“Let’s go, Lovey,” Jansen practically orders.

Jansen has a hold of Ida Sue’s hand, practically pulling her out of the restaurant. I’m standing by the entrance with Titan and Faith, doing a really bad job of holding in my laughter. Titan has been putting up the new ceiling fans and Ida Sue—along with Faith and I—have been enjoying the show. Hey, what can I say? I’m only human and he’s a fine specimen of why God created men.

Tonight was the first night Ida Sue got really upset with me. I wouldn’t turn the heat up to eighty-five. Now I admit, the urge to do it was there, but I’m not about to give myself heat stroke to admire Titan sweating.

“CT, you promise to bring my sweet little Faith over to see me with that precious Eris Sue?” Ida Sue asks, sounding entirely too sweet.

“You got it, CL,” Titan says easily and I have to giggle then—which was probably a mistake.

Ida Sue narrows her eyes at me and if I didn’t know her well enough to know that tomorrow she’d love me again—I’d be worried.

“You and me, Adelle. We have problems. Don’t think we don’t. You broke my heart.”

“What happened to Orchid?” I can’t help but ask.

“That name has been revoked,” she huffs. “No child of mine would break my heart like you did. There I was just freezing and you refusing to turn the heat up. I’m old. These bones get settled into the cold and I could die of pneumonia. Of course that’s probably what you want. You want me to die of—”

“That’s it,” Jansen growls and he picks Ida Sue up and throws her over his shoulders—a pretty impressive feat for the man. I hope Black is that athletic when he hits his sixties, because Ida Sue isn’t exactly small. She cooks good and enjoys it.

Jansen doesn’t bother saying goodbye, he just starts walking away. Ida Sue practically raises her upper half up, instead of resting on Jansen’s back. The three of us step closer to the door so we can watch them walk up the street.

“I’ll see you tomorrow CT!”

“What about me?” Faith asks her.

“Oh you too, darlin’,” she says, but her eyes are glued on Titan. “Bye CT!”

“Bye, CL,” Titan says, rubbing the side of his face and hiding his smile.

“Bye, Ida Sue,” I call out and she sniffs at me, not bothering to answer.

“Children, Jansen. They walk on your feet when they’re little, but when they get older they walk on your poor feeble heart,” she moans.

“I wasn’t around you when I was little to walk on your feet,” I call out.

“If you had been, you would have!” Ida Sue yells back as they round the corner and disappear out of sight.

“White people are damn crazy,” Titan laughs, his arm wrapped around Faith.

“Hey now,” Faith giggles.

“You’re crazy too, Babe. It’s just I like your kind of crazy.”

“Don’t lie, you like Ida Sue’s crazy,” I laugh at Titan.

“Can’t lie. That woman is as whacked as they come, but I love her deep. She’s got soul.”

“Does she know that CL stands for Crazy Lady?” I ask out of curiosity.

“She don’t care, but yeah. Thinks it’s sweet we have pet names for one another. Thanks, by the way, for not turning the heat up. Faith always goes along with her.”

“That’s because I like it when my man sweats,” Faith giggles.

“How about we get home and I’ll see what I can do to help you out?” Titan asks.

“Like that’s going to happen. Eris never sleeps through the night,” Faith moans hugging me. “Will you be okay, Addie? Do you want us to stay a little longer?”

“What? No. You get home to your girl. I’m not sure how long I’d trust Cyan to babysit,” I joke.

“He’s a wild one, but surprisingly around babies, he’s the best, so sweet and tender.”

“I like him,” I tell her, just in case she thinks I don’t.

“You like the whole family. You’re one of us now,” Faith grins.

“I do feel like I’ve been adopted by everyone, that’s for sure,” I laugh.

“It’s a good feeling,” Titan says. “If you’re sure you’re okay, we’ll head out. What time does Black get home?”

“In about four hours, which is early for him, but he wasn’t happy about having to work tonight, so Danny said he’d come in and let Black come home early.”

“That’s good. You make sure you lock your doors, though,” Faith says as her and Titan go outside.

“Will do. Thank you again for all of your help. I truly appreciate it. Hopefully Ida Sue will forgive me in time to help me do the last minute touches in the kitchen this week and we’ll be ready to open Monday.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about that,” Titan says. “But, thanks again for having my back,” he adds and I wave goodbye and then lock the door.

I turn around to look at the dining area and I feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. The ceiling fans really just set the whole place off. The pendant lights are white with a brushed antique look to them and have two small gold lines around the bottom and the insides are gold with a steel wire guard. They look like something you’d find in a country home in France and I’m in love with them.

I’m in love with the whole place really. I’m nervous about the opening, but I know in my heart it’s going to be okay. I’ll work my tail off to make sure it succeeds and if it doesn’t… the one thing that will always be okay is me and Black. He’s with me now and somehow even my dreams take a backseat to that.

He’s my world.

I turn out the lights in the dining area and follow the glow of the hall lights to the kitchen. I need to make sure the door is locked there too, since we used that door to bring in all of the fans earlier. I just clear the counter, when I hear a scream.

I turn to see what’s going on, not really having time to react.

Before I realize it though, Linda is standing behind me and she’s got a bat in her hand. I hold my hands up as the bat comes down. Pain blooms on my head so intense my vision goes white—and then everything goes black as I hit the floor.