Page 20 of A Better Place

CHAPTER FOUR

James

Last Friday, I learned a lot about myself. One of those things is that the feelings I was quickly building toward a certain drop-dead gorgeous teacher were returned. Or, at least, physically anyway. By the end of the football game, I was positive we were on the same page, and then she all but ran away from me. This time not tripping over herself.

I woke up the next morning not sure what to do with that, but I did know that I wasn’t willing to let it go. I could tell something spooked her, though. If I needed to be patient and wait her out, I would do just that.

I still haven’t left Tess and Barrett’s house. They haven’t said anything, and I wonder if they’re wondering if I’m just going to try to move in. And while a move is definitely going to happen, I have no intentions of moving into my sister and brother-in-law’s house. Although it is pretty entertaining here.

I’m standing outside of the building that has the potential to change my entire future. For the better, I hope. I scroll through my email one last time to make sure I have all the information I need while I wait for the owner to arrive.

“You actually showed up.” A gruff voice booms from behind me.

I look up from my phone and turn around to see Tony Stacco’s husky frame make his way toward me.

“You didn’t think I would?” I question.

“Well, let’s just say people aren’t necessarily busting down my doors to get in.”

“Ah, but they’re not me. They don’t see the potential I do.”

“Potential, huh?”

I nod my head as he turns the key in the door and motions for me to follow him into the shabby old diner. It smells of stale smoke and cooking oil. The black-and-white laminate floor is chipped and cracking, the paint on the walls dingy. The bright red leather bar stools have holes and splinters in the seats, the tables are wobbly, and the light fixtures are seriously outdated. The kitchen looks as though it hasn’t changed since the fifties. To most people, sure, they would see something that’d be better to be burned to the ground.

To me? I see so much more. I see freedom. I see my future.

A few months ago, I started feeling the itch once again to own my own restaurant. I’ve been to Tony’s Diner too many times to count and always knew that it had possibilities of being something greater than he let it become. When I stayed here to help with the kids while Tess and Barrett were gone, I heard that he was planning to shut down the restaurant and had the building for sale. I showed up in the diner one day with a proposition. He took one look at me and asked if I’d lost my damn mind. When I assured him I hadn’t, and he got done laughing, loudly, he took me back to the office to sit down and talk over what I was offering.

“What you want with this place, anyhow? You gonna tear it down? Build a juice bar to go with that damn coffee shop next door?” he asks without turning around while he moves through the space toward the back room.

“Nah, I have far bigger plans for it than that.”

“Can’t really see what you have in mind. Seems like a money pit to me.”

I shrug my shoulders as I sit down in the old plastic chair across from him in his makeshift office.

“You need to see what I can, then.”

He shakes his head. “Don’t need to see it, boy. I plan on getting out of here. I’m seventy years old. Spent enough time in these damn Michigan winters for a lifetime. Moving my old chubby ass down to Florida.”

“Yeah?”

“As soon as I cash the check I hope you’re carrying with you.”

I bite back a snort at his straight forwardness. “I have it with me. Don’t worry, Tony. You sure you want to do this?”

“Oh, I’m sure. This place ain’t nothin’ to me anymore. Wife passed away a few years ago. My kids don’t want a thing to do with it. I’m ready to get outta here.”

“Alright then. Let’s do this.”

And fifteen minutes later, I was the proud owner of Tony’s Diner, soon to be Balance, an eclectic mix of the southern cooking I grew up with, the Italian dishes I’ve come to adore, and all-American fare that my family loves so much.

Step one of my future is fully in place.

Step two? That could be a bigger challenge.

“I have news,” Iannounce to my sister, Tess, and her family as we’re all creating our own pizzas. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and with Tess’s family and Lily and I all in one room now, it’s the perfect time to let them know what changes are coming. I’ll see my parents tomorrow as well and let them know, but I’ll have to call my brother Dean and his wife Meredith. He won’t be impressed if he finds out about my big move from someone else.

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