of my three men, we managed to get everything ready for my new restaurant in record time.
My grand opening was eight weeks ago, and since then, we’ve been booked solid most nights.
I finally get to showcase what I can do with food—making it the star with fresh, simple techniques that let the ingredients shine.
While I have a small but dedicated team, the desserts are still mostly my domain. I’ve only recently started letting one of my sous chefs, Maggie, make them alongside me, since doing every single dessert while also running the entire kitchen would be insane.
It was actually my three boyfriends who convinced me to delegate. “Take it from three recovering workaholics,” Hayden said. “Don’t stretch yourself too thin.”
“When we first started Meridian,” Ford explained, “it was our baby, so we wanted to control every detail. Nearly burned us out. We had to learn how to let go.”
I’m still working on it. I’m used to being an assistant, which basically meant someone handed me a to-do list and I made sure everything got done. Now I’m the one calling the shots. It’s a shift, but a good one, and I have three business experts to bug for advice whenever I need it.
They rely on me too. I might not work for them anymore, but they asked me to interview the three people who replaced me.
I figured it might be asking too much to expect one person to handle all three bosses the way I did, since they won’t be in love with their new assistants.
Jake, Robin, and Alicia are all great and do solid work. I made sure to train them properly.
Even though I’m no longer an employee, Hayden, Gabriel, and Ford are constantly asking for my input. They keep me in the loop about everything happening with Meridian, and honestly, I feel more involved in the company now as their unofficial advisor than I ever was as their assistant.
It means everything to me that they respect my opinion and actually listen to what I have to say.
And they haven’t been sitting around either.
While I’ve been getting Graze up and running, they’ve been moving past the Silver Start disaster and working on their environmental projects.
I’m incredibly proud of them, and I’ll admit I’m petty enough to hope that Silver Start’s board regrets the day they let someone like George pass up the chance to work with Meridian because of his narrow-minded bullshit.
More orders come in from the waitstaff and I pull them from the machine, reading them out loud as I survey the kitchen.
My staff moves around me with practiced efficiency, cooking and plating everything before sending it out.
All of this food came from my garden, from my farm.
I’ve been involved in every step, from seed to plate.
I can’t help sneaking out occasionally to walk through the dining room and watch people enjoy their meals.
One of my servers hurries in. “Ms. Keller? Your guys are here. I put them at their usual table by the window.”
“Thanks, Jordan.” I smile. My men stop by whenever they can, and the servers all refer to them as ‘the guys’ or ‘your men.’ They know I’m dating all three of them, and they think it’s sweet. If anyone has a problem with it, I find out during the interview process, and I don’t hire them.
I want my workplace to be a place of harmony, not stress or judgment. There’s enough chaos in restaurant work without adding unnecessary drama.
I cook the meals for Hayden, Ford, and Gabriel myself.
I insist on it, no matter how busy we are.
They joke that they can always tell when I’m the one who made their food.
I’m not entirely sure that’s true since I’ve trained my staff so well, but I also shouldn’t underestimate my men.
They might actually be able to tell the difference.
I’m just about to start on their dessert when Jordan returns. “Ms. Keller? The men are wondering if you have a moment to sit with them?”
They probably need advice on something. Or they’re trying to trick me into taking a break and getting off my feet for a few minutes. “Sure. Maggie, can you handle their dessert? Thanks.”
“Yes, chef!” Maggie says, grinning and shooting me a wink. She knows exactly where I’m going.
I make my way through the restaurant to the table where Gabriel, Hayden, and Ford are sitting. It’s positioned by the window so my back is to the rest of the dining room and I can look out over the farm. My domain. My dream made real.
I kiss them all hello and sink into the chair with a sigh. “Jordan said you wanted to see me?”
“We wanted to make sure you actually eat something today,” Gabriel says, his tone gently teasing.
“Oh, well, if that’s all…” I start to get up, but Ford catches my wrist and tugs me back down. I don’t resist.
I steal bites from their plates—food they deliberately saved for me—while they fill me in on their day. Jordan appears with dessert after a while, clearing our plates with practiced efficiency.
“I’m seriously addicted to your chocolate soufflé,” Ford says, reaching for his spoon.
“Save some for the rest of us,” Hayden protests, blocking Ford’s hand.
Gabriel takes the spoon from both of them and hands it to me. “Why don’t you get the first bite while these two fight it out?”
I slice into the soufflé with the spoon, but it hits something solid. There’s resistance where there shouldn’t be.
“What the hell did Maggie do?” I mutter, fishing around inside the dessert with my spoon.
It’s only when I manage to extract the object and get it onto the plate that I realize what it is, even covered in chocolate: my ring.
The engagement ring Ford bought me for our fake engagement, the one he took back because he wanted to give it to me for real, along with rings from Hayden and Gabriel.
My heart starts racing.
I look up at Ford, but he’s not in his seat anymore. He’s on one knee in front of me. “I told you I’d keep my promise,” he says, his voice soft but steady. “You might want to keep digging in that soufflé.”
“I’m going to murder Maggie,” I sob through the tears that are already starting. “She’s not supposed to go behind her boss’s back like this.”
“I think you’ll forgive her,” Gabriel says as he drops to one knee beside Ford.
Jordan appears with a bowl of warm water and gently cleans off the rings as Hayden gets down on one knee as well. “Did all of you plan this?” I ask through my tears.
“Guilty,” Hayden admits with a small smile.
“Honestly, we wanted to propose right away at Christmas,” Ford reveals. “But we didn’t want anything to get in the way of your dream. Not even us. We wanted the restaurant to be established and successful first.”
“And of course it’s an instant success,” Gabriel adds. “Because you built it.”
“You deserve to have the life you always wanted,” Hayden says. “And now, we’re hoping you’ll finish making us the happiest men alive.”
“Yes,” I manage to get out through my tears. “Obviously yes. As if there was ever any doubt.”
Knowing they wanted to do this back at Christmas but held off to make sure nothing distracted me from my dream… it means more than I can possibly express.
As the men stand up to help me get the rings on my finger—they’re designed to interlock and had to be specially commissioned—applause erupts behind me and I spin around.
While my back was to the dining room, the place was apparently quietly emptied and then filled again with Allison, Lydia, Charles and Elaine, and all of our friends and family.
Lydia rushes over to hug me because she can’t help herself. I laugh as I squeeze her back. I can see my staff setting up a long table with food. I can’t believe everyone orchestrated this without me having any idea.
“You threw a whole party?” I ask, still in shock.
“You deserved…” Gabriel starts, then shakes his head. “No. All four of us deserve a celebration.”
I kiss them all again, so happy that I might actually burst. And the best part is, this is just the beginning.
Thanks for reading!