Page 51 of Happy Endings

“That will give us time to work out any kinks in the buffet service.”

“Exactly.” She added something to her list. “Luis and I will come up with a base menu that’s cost-effective and can be servedevery day. You have the hardest job. Coming up with the daily special.”

Andre nodded. The new lunch service was a solid plan but adding new dishes that he hadn’t perfected yet was tricky. With a buffet, he could serve the new recipes without too much risk. If the customers didn’t like it, they could eat one of their tried-and-true dishes.

“Can you give me a list of dishes and short descriptions in a couple of days? Luis and I will make sure there’s a good variety for each lunch menu.” She stood up and kissed him on the cheek. “Good job, big bro. This is your best idea yet.”

“I hope so.” He preferred to keep their expectations realistic, but his sister’s excitement was rubbing off on him. This would hopefully give Keisha one more semester in school. They would figure things out one semester at a time.

With this problem solved, Mr. Jackson’s talk with the developers didn’t feel as daunting. After months of feeling lost and hopeless, Andre felt like they could win the battle against gentrification.

It didn’t seem like a coincidence that it took Trixie coming back into his life for him to feel hopeful again.

Chapter 20

When Andre’s sister immersed herself in a project, she jumped into the deep end. Over the weekend, Keisha hounded him with questions about fonts, graphic colors, and the actual text for their website and social media. Then there was her constant check-ins with menu questions and what recipes he wanted to add.

He was glad the restaurant was now closed on Tuesdays and Keisha was in class. She couldn’t bounce into his office every ten minutes with another question. Andre officially had decision fatigue.

He was also procrastinating. All the recipes he’d jotted down in his leather notebook were terrible. The twists he’d put in them were too weird. Who would come to Mama Hazel’s to eat collard greens cooked with kimchi?

He flipped to a blank page and tapped his pen. What if he took hush puppies and stuffed them with—no, that was terrible. The surprise texture of the almost-scorched rice made the etouffee fun to eat. Andre would have never used that crispy rice at the bottom of the pot until Trixie’s mom served it to him. Before then, he considered it inedible and tossed it in the trash.

Trixie. Andre needed to see her again—before the next pop-up,when they weren’t surrounded by people and had a million things to do. A place more conducive to talking. Not that he minded their explosive reunion after the last pop-up. She felt so fucking good in his arms. Her body wrapped around every inch of his—

Sex was no way to win her back. He pushed away from his desk. One of the chair wheels caught on a desk leg, dragging the desk a couple inches before escaping. The motion jarred his now cold cup of coffee. The dark brown liquid splashed onto a pile of past-due bills.

“Crap!”

He ran out of his office and into the supply room to grab napkins.

“Get your head straight, Andre,” he muttered as he blotted the stained papers.

Xavier was right. He had to tell her what happened. Maybe their time apart would make it easier for her to forgive him. Or at the very least to understand what he’d been going through before he broke things off.

After cleaning the mess he’d made of his desk, he pulled out his phone. Should he call or text her? It’d been so long since he dated anyone, he had no idea what the rules were anymore. What would Xavier do? Good grief, did he just ask himself what his player best friend would do? Xay would text. Definitely text.

Andre’s fingers tapped quickly.

Trixie, need your help with cocktail pairings for the next pop-up. Can you drop off samples of Blow Me flavors?

He hit send, then sent another:

Want to help taste test?

And maybe talk about why he’d left New Orleans so suddenly after a couple of cocktails? That was what he wanted to add but didn’t. He tapped send before he lost his nerve.

Trixie’s reply popped up almost immediately.

Great idea! I’ll bring some stuff over—be there in 30 minutes.

HIS PHONE BUZZEDin his back pocket as he ran around the dining room turning on lights around the bar. Now that they were closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in addition to Mondays, Andre hadn’t even walked into the front of the house yet. He’d told Trixie to just ring the bell at the back door, but a quick glance at his latest text confirmed she was waiting for him to let her in.

On my way,he texted as he raced to the back.

Sunlight flooded the dark hallway when he opened the door to let her in. He couldn’t decide if it was the sudden sunshine that blinded him or Trixie’s wide grin. A sweet citrus scent swirled around him. Andre inhaled as a huge weight lifted from his shoulders. How could one woman have so much power over his moods?

“Are you going to stand there looking like Lestat seeing the sun after a hundred years or help me with my bag?”

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