Epilogue
Dennis
Eight days later
“Marisol, no,” Dennis groaned, grabbing the plate at the pass-through before his long-term waitress could take it. “That’s for table eight. You’ve got fifteen through twenty. Eight is Peck’s.”
“Sorry!” she replied with a sigh. “You’d think I’d get it together at some point, but…no. I swear, Boss, I don’t do this on purpose.”
“We know,” Peck said as he swung by and grabbed the plate for his table. “That’s why we still love you.” He kissed Marisol on the cheek quickly and darted away to serve his customer.
Dennis nudged the correct plate toward Marisol. “This one. And hey…”
“Hm?” she said as she took the plate.
“We do love you.” He felt a little silly saying it, but he was trying to be more…personable, lately. Trying to imagine what his mate would say in his place, and then saying that rather than his usual grumping.
Marisol made a cooing noise. “Aw, Boss, love you too. Whatever happened to you on that vacation was good for you!”
Yeah, he hadn’t actually told anyone the details of his adventure yet.
His bond mark was low enough in the crook of his neck that his shirts generally covered it, so he hadn’t had to explain that, and somehow the right moment had just never arisen to be like Surprise, I met my mate and he’s moving here after knowing me for a week.
Myrah knew, of course, because she’d called him and demanded an update the day after he got home, and he could never say no to her, but the rest of them were in the dark.
So yeah, Bjorn was eventually going to walk in the pub’s door and give all his friends the shock of their lives.
As if his thinking it had brought it to fruition, the door opened and a large figure strode into the gap. “Dennis!”
Dennis nearly dropped the plate he had just picked up – he was playing backup today, moving between helping the chef, waiting tables, and tending the bar as each needed – at the sound of his mate’s voice booming through the room. “Bjorn?” The word came out in a choked whisper.
“Someone’s calling you,” Peck announced with curiosity in his voice, appearing in front of him and taking the plate from Dennis. “And what table is this for?”
“Uh, four,” Dennis answered distractedly. Bjorn hadn’t spotted him yet, so he was just standing in the doorway, looking around the room searchingly. “I’ll be…back.” And he left Peck standing by the kitchen pass-through, gaping at him.
By the time he’d made it from the kitchen to the front door, he was almost running.
He slammed into Bjorn hard enough to make the larger man stumble back a step.
Bjorn’s arms unhesitatingly came around him, his mate not in the least shocked by his attack.
“Dennis,” Bjorn sighed, just holding him there.
“Uh, hey.” A little embarrassed now by his reaction, Dennis pulled back enough to look Bjorn in the face.
“You made good time. I figured you wouldn’t make it here until tonight.
” Bjorn had texted him that morning to tell him that today was the day, but it was a good six-hour drive between their homes, and with what he knew about Bjorn’s road trip style, he’d figured there’d be plenty of gas-and-snack stops.
Bjorn dropped a kiss on his forehead. “I got excited and drove straight through. Speaking of which…I really need to pee. Point me to your bathroom?”
Dennis laughed and stepped back to gesture toward the back hallway. “Down that way, follow the sign.”
Bjorn hugged him a little tighter for a second, then let go and moved toward the bathroom.
“Uh, Boss?” Seb whispered, sidling up beside Dennis. “Who the hell is that?”
Was he grinning? Dennis thought he was probably grinning stupidly. He looked at his manager. “That’s Bjorn.”
“Oh…kay?” Seb looked puzzled by both his expression and his lack of explanation. “And who’s Bjorn, exactly? It’s just, you don’t hug a lot of people, except occasionally Marisol when she drops something and gets upset. And you’ve never hugged her like that.”
Right, so apparently now was that moment he was going to have to explain.
He looked around the pub, noting that there were only three people sitting and either eating or drinking.
They were in the lull between lunch and dinner, and all three people were regulars.
They could wait a bit for anything they needed, he decided.
“Grab Peck and Marisol,” he told Seb, “and meet me in the kitchen.” He knew he wouldn’t get Ferris away from the grill without a fight, so he might as well bring them all to the chef for the introductions rather than fighting that fight.
Seb looked skeptical, but nodded and turned to gesture to the waitstaff just as Bjorn emerged from the bathroom and crossed back to Dennis. “Hey,” Dennis said softly, taking Bjorn’s hand. “Let’s go in the kitchen.”
Bjorn blinked, but allowed himself to be led through the room to the kitchen. He looked around in evident amazement as Dennis pulled him through the swinging door into Ferris’s domain.
“‘Sup?” Ferris asked, looking up at them while continuing to flip burgers without pause. “Who’s this?”
Dennis couldn’t stop himself from smiling, just a little, at his chef as the others filtered into the room. Marisol slipped a little on a spot of grease on the kitchen floor, but Seb caught her before she could go down. “Whoops,” she chuckled. “This is why I never come in here.”
“You sayin’ my kitchen is dirty?” Ferris challenged good-naturedly.
“I would never!” She belatedly registered Bjorn’s presence. “Hey, who are you?”
Bjorn opened his mouth to answer, but Dennis cut him off. “This is Bjorn. He’s…” Shit, he’d started off strong, but he wasn’t actually sure how to characterize Bjorn. “He’s…mine,” he finally managed.
All four of his employees stared at him in silence. Eventually, Peck spoke up. “Uh…define ‘yours’.”
Bjorn had stayed quiet for an impressive span of time, for him, but his patience finally ran out. “I’m Dennis’s mate!” he exclaimed, sticking out a hand to Peck. “I’m Bjorn, like he said. What’s your name?”
Peck blinked down at the extended hand, then up at Bjorn. Then he looked over at Dennis, who just shrugged, since hey, Bjorn wasn’t lying. Peck dazedly took Bjorn’s hand and shook it. “Uh. I’m Peck. Wait, you’re mates?”
Bjorn nodded eagerly. “We were both on vacation and ran into each other and, well, one thing led to another, and…”
There was a moment of silence, and then Marisol squealed excitedly. “Oh my god, Dennis, you mated? And you didn’t tell us?? I’m so happy to meet you, Bjorn!” She threw herself at Bjorn for a hug, but slipped again and ended up falling completely into his arms.
Bjorn gently set her back on her feet and then gave her a squeeze. “You must be Marisol, huh?” Ok, so Dennis might have told him a few stories about his absentminded waitress.
“I am!” she exclaimed. “And you said your name is Bjorn? Ok, tell us everything, because this guy -” She pointed at Dennis. “- hasn’t said a word about any of this. And he’s been back for a week!”
Bjorn grinned. “Well, we accidentally rented the same cabin,” he began, and Dennis smiled and settled in for yet another re-telling of his encounter with a naked, fish-holding Bjorn.
That fish was the best thing that had ever happened to him.