AFTER MY BROTHER’S BOISTEROUS ENTRANCE, his mouth drops and I know, from that knee-jerk reaction, that he’s impressed. He and I have critiqued many restaurants over the years. It’s our business, so we’re always looking for fresh ideas, and also know a dud when we see one. But that’s not what he’s seeing now.
“Damn, Micah.” Deacon whistles, his eyes never stopping as they scan the space. “This is impressive. Show me the kitchen.”
I smile, slapping him on the shoulder, because with those four words, I know he’s hooked. The kitchen is the heart of any establishment—be it a home or a restaurant. He and I both know that’s where the magic happens and that you can tell a lot about the quality of a place by how the kitchen looks.
Anxiously, I walk him past the bar and through the double doors. Randy is busy at the prep station and his eyes grow wide when he sees Deke step through the doors.
“Randy, my man,” Deacon says, walking around to pat him vigorously on the shoulder. “I’d shake your hand, but I see you’re busy. Can’t believe you sold out and came to work for Micah.”
“Well, the offer was right.” Randy winks at me and I nod.
Standing back, I let Deacon inspect. He checks the stoves, the grill . . . looks at the large walk-in refrigerator and even turns the water on in the huge, over-sized sinks I had installed.
“We gotta get us one of these for Pockets,” he says, pointing to the stainless steel, industrial style table in the center of the room. I thought it was a nice addition, a central location for everything from plating food to pouring drinks. It also gave us a place for the overhead rack that holds all of the pots and pans.
“That’s what I was thinkin’. Joe would love it.”
“Yeah, he would. Shit, I’d love it. It’s a great space, flows freely, and everything is laid out perfectly.” He continues admiring and nodding his approval.
As he does, my chest feels tight. I wanted this. I wanted it so bad. I wish there was a way I could’ve gotten to this point without all the shit we’ve been through, but sometimes, you have to take the long way around. Regardless, here we are, on the other side of the flame, hopefully stronger than before.
Eventually, my parents show up and my mama falls in love with everything. She practically cries when she sees the painting and can’t stop hugging me, telling me how proud she is of me. My dad is too. He’s not as gushy about it, but he’s proud, maybe more so of the fact that Deacon and I have worked things out, but he’s happy about the restaurant too.
The place starts to really fill up, as some of our employees from Pockets and Grinders come and a few people my parents know who live in town. At some point, Tucker arrives. I didn’t see him come in the door, but I don’t miss him and Piper having a stare-off from across the room.
Those two really need to just fuck and get it over with or kiss and makeup. I have no idea what’s going on, but I know something is. When it’s not the opening night of my first solo restaurant and all around biggest night of my life, I’m going to get to the bottom of it.
I hug and kiss more people than I can shake a stick at, and promptly at seven o’clock, Randy announces that dinner is ready. We’re not offering a full menu tonight, but rather a sampling of our signature dishes.
“This is wonderful,” my mama says as she takes a bite of grits with fried crawfish, bacon, crispy jalapenos and a drizzle of honey balsamic. There’s a lot going on there, the bacon and the crispy jalapenos are the lagniappe, something Randy and I came up with. We weren’t sure the ingredients would all work together, but they do.
Everyone is so busy feeding their faces, that hardly any conversation is taking place, and I couldn’t be happier about it. Randy and I watch from the kitchen doors, feeling an immense wave of satisfaction with each mmmm and ahhhhh.
I decide now’s the time for the real lagniappe. Something I’ve had planned for a week or so. Surprisingly enough, I’m not even nervous.
Walking to the bar, I pick up a glass and tap the side with a butter knife, gaining everyone’s attention.
“Hey,” I say with a smile, when everyone turns in their seat. “Thanks so much for comin’ tonight. This place is a dream come true for me, but there’s no way I’d be able to enjoy it without all of y’all. What’s success without people to share it with, right?”
“Here, here,” my dad says, raising his glass.
I give him a smile, raising my hands to let him know I’m not quite finished.
“I, uh,” I pause for a second, the first set of jitters hitting my stomach, but looking over at Dani, I immediately relax. “I found someone I want to share every success with.” I nod as her eyes grow wide. “I actually want to share everything with her—every bad day, every morning kiss, every curveball life throws our way. I want it all.”
She’s sniffling now, but that’s alright, because I’m working hard to keep it together myself.
“Sheridan Reed, I’ve known that I love you for quite some time now, but I didn’t realize how much until recently. I’ve known that I want to spend the rest of my life with you for a while, but didn’t realize how bad until a few weeks ago.” I pause, trying to think of how to put into words how I’m feeling and as I do, I catch a glimpse of my mama and she’s now crying too.
“It’s a scary feeling when you realize you love someone so much you’d gladly take a bullet for them . . . or jump in the path of a speeding train . . . anything to ensure their happiness. That’s how much I love you, Dani. And I want to spend the rest of my life showin’ you.”
Taking the ring out of my pocket, I walk over and kneel down in front of her chair.
“Marry me, please.”
Dani looks down at the ring, biting down on her bottom lip, and then back up at me. Her hand comes up and cups my cheek, brushing away a tear I let slip. Without saying a word or even nodding her head, she leans down and kisses me hard, breathing deeply as she pulls away.
“Yes,” she finally says. “I’ll marry you, Micah Landry.”
The entire place erupts. Everything’s a blur as I slide the ring on Dani’s finger and stand, picking her up and crushing her to me. “Thank you,” I whisper, just for her.
“Thanks for asking,” she says equally as quiet. Later, when it’s just the two of us, I’ll show her how much this means to me and I’ll give her a taste of what forever looks like, but for now, I kiss her chastely and put her down. My mama, Piper, and Cami are all scrambling to get to her.
They need to see the ring, of course.
“Finally got your head outta your ass,” Tucker says, coming up and slapping me on my shoulder.
“You did good,” Deacon says from my other side, clearing his throat as he looks away. “Real good.”
“You pansy-ass mother fucker,” Tucker moans. “Are you cryin’?”
“No, I got somethin’ in my eye.”
When there’s a break in the action around Dani, Deacon goes in for a hug, twirling her around and making her squeal with delight.
This is perfect.
It’s everything I dreamed it would be, and so much more.
THE END