T H I R T E E N Supporting Her
T H I R T E E N: Supporting Her
Devereaux’s POV
The last month passed with lots of work, stolen glances, and spending as much time as I could with Sarah and the boys.
Pops went home after a week, but Ma stayed longer.
Pops would come out and help on weekends, and between the restaurants, helping make sure Sarah’s dream took off, and still showing up to let her know that I was there, I saw her, and I wanted her. I was exhausted.
But I’d never been more satisfied and satiated in my life.
When Ma and Pops first got here, Sarah had spilled the tea about her pettiness and all the shit she pulled on her soon-to-be ex-husband to Ma.
The woman was on the floor rolling, she was laughing so hard.
She also promised to pull out a few ‘final quarter plays’ when the time was right, whatever those were.
Sarah seemed happy about the comment, so that was all that mattered to me.
I loved seeing her this happy and relaxed.
Sarah, Ma, Pops, and I sat down and discussed her dream of being ‘The Board Babe’ and what all she’d need to do to accomplish that.
I set up a meeting with the health inspector for her and helped her find a small space right next to one of my restaurants.
It wasn’t anything huge, used to be a café, but it had a kitchen, the old café furniture, and enough space that she could do whatever she wanted with it.
The kitchen was large, and she would be able to keep the area clean, only used when she had to make one of the boards.
That way, she could keep her health inspections at an A+ rating.
If she wanted, eventually, later on down the road, she could expand operations.
She’d be able to hire a few employees once things took off.
She could start taking walk-in orders, do classes, small holiday parties, whatever she wanted, however she wanted to expand.
Ma had kept her promise, telling all of her friends and acquaintances about The Board Babe, promising to have her cater the next party they threw at the house, which was in two weeks.
My siblings told their friends, and she had orders start steadily rolling in.
The whole process of getting this dream of hers started slowly, but by week three, she was making two charcuterie, table-length boards, for Ma’s annual summer cookout.
She also had an anniversary party and a surprise sixtieth birthday party booked for the following weekend.
I helped her set up the new workspace. We deep-cleaned the whole place, top to bottom, and tossed the furniture that didn’t fit or was too damaged to be kept.
We made a list of everything she would need, all the things she wanted, and the things she hoped to accomplish over the next six months.
Then, I took her to the wholesale market that all chefs go to so she could buy fancy boards and all the containers she could want.
Big, small, decorative, for transport, throw-away ones.
We spent the whole first weekend doing that after she decided what colors and theme she wanted to go with.
She picked something more natural, natural wood, shades of green with pops of color here and there, always with wildflowers.
Ma opted to come with us, as did the boys, so they could help.
Carter said he wanted to help build Mommy's new life with love.
The shopping trip was more fun than I had expected.
We’d gone on outings with the boys, but never to something like that.
I thought we’d have our hands full, but they were much more well-behaved than anticipated.
The boys helped Sarah pick out things that would be fun for kids’ parties.
Ma helped her with the decorative containers and serving utensils, most of which were unique and eclectic, while I picked out the practical kitchen needs.
I also talked to Pops to see if we could go to the hardware store one weekend to get supplies to make both a six-foot and an eight-foot charcuterie board.
They were sheets of plywood that I finished, adding an edge all the way around, along with six handles that folded out for transport.
These were going to be quite large and heavy, and therefore would cost more to rent or use because she would need to hire help in transporting them.
As soon as the orders started coming in, I surprised her with a whole setup for her to make videos for social media to promote her business.
We set it up and did an ‘intro video’ for any followers she was bound to gain.
We also videoed the before and after transformation of the shop, the giant boards coming in for larger parties, and our little shopping trip.
She told me I was spoiling her, doing too much, and I just smiled.
“You, beautiful Sarah, are mine to spoil, though.” I saw her flinch, and I smirked, happy that I made her react to me. I know I was spoiling her, but I didn’t care. She was my Queen. My woman. My life.
I helped her set everything up. I helped her make her first couple of videos from the footage we’d taken over the last few weeks, and we made her social media pages for ‘The Board Babe’.
We got her a second phone number for work purposes so she could advertise a number for people to call with questions and bookings.
Jenson sent us to a colleague to help her get the business aspects and LLC set up.
Pops found a guy to do the website, and I helped her with pricing for each different charcuterie option.
I may or may not have also told all of the employees at both restaurants about the business when they asked how I was doing.
A few of them asked if she was looking for extra help, and I promised to pass along their information for any of the bigger gigs she booked.
I knew she’d need help with the table length boards, getting them in and out of Pops' house, but I also knew Pops and I would be there to help.
When she asked, I told her she would probably need to hire at least three people to look over things, replenish appetizers when they were getting low, and help get the boards in and out of her truck.
I wanted her to be able to socialize and market a little while she was there.
And I wanted to show her off to the neighborhood.
Walking into Silver Spoon, we did our morning meeting before we got ready for opening at eleven.
Things had been going smoothly at both restaurants, with minimal drama, and they pretty much ran themselves, but today was important.
I had two VIPs coming in this week, at Silver Spoon and Farm to Table, though I needed to be there to cook for those VIPs.
They would only eat there if I were the one doing the cooking.
Both of my Head chefs and Sous chefs at each restaurant were very competent, but I still needed to pop in at least once a day.
Today was one of the long days. The mayor, his wife, his in-laws, brother, and parents were all coming in and staying in the private dining area.
I had to be on top of my game tonight. This was a favor, one that the mayor had asked me to do him personally.
When it was this big, I couldn’t say no.
Mainly because I wanted to use the old mansion he owned as a BNB.
It was the place that Sarah had said for years she wanted to get married.
Even if that had changed, the fact that the mayor would owe me a favor was worth it.
This also gave me the opportunity to see if they’re hosting any parties anytime soon.
I can bring Sarah in as The Board Babe with appetizers if they are.
Looking through my supplies, I saw that I had everything to make their favorites, and took the ingredients, moving them to the special basket, meaning no one touched those because a VIP was coming in and was most likely going to order that. I was ready for whatever walked through the doors tonight.
I was ready to put my queen and me on top in this town.