I sit on my prep counter, my long hair down for a change, wearing old, holey jeans, boots, and a light blue t-shirt. The news article is next to me so everyone can read it. My impatience becomes apparent when I drum my fingers on the steel counter while I wait for the guys to arrive. After talking to them earlier, my elation from the article got me up and moving, and I couldn’t sit still long enough for Trey to come get me.

He saunters in first, followed by Forest, Adam, and Nessa. I grin at them, but when I get a good look at Nessa, my smile slips. She looks like hell. Well, green is more like it, but still.

“Are you sure you want to be here?” I ask her.

She shrugs. “Not really. But after the shit that Adam,” she cuddles into his side, “keeps telling me about, I’m done not being here.”

“Okay, but if you need to hang in the office, go for it. I think we’d rather have you healthy. Hell, I’ll even get someone to take you home if you need it.” I jump off the counter and hug both of them.

“I can work with that.” She hugs me tighter.

I can’t imagine what they’re going through as they try for a baby. It’s been a rough road, and it doesn't look like it's getting any easier.

“Okay. Now that we have that settled....” I step back and rub my hands together. They all start laughing at me, so I can tell my expression is working. “I want to start the new menu this week.”

They all stare at me, bewildered.

“Wait... what? You want to start it without Wes here? Are you sure?” Trey sputters but quickly composes himself.

“Yes. He wanted to jump to fucking conclusions and be an ass, so fuck him!”

“Alright! Let’s get started.” He pushes the others to move.

Trey helps me fire up the stove and bring out the food. We need to finish the new menu quickly.

“What can I do?” Nessa offers.

Adam leaves the kitchen, and when he returns, he has a bar chair for Nessa. Picking her up, he sits her on it before she can say another word. I slide a chopping board and knife toward her while Trey passes over veggies for her to chop.

At his station, Forest gets to work on the new desserts he and Wes have been working on. Adam leans against the counters, adding garnish and tasting all the food. He’s also taking notes on a notepad after tasting each bite.

“You know, one would think I'd be getting fatter with all this food you keep shoving down my throat,” he quips, while holding out a bite for Nessa to try.

I roll my eyes. “Fucker. You’re enjoying feeding your wife.” He winks at me, and I smile and get back to work.

As the first round of dishes are completed, the back door buzzes, signaling food and wine deliveries. Adam glances at his watch and hot-foots it to the door. He checks over the deliveries as the rest of us work our magic.

“So, what do you think?” Trey gestures to the food spread across the expedite counter.

“It looks amazing. Has everyone tried a bite of everything, so we know how it tastes?” I question.

“I don’t think I did,” Nessa replies. “But Adam has tasted it all, and I’ve tasted a little. Everything I had was delicious.”

“It’s fucking awesome! I have drink ideas for each pairing. And I’m stuffed,” Adam adds from the walk-in where he’s finishing the deliveries.

“I have another idea that’s going to throw everything off, but I’d like to try it.”

“Let’s hear it, Darlin’.” Trey leans against the counter as Forest places the last dessert down.

“I’d like to throw out the menus completely and create a new one each night. Make every night special.”

“So... you’re thinking just have something like a specials menu, and nothing that’s always on the menu?” Nessa clarifies.

“Exactly. The menu will always be different. We can have a total of twelve items on every menu for the day, but we won’t serve the same things every night. I think that’s been part of my issue. Well, besides Torrance helping with the original one.”

“I like it,” Adam pipes up.

“As do I,” Trey agrees.

“Are you thinking one or two desserts a night? I only ask because I had a lot of fun coming up with these.” Forest points to his desserts.

“I haven’t worked out all the details. Hell, I just thought of this on the fly,” I chuckle, and the kitchen fills with laughter.

Adam finishes checking off the wine and food deliveries and signs them off before walking the two guys back out. He’s about to lock the door when the bell buzzes again. A new delivery person stands there.

“I have deliveries for a Calla?” the guy announces.

Adam steps back, letting the guy inside as he takes the clipboard and signs for this new delivery.

“You can put those boxes on her counter.” Adam gestures at me.

The gentleman weaves his way over to me, and he sets the boxes down on the only open space at my prep table. He rolls his cart back the way he came then he leaves. Adam follows, locking the door behind him.

“Let’s go with two a night,” Trey interjects, addressing Forest’s earlier question. “Some nights maybe more. Others, maybe only one.”

“I’m down with that.” Forest grins. “This is going to be fun.”

“I’m glad y’all think so. Thanks for sticking with me guys and being willing to change things up.”

“What else is family for, Darlin’?” Trey steps close to me and pulls me into a side hug.

“Not that I really want to open this can of worms... but what about when Wes comes back?” Adam throws out as he comes to stand next to Nessa.

“By the way, you and I need to have drinks and discuss that,” Nessa admonishes. She points at me and waggles her eyebrows.

“I honestly don’t know, Adam. He’s not answering any of my calls or texts. In fact, his phone goes straight to voicemail. I don’t want the team to dismantle, but who knows what Wes will decide.”

“If he leaves, will you be okay?” Trey wonders, holding me tight.

“I don’t know. I love him, and I think I always have. But I can’t deal with another blow-up like last night. And I can’t be off again like I was after Torrance.” I give them all a tight smile.

Trey kisses my head as the others nod.

Adam drums on the boxes. “Alright! Enough of the sappiness. Who’s been out shopping for you dear heart?”

I glance over at the long rectangular boxes. Trey nudges me toward the packages. I scan for a box-cutter but come up empty until Forest passes me a pocket knife.

“Thanks.” I quickly cut the tape on all the boxes and pass the knife back to him before opening them. The first one is a bouquet of a dozen long-stemmed red roses, and a dozen large, white calla lilies. They are all absolutely gorgeous. The next box I open is filled with a dozen multi-colored calla lilies with white and yellow roses mixed in.

“Damn.” Adam looks over the bouquet of calla lilies. “I can guess who they’re from, even though they don’t have a card.”

“Wes,” Trey, Forest, and Nessa say in unison.

I chuckle and open the last box. It’s filled with the deepest, darkest purple calla lilies I’ve ever seen, with orange callas accompanying them.

“Well, hell. Someone did go all out.” Trey winks at me.

I pull the small card from the roses with callas and read aloud.

Calla,

Sorry if I created a issue last night. I didn’t mean to. I'll make it up to you, if I can. And thanks for agreeing to help.

Caleb

“Well, hell. He’s not such an asshole after all,” Adam huffs and takes the vase before I can put the flowers inside it.

“Don’t forget to cut a little of the stems off under running water,” Nessa instructs him before Adam can get too far.

“No, he really isn’t. But if he got me all of these, it’s way overboard.” I search the other two bouquets for cards.

I find one other card in with the purple and orange calla lilies and grin as I read it.

Baby Sis,

Heard about Torrance’s dinner at Belladonna. That ‘a girl! I’m proud of you. When I can get back down to Austin, we’re going out.

Love,

Ben

Trey picks up one arrangement, and Forest grabs the last one. They head over to where Adam is fixing the set he’s taken to the sink. The rest of the kitchen staff start filtering in to begin their shifts. As the kitchen fills with people, I lose sight of where the guys place all the flowers.

“Y’all need to try everything on the counter,” I inform the staff as they start prepping their stations. “These are going to be a few of the new items on our latest menu.”

Nessa slides out of her chair and heads to the dining room. When she comes back in, the servers are following her, and she has them sample the food, as well.

“Hey, does anyone know if we have some nice paper to print the new daily menu on?” I question.

“I’ll check.” Nessa strolls toward the office.

Trey, Forest, and I stand back and watch the reactions of the staff as they try the different dishes. No one is complaining while we go over the new concept and what changes will be happening tonight. There are a few wide-eyed servers when we tell them the menu will change daily, but the chefs simply head to their stations and begin organizing what they’ll need for tonight's service. When Nessa returns, she has a stack of paper tucked under her arm. She hands Trey, Forest, and me a page.

“What do you think? Will it pass for tonight?” she asks.

“Yes.” Trey passes the page back to Nessa.

“Should we do this in-house every day? Or have them made up for the week?” I wonder out loud.

“Let’s try in-house this week and go from there,” Trey suggests, and the rest of us nod while handing Nessa our pages.

“It’s time!” Adam calls out. “Everyone ready?” He pulls the door to the dining room open, and the front-of-the-house staff exit the kitchen.