Page 56 of The Promise Of You

“My son here,” Dad says, pointing his fork at me, “maintains that his community dinners, where he actually gives out food and closes his establishment to paying patrons, are good for his pub. Now, you’re a restaurant person, what are your thoughts?”

Her eyes lock with mine for a beat, and her breath catches. She turns her gaze back to Dad and answers, “Um… I think… I believe the restaurant business is about generosity and community building. It’s hard and unforgiving and stressful. The margins are ridiculously low. You definitely don’t go into that business to get rich, right? It seems to me that it shares a lot of similarities with farming? Which I know nothing about, so I could be wrong. But basically, we’re all doing this to provide for the community at large, not only food, but the communion that food makes possible among humans. Bringing us together. Like we’re doing right now, around this table. Without that, what do we have? Nothing.” She stops and finally takes a small breath.

The room is quiet, everyone looking at her. She could be intimidated, especially after what Mom said, and given that she’s contradicting my parents, but she soldiers on. “So yeah, having witnessed only one of Justin’s community dinners, I would say they are in line with his mission statement. If he has one, that is. I mean being the village pub, the mission statement would have to include something about community building? No?”

Dad grunts. “Makes me see it in another perspective, I suppose.” He lifts his beer to her, a toast of sorts, then slices his gaze to me, a twinkle in his eye.

“You have three months of reserves, Justin,” Emma states.

It’s three days after the barbecue at the farm. I’m in my office with my accountant.

A month ago, we’d decided to kill the lease and rent the restaurant out to another person.

Someone who’d know what they’re doing.

That was before Chloe.

Before Clover.

The woman who gave me love and connection. Who gave herself entirely to me. Who trusted me to carry her through her night, through her fear. Through the night her life had become. In doing that, she gave me purpose. Validation.

She made me feel like a man again. Someone who could care for a woman, and that care made me better.

Made me feel alive again.

At the same time, she’s the woman whose family took a life and threw money at it to make it better.

“Justin?” Emma repeats.

Was she saying something? “Yeah?”

“We can discuss the restaurant situation. She’s not my client yet. This will be between you and me. I gathered from what your mom said…”

Her voice fades out again as I think back to Clover’s reaction when Mom asked her her timeline for closing the restaurant. She clearly had no idea that was my plan.

Murphy should have pulled the plug earlier, because he was clearly not managing his restaurant anymore. He missed the mark of selling the business at a top price, when it was performing really well. That would have been several years ago, but he’s always been stubborn and entitled.

Unable to see the tide was changing.

I’ve been wanting that space from the beginning, to add a different offering to the town. Something more in line with its vibe. Given our circumstances, my offers went through a realtor, but Murphy refused each one.

Then he started defaulting on his payments.

Then he died, and yeah, I thought that’d mean I’d finally have the space revert to me once the family realized their restaurant wasn’t viable.

But then Chloe came in, and everything changed. Not just for me, but also for the restaurant.

Take yesterday, July 4th. Chloe saw an opportunity for exposure and quick cash, and she opened the restaurant. With no guarantee that her staff could make it. She was ready to shoulder the work all by herself.

When I saw her out there in the early morning wiping the tables outside, I asked what was going on. Ryan and Trevor said she’d asked if they were available to help, but they had to decline because I’d asked them to come in that day. I heard Corine had been looking for a babysitter.

I sent Ryan and Trevor over to help her, asked Chris and Alex if they could babysit Theo for Corine (I figured Alex could use the training and Chris was a veteran in baby stuff) and fielded Haley’s devilish smile. “What?” I said. “Just being a good neighbor. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

Soon enough, we were slammed to the point where we communicated with single words and only to get orders out, so Haley’s attempts to tease or downright torture me were put to an end.

But I kept an eye on Chloe’s portion of the sidewalk, and I can’t say that I wasn’t stoked to see it full, that my heartbeat didn’t pick up when I saw Chloe delivering apps and cocktails, that I wasn’t proud to hear people complimenting her.

And yet I can’t stop wondering, how did Chloe get roped into managing the restaurant without knowing the whole history between me, Murphy, and Sullivan—her own father?

---