Chapter 11 #4
Of all the things he could have said, that might have been the last thing Dell expected. “You what?”
A rare shyness fell over him. His cheeks reddened, and he began to fidget. “You know I love you, and I love the restaurant
and working here with you, but I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I want.”
Dell hadn’t even realized she’d stopped breathing until she started again. “Why do I feel like I’m about to get dumped?”
A laugh punched out of Jason’s throat. “No, nothing like that. It’s actually . . .” He combed a shy hand over his hair.
“Actually what, Jay?” she asked, growing more nervous and truly curious.
“Ugh, why am I being so awkward?” he muttered to himself, then took a sharp breath. He looked her in the eye. “I applied to business
school because I want to go into business. With you. I want to be your business partner. I was going to ask you the other
day, but you were too busy, and then you died, so I never got the chance.”
A swirl of emotion left Dell unable to do anything but stare at him. Relief, understanding, excitement, guilt. Now that he mentioned it, a few things made sense. His meeting request, him talking about the menu—that email she saw him reading, saying he’d been accepted.
Jason sheepishly pinched his face up on one side. “Do you hate the idea?”
“No,” she said on reflex. “I think it’s a great idea, and congrats on getting into school! I am just sorry I never gave you the
time to talk to me about it—or even considered you’d want something more than front of house.”
His shoulders dropped in relief. “Well, I do. I feel like I’ve been riding your coattails long enough—”
“You do not ride my coattails, Jay,” Dell was quick to defend.
He gave her a flat stare. “Yes, I do. Don’t pretend, D. I want to do something on my own—and I know being your partner isn’t
exactly on my own, but it’s a start. I didn’t even think I’d get into business school when I applied, but I did, and now I want to see it through.
I want to have more of a stake in this place and to help you turn it into something big. If you’ll have me.” He gave her a
soft, sincere smile.
Dell was speechless. She was feeling many things, but shame stilled her tongue more than anything. How had she never seen
Jason in this light before? He was smart, driven, the most reliable person she’d ever known. Yes, she loved him like a brother,
but objectively, he was highly skilled and would make a great partner. And the truth was, she needed a partner. Pergo was her pride and joy, but it was a lot to handle.
“Absolutely,” she said.
“Really?” he asked, his voice pitching up like he couldn’t believe it.
“Yes, really. I could use someone helping steer the ship around here. You already put in enough hours to be a partner. I would love to make it official on paper when you’re ready.”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” Jason said, and stuck out his hand.
Dell slipped hers into it. “I expect you to. And we have a witness.” She tilted her head toward Cole standing nearby.
Jason looked in that direction. “Your guy is here right now?”
“Yes. We are still trying to identify my wrong turn, remember?”
“Right. And you’re thinking it might be that you don’t pay attention to others?”
“Possibly.”
“Hmm. I could see that. I mean, there’s the whole Tommy thing, obviously. And how you often can’t tell your own brothers apart.”
“That one doesn’t count. No one can tell them apart.”
“Dell. Yes, they can. And you might notice if you weren’t so busy running off to the next achievement. I sometimes wonder . . .”
He trailed off with a sigh that stirred a pain in her chest.
“Sometimes wonder what, Jay?”
He gave her a sincere look like he had in the park when he’d been telling her his true feelings about Tommy. “I sometimes
wonder if you’re even aware of your own success. Do you even appreciate it? And when will it ever be enough? I mean, if you
died for real today—please don’t—you’d have so much to show for it, but to what end? Are you even . . . happy?”
The question winded her like he’d punched her in the chest. Leave it to her best friend to put his finger squarely on the
button she’d been missing all day. Her mouth opened to respond, but nothing came out.
Jason watched her with a knowing expression. “Maybe if you’re trying to find a wrong turn, start there.”
Dell didn’t get the chance to respond before someone called to Jason from across the room.
“We need you back out front!” they said.
Dell couldn’t see who’d spoken, but she wasn’t about to be the wrench in her well-oiled restaurant machine. “Go,” she told
Jason. “Keep things running. We’ll talk about the partnership thing later.”
“Heard, Chef,” he said with a grin.
“Thanks for rescuing me from the freezer,” she added. “Oh, and one more thing before you go. Can you please tell Oscar I know
how much he appreciates working here and giving him a shot was one of the best decisions I ever made?”
Jason flicked a curious eyebrow but didn’t ask any questions. “Sure.”
“Thank you. You’re the best, Jay.”
“You better come back to me soon, D,” he said.
“We’re working on it,” she promised him.