Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
JULIET
So here’s the thing that no one tells you when all your dreams come true: It’s fucking scary as shit.
Sure, I was a nervous wreck the first day that I opened this restaurant, not quite a year ago.
I had high hopes, but no real expectations because I only had myself to disappoint.
No family. No friends. Even the one employee I’d managed to snatch up—Christy—was a stranger to me, and if I failed, it wasn’t a big deal.
But everything is so different now.
So different.
In every single way.
I have a lot of damn expectations now because I know what I can do.
I’ve already made this place something that my customers love and come back to.
I’ve made it a safe place for people like me with food sensitivities.
But bigger than that—scarier than that—is that I have a whole tribe that I’m terrified to disappoint. My girl gang. My new besties.
My husband.
I have a husband, the one man I’ve loved for so long. I don’t remember what it felt like to not love him, even when I was married to someone else and tried so hard to pretend that I’d moved on. It’s always been Brooks. And I absolutely do not want to disappoint him.
I just pulled the last of the daily fresh bread out of the oven to cool. I have morning pastries and breakfast sandwiches ready to go in the display cases, and once my girls get here, they’ll start prepping for lunch and dinner.
Christy is the first one to walk through the door with a spring in her step, wearing her new Sage & Citrus shirt and a pair of black shorts. Even though it’s fall, we get warm in here, with the ovens and cooktop.
“Hey, pretty boss lady,” she says with a grin. “Happy first official day back.”
“You didn’t have to come in for another thirty minutes.”
“I know.” She shrugs a shoulder and steps back into the office to stow her handbag away before joining me again, tying a new black apron around her waist. “But I knew you’d be here, probably nervous as hell, and I wanted to come in and mellow you out.”
I let out a deep breath and smile ruefully. “You’re right. I’m freaking out.”
“Of course, I’m right. I know you, girl. You have zero things to worry about,” she assures me. “It’s gorgeous in here. I loved it before, but you’ve managed to make it even more incredible. The new menu is going to slay. In fact, can I try one of those huckleberry muffins?”
“Help yourself. I made double what I normally do, with the optimism that I might be extra busy today and sell out.”
Christy takes a bite and then leans dramatically on the counter, making me grin.
“Holy fucking shit. This is gluten-free?”
“And dairy-free,” I confirm with a knowing smile. Those muffins are the bomb. “But leave a few for the customers, okay?”
“I make no promises.” Her eyes move to the front of the restaurant and widen a little, making me turn to look as well, and can’t believe my eyes.
“Is that a line?” I ask her, staring at the group standing in front of the still locked door, all chatting and laughing, some looking at their phones. “Holy shit, Christy.”
“I think that optimism has paid off,” Christy says, nudging my shoulder. “Tandy and Hazel will be here in ten minutes. We can handle it until then if you want to go ahead and open.”
“Are you sure? Do I have enough food? Why am I suddenly so nervous?”
“We’ll sell food until it’s gone, and then they’ll have to wait for lunch. No need to be nervous. You’re badass. Let’s do this, Jules.”
With a smile on my face to cover the nerves, I walk to the door and unlock it, swing it open, and announce, “Come on in, everyone!”
With my back propping the door open, I greet the twenty or so people as they walk in. When I glance up, I see Brooks waiting in line, and it makes my heart swell so big, I’m surprised my chest can still hold it.
“Well, hey there, handsome.” I grin as he cups my face in his big hands and lowers his mouth to mine. “You came.”
“Where else would I be, Wildfire? I’m so fucking proud of you.” He kisses me deeply before walking into the restaurant.
I’m so fucking proud of you.
God, I don’t remember the last time I heard those words from anyone. I didn’t know until now how badly I needed them.
I follow him inside, hurrying behind the counter to start filling orders. Tandy and Hazel arrive, and we are off and running.
Brooks orders a breakfast sandwich and a half dozen muffins to take back to the garage to share, and when I pass all the food to him without charging him, he scowls at me like I’m nuts.
“What’s wrong?”
“I need to pay for my food, Juliet.”
Christy smirks as she whizzes by, filling an order.
“No, babe. You can have the food. You’re married to the owner.”
“Fuck that. My woman is open for business, and I’m paying for it.”
I ring him up, and then my jaw drops when he adds a hundred-dollar tip to his order.
“Brooks—”
“Happy reopening, Wildfire. I’ll be back for lunch.” With a wink, he steps out of line, and I blink back tears as the next person steps up to place their order.
It’s like this all morning—a constant stream of customers. Some of them are tourists, but the vast majority are friends, people I care about and who care about me, all showing up for me.
I’m proud of myself for keeping my emotions in check. I’m just so happy. My cheeks hurt from all the smiles, but I don’t mind at all.
“I always love the smell of it in here in the morning.” Ava takes a deep breath. “Coffee and sugar with a little bacon. Gotta love it. I’ll have all those things, by the way. So proud of you, friend.”
“It’s been a very good morning, and I didn’t even do any advertising.”
“You don’t need to,” she says with a wink. “You’re a staple in this town. I’ll be by later to check on you. Harper’s coming after work for her salad. She’ll probably take two, knowing her.”
“I have plenty for her, no worries there.”
When I glance in the case and I see that all the breakfast options are gone, I’m stunned.
“I’m getting all the lunch pastries out since it’s almost eleven,” Hazel says as she slides a tray into the case. “And do you mind if we call Erica and the others in, too? It feels like an all-hands-on-deck kind of day.”
“Erica and James come in at one for the dinner shift, but go ahead and call Laurie in, if she’s available.”
With a nod, Hazel bustles off. We have a slight lull in the crowd, since we’re in that between time, and we all hustle to get lunch ready to go.
Connor strides in, looking every inch the billionaire in his expensive suit, and he smiles as he looks around my space.
“Well done, Juliet.”
Holy shit, I won’t make it through this day without crying.
“You have every element that goes into a successful restaurant here. It couldn’t be better.”
“Okay, stop feeding my ego, Mr. Gallagher.”
Connor laughs and shakes his head. “That isn’t something I do. You’ve done well. Now, I need lunch for my wife and me. She wanted me to tell you that she’ll be in here before the end of the day, but she just got a shipment in and is buried under a pile of Lucy Score books.”
I laugh and start ringing him up as he tells me what he wants. But when it’s time to show him his total, I zero it out and shake my head when he opens his wallet.
“It’s on the house today, Connor.”
“Maybe you do need a few lessons in making money. Giving away your product for free isn’t the way to do that.”
I smirk and cross my arms over my chest. “Oh, I know that. And I’ll be happy to charge you the next time you come in. But you were a huge help to me, and I’m grateful. So lunch is on me.”
He winks at me behind those hot black-rimmed glasses, then moves to stand to the side. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Taking a deep breath, I glance over and am pleased to see that the girls have loaded the cold case with lunch pastries and sandwiches. And then my eyebrows climb when I shift my gaze and see my husband walk through the door for the second time today, carrying a bouquet of red and pink roses.
“What are you doing?” I grin and accept the flowers when he offers them to me. They’re already in a vase, and they smell like heaven.
“I came to get lunch, but I also wanted to bring you these. Is it sanitary to have them in here?”
He looks so proud of himself, I can’t resist leaning over to kiss him.
“I’ll set them right here by the cash register.” I lean in to smell one of the velvety blooms and then turn back to my man. “What would you like to order?”
He ends up buying four sandwiches for his crew, and all I can do is grin because my man not only supports this career of mine, but he is feeding into it in ways that I never knew I needed.
Brooks is the best thing to ever happen to me.
“Two hours left,” Christy whispers in my ear. She looks pretty disheveled compared to how she did this morning, and we both have food all over our aprons and shirts, but we’re still moving.
Hazel and Tandy refused to leave when their shifts were over, which was awesome because lunch was busier than breakfast, and we had to prep for dinner.
Laurie and James are killing it, running out orders to tables, clearing and wiping them when people leave, and making sure that everything is running smoothly.
This place has never, not even in the very beginning, been this busy.
It’s amazing and horrifying, all at once.
I have to order more food first thing in the morning. I won’t make it through the week if this continues. And I’ll have to hire more staff.
None of these things are bad problems to have.
Just as I plate a slice of lasagna and add a side of steamed broccoli, ready to take it to a table, I hear voices that I recognize.
“I came for my mac and cheese, Jules!”
“I’ve got this,” Tandy says, taking the lasagna order from my hands. “Go see your family.”
With a frown, I turn, and then I can’t move.
I can’t breathe.
Because it’s not just sweet Birdie with Dani and Bridger.
It’s the entire Blackwell family.