Page 67 of February

“Were the grits just as good after a few minutes?”

“Yes, they were amazing. You should go back and order them again so you can see for yourself.”

“Maybe I will,” Monica replied.

“Well, okay. That’s good, then. I should leave you to that email.”

“I didn’t have to call my ex, Bridgette.”

Bridgette looked at her, confused.

“I felt awkward, being there. When you said her name, I remembered that she was your ex, and I had no idea if it was going to get awkward, so I fled.”

Bridgette chuckled and asked, “So, you didn’t callyourex back?”

“God, no,” Monica said. “She’s just angry. She’ll calm down. Aaron is going to be here tomorrow. He’s eighteen, so she can’t really stop him. He still lives with her, but even if she got so angry with him as to kick him out, he knows he always has a room at my place.”

“I say let her stew, then,” Bridgette offered.

“I think that’s good advice.”

Bridgette then heard the main door to the office open. It was probably just Dan or one of the other employees, but it had her thinking about another thing she wanted to talk to Monica about.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Are you going to recommend buying this place to your dad? If so, is this purchase going to take care of them? Will they be okay?”

Monica softened and said, “You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about it, and I don’t know yet. That’s my honest answer.”

“Oh,” Bridgette let out when she didn’t get the reassurance she’d been hoping for. “That’s okay.”

“After looking over everything, Idohave some questions for you, though, if you’re finally ready to answer them.”

“What about all those emails you need to reply to?”

“They’ll keep,” Monica said with a smile.

“Okay. Ask away, then.”

“Southern Hospitality only sells local. Why is that?”

“You didn’t ask my parents that question?”

“I did, but I wanted your answer, too.”

“Uh… Well, my parents are a little old-school, and they like the idea of having their cards sold locally to make them special. You have to come down here to buy them.”

“But there are a ton of local-only items in New Orleans that distribute. I was reading an article about Hubig’s Pies the other day. You used to only be able to get them down here, but they ship now.”

“They were gone for a while. Fire in their facility put them out of business, but they rebounded, and yeah, they ship.”

“And there are these chips and an ice cream, I think.”

“Are you hungry? You’re only mentioning food items.”

“Youatemybreakfast.”

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