Chapter 14
Dixie
I bend down and pull the chicken pot pies out of the oven. I carefully place the tray on the trivet and grin. They look perfect. The crusts on top are flaky and buttery. It looks delicious.
“Jeez, Little Fox. Those look amazing.” Storm comes up behind me and wraps an arm around my waist.
I know we’ve both agreed nothing can happen between us, but he seems to get more and more touchy each time I'm around.
“Thanks.”
I carefully move one pie onto a plate for Storm and one for me. The other two pies can cool down on the tray.
“I have a surprise for you after dinner.” Storm eyes me as he digs his fork into his food.
“I'm not really in a surprise mood. I need to figure out where I'm moving.”
“You’re not. You promised to give me a few days.”
“And I did. Today was the last day and you didn’t do anything.” I roll my eyes.
“The day isn't over, Little Fox. I have until midnight.”
He reaches for my hand and takes it in his. He looks so sure of himself and it’s kind of grating on my nerves. He can't fix this. For once in his life, he’ll have to accept he doesn’t have a say in this.
“Man, this is delicious. You have an amazing talent. You need to share it with the world.”
“I'm trying!” I throw my hands up in the air and let them fall to my lap.
“Let’s finish eating, then I want you to go for a ride with me.” Storm moves so his hand is on my thigh and keeps it there throughout the rest of the meal.
As soon as we’re finished, he grabs one of the pot pies and places it on a plate before wrapping it in tin foil.
I frown at him, but he doesn’t say a word. He takes my hand and leads me out to his SUV. After I'm buckled in, he pulls out of the clubhouse property and drives a few blocks away. He pulls up in front of a restaurant and parks.
“Why would you bring me to a restaurant after we already ate?”
“Just follow me.”
He climbs out of the car and comes around to my side to open the door. I eye him, but follow him into the building.
“Storm! It’s great to see you again.” An old man struggles to stand from the table he’s sitting at.
“It’s good to see you too, Artie.” Storm shakes his hand and sets the plate of chicken pot pie on the table. “Would you like to sit, Dixie?” He pulls out a chair and waits for me to sit.
“Sure.” I slowly lower myself into the old wooden chair and smile at Artie.
“I’ve heard a lot about you, Dixie.”
“I hope it was all good. I have to say, I'm completely clueless why I'm here.” I glare at Storm.
“You didn’t tell her?” Artie turns towards Storm with amusement in his eyes.
“Nah, I wanted to surprise Little Fox. Do you want to tell her or do you want me to?”
“I’d love to.” Artie leans forward and takes my hands in his. He squeezes them gently and stares into my eyes.
The smile lines at the corner of his eyes and around his mouth show a life of happiness. There’s so much love in his expression, making me want to sit and talk to him all night. I want to know what type of life he’s led.
“This restaurant was my Jenni’s dream. I helped her bring it to life, but it’s gone downhill since we opened sixty-three years ago.
Storm said you want to open your own restaurant.
I'm not quite ready to give this place up, but I’d like to see her dream of renovating and coming up with a new menu come to fruition before I die.
Would you be interested in helping me make that happen? ”
“You want me to help?” I squeak out as I glance from Artie to Storm and back again.
“Jenni wanted to rename the place The Little Fox Café.” Storm grins.
“Really?”
“Yes. I was thinking we could work on a menu and you could redesign the place however you want to. Jenni always dreamed of something with a country feel. What do you think?”
“I think you just made me the happiest woman in the world!” I squeal and move to give Artie a hug.
“I'm glad I could help.” He chuckles, hugging me back tightly. “You remind me so much of my Jenni when we got married. She was so full of life and so excited to open this place. I hope I cared as much as your boyfriend does and helped her fulfill her dreams.”
“Oh, we’re not-” I begin, but Storm cuts me off as he grips my thigh again.
“I think you did a good job, Artie. And the fact you’re still trying to make her happy proves what an amazing husband you were. She was a lucky woman.” The softness in Storm’s tone surprises me. He’s normally so rough around the edges.
“Thank you.” Artie dabs at his eyes and swallows hard. “I can work on getting the restaurant name changed and get your name on the business if you want to start figuring out how you want to change the menu and restaurant.”
“That sounds amazing. Thank you, Artie.”
He tugs a key out of his pocket and slides it across the table to me. He seems so excited for this which surprises me. I thought he’d be at least a little sad to see everything change.
“This is so you can get in whenever you want. Obviously, we aren’t busy, so we can shut the place down whenever you’re ready. But can I dig into this yet? It smells amazing.” He motions to the plate Storm brought.
“Absolutely. Dixie made this for me for dinner. It was delectable.”
Artie takes the tin foil off and grabs a fork from the table. He digs in immediately and I hold my breath, waiting to see how he’s going to respond.
“Dixie, this is delicious! It tastes almost exactly like my Jenni used to make. I'm so happy Storm stopped by and presented the idea to me.”
I glance over at Storm and he stares right back at me. He’s not embarrassed by what he did, but he’s also not proud. He’s just Storm.
“I'm going to get out of here and take this delicious dinner with me. Take your time looking around and deciding what you want to do with the place. Just lock up when you leave. There’s a business card with my phone number on it. You can call me if you have any questions or want me to know anything specific. Thank you both for helping me make Jenni’s dream come true for a second time. ”
“It’s our pleasure, Artie. Thank you.”
We watch as Artie hobbles towards the back of the restaurant. As soon as I hear the back door open and shut, I leap out of my chair and walk around the dining room before moving into the kitchen.
I take note of the things that need to be upgraded or repaired, the changes I want to make, and the various ideas I have.
“What are you thinking, Little Fox?”
I spin around to face him. His attention is solely focused on me and nothing else. He stuffs his hands in his back pockets and stares down at his feet for a moment before he raises his gaze again.
“You did all of this for me?”
“You know you can't leave, but that doesn’t mean I can't help you accomplish your dreams. Your dad is on board with this too. He wants you to be happy.”
“Why are you doing this for me? The real reason, Storm.” I pin him with a stare.
“Because I can't live without you in my life and I couldn’t risk you leaving town.”
He sinks his teeth into his bottom lip and waits for me to respond. He fidgets as I take longer and longer to react.
But there’s only one way to react to what he just said.
I leap into the air and wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist. Storm places an arm under my butt to keep me from falling and the other snakes around my waist.
“What are you doing, Little Fox?” He murmurs.
“What I’ve always wanted to do,” I whisper as I crash my lips into his.
Storm stands frozen for a moment before his arms tighten around me.
He tilts his head to the side and deepens our kiss.
He moves and places me on the cool metal counter.
I gasp as the chill seeps through my clothes and he takes the opportunity to deepen our kiss even more.
He tastes like peppermint and I'm never going to forget it. I’ve been dreaming of kissing him for as long as I can remember.
“What are we doing, Dixie,” he groans as he pulls back and rests his forehead against mine.
“I thought it was obvious, but maybe I'm doing it wrong if you’re unsure,” I sass him.
“That’s not what I meant and you know it… I'm not what you want.”
“You’re all I’ve ever wanted, Storm.”
“But I can't put you first. The club will always come first.”
“You did put me first. You went to my dad. You made sure to get my feelings heard and then you did something about it.”
“We can't date. He’d have a field day. You know the rules.”
“We can do whatever we want, he just can't find out.” I grin as I close the distance between us and kiss him again.