Chapter Thirty-Eight
Sienna
My alarm went off at six the next morning. Parker groaned from next to me and rolled over.
I, on the other hand, practically sprung from the bed. Today was the day that I was getting back to work in my brand new diner. I knew I’d probably be exhausted later, but I didn’t care. I had slept enough in the past two months to carry me over for a while. I was ready to get back to work.
While the diner wasn’t exactly the same as before, I intended to take this opportunity and do what I had been too afraid to do in the past: take a risk. I was going to decorate with a theme in mind. And I knew exactly what the theme would be.
Tony still had a connection with the house in Sanibel and he asked the owners to take pictures of the house so I could use the interior as inspiration. Even though the reason for going to Sanibel had been to escape from Parker, now it was a fond memory of a nice mini-vacation with a friend in a place that made me feel at home.
I planned on taking Parker and Tony shopping later that week to start picking out little decorations from the local shops around town. I wasn’t going to rush this. I had the idea that regulars or tourists who came back year after year would comment on something that they hadn’t seen or noticed before. It would keep the diner updated and ever-changing, and would keep patrons coming back day after day and year after year. I felt the same way about the house in Sanibel, and I hoped that I could make others feel the same way too.
“I’m going to take a shower,” I said to Parker. “Get up soon. We need to make a special trip before going to the diner.”
After showering and making a quick breakfast for us, we were out the door by seven. Parker drove to Harriet’s house and she was sitting on her porch swing, waiting for us.
She was an early riser like we were. Having the diner back was only a piece of the puzzle that made me incredibly giddy with excitement. Getting Harriet back into her routine after Kenneth died had been a priority for me. I knew she would always cherish him, but I wanted her to continue on with her life as much as she could in the circumstances. I even offered to go to Bingo with her every week just so that she could do things that made her happy again, even if it was without Kenneth.
“Oh, my,” Harriet said when I helped her from the car. She looked at the diner and her eyes filled with happy tears. “Parker, you did an amazing job.”
“You haven’t seen the inside yet,” he said and helped her up the front steps.
I opened the door and offered my arm to her. She took it, and we entered the space.
The shock of seeing the diner in front of me instead of in my dreams still moved through me, even days later.
“I wanted to show you something,” I said, then glanced back at Parker.
He winked at me and I led Harriet to her regular table that she’d shared with Kenneth. I came in the night before and set up the surprise for her.
It took her a minute to realize what she was looking at. But when she did, her hands covered her gasp.
“Sienna,” she said accusingly. “What have you done?”
I glanced at the framed picture on the wall hanging next to their booth. It was their wedding photo that was published in the newspaper after their nuptials.
“Do you like it?” I asked. “We wanted to dedicate this space to you and Kenneth.”
“Where ever did you find that photo?” she asked.
Parker raised his hand. “I contacted the newspaper that printed it. They scanned the copy and sent it over to us.”
Harriet took each of our hands in hers. “You two are simply darling. I’m better for knowing you.”
“We could say the same thing for you,” I said.
Harriet sat down at the booth and scooted over, getting a better look at the photo. “You know,” she said, “I was a size two then. My, how times change you.”
“You look just as good now as you did then,” Parker said, sliding into the other side of the booth.
She let out a hoot of laughter. “You’re too kind, Parker.”
I left the two of them to talk and went into the kitchen. There, I was able to take a deep breath. I was finally home again. I smoothed my hands over the clean surfaces, burning the image and feel into my brain. I knew after a few months of cooking, these surfaces would be well-worn.
A knock on the back door broke me from my reverie. I unlocked it and let Tony inside.
“I’m going to need a key,” he said, lugging in several bags of food.
“I’ll get some made this afternoon,” I said and made a mental note on top of the other million things I had to do.
Opening the diner again would be a challenge, but I was up for it. I’d forgotten all the little things that were involved in the process, but I was quickly remembering and falling into step.
We started separating the food items and putting them away before they went bad in the heat.
The refrigerator was sub-zero with clear glass doors. That would prove helpful in keeping the food cold while taking inventory. I couldn’t believe Parker thought of everything. He did admit to speaking with top chefs all around the country during the planning process. Even though my diner would serve a third of the clientele those places did, it was a generous gift that made the diner much more upgraded than it had been.
I grabbed a few things to prep while Tony organized the food. Everything went back into its place and eventually—aside from everything being brand new—we were back in our groove.
When we were prepared and ready to go, I squeezed Tony’s arm. “Are you ready?”
“The better question is, are you?”
I took a breath. “Yes, I think I am.”
I grabbed my brand new ordering pad and shoved it in my back pocket as we headed out to the dining room. I’d told the other customers to come in around ten so we’d have time to prepare. Plus, I wanted to take one special order and focus all of my attention on it.
“All right,” I said, interrupting Harriet and Parker.
Parker sat back in his seat and Harriet looked up at me expectantly.
“You want some coffee?” I asked.
They both nodded.
The four of us sat in the booth, sipping coffee for about forty-five minutes, chatting about the old diner.
“I remember when Kenneth and I first stepped foot in this place,” Harriet said, regaling us with more amazing memories of her equally amazing husband.
Heat flickered behind my eyes. I hated that I’d only known Kenneth for a short time. Harriet had even more time with him, yet remained positive and loved to talk about him. I knew I would feel the same way about Parker when we were older. I needed to make a priority of remembering everything between us so I’d be able to look back and smile whenever I was feeling down.
“It actually used to be a different place before you bought it, Sienna,” she said at the end of her story.
I glanced up at the ceiling, trying to remember. I’d bought it a few years after the restaurant closed down. “I think it was called Bernie’s.”
Harriet snapped her fingers. “That’s right! The food was terrible, but we didn’t know that until you came in and gave us something delicious.”
I laughed.
Parker took my hand and squeezed. “You really are a good chef.”
“A good cook,” I corrected. I didn’t think I deserved the honor of being called a chef.
“Sienna,” Tony said. “Remember when I applied to work here?”
“Oh yeah,” I said, remembering fondly.
“I thought I was passing through here when I saw the diner and the sign,” Tony explained. “When I met Sienna, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.”
“No, you didn’t,” I said, cracking up.
“But this little brat grew on me,” he said.
I kicked him under the table and he cried out in alarm then laughed. We all did.
Happy tears sprung to my eyes, and I didn’t want anyone to see me cry. I slid out of the booth and took a second to collect myself. “People are going to start coming in here soon, so I think it’s time to do this.”
“Do what, dear?” Harriet asked.
I pulled the pad out of my pocket and poised my pen on the paper. “Harriet, you are our first customer ever in this diner. So I would like to ask you one question.”
“Yes?” she said.
I looked at Tony and smiled. “Would you like your usual?”
The other customers came in all at once at ten o’ clock on the dot. Tony greeted some of his biker friends while I said hello to a family that came in every Sunday while they stayed at their beach house for several weeks during the year. Harriet’s meal had gone off without a hitch, so I had hope that the rest would be fine, too. Since the design of the kitchen was nearly the same as before, I found I fell back into the rhythm very quickly. As did Tony.
Parker was the only one with a learning curve. But that would come with time. Being a server wasn’t as easy as people thought it was. He took too long writing down the orders and making the customers repeat it several times.
Anytime he looked a little down about it, I made sure to kiss him and tell him he was doing great. Even though I found myself cringing each time he took a plate from the pass-through. By the end of the day, there were only two broken plates and a shattered glass on his record. And since we didn’t have many customers that day, I’d say that was a win for him.
I was making another pot of coffee for the last set of customers when Parker brushed up against me. I looked over at him. He wore a devilish grin.
“What?” I asked.
His hand moved over my butt and squeezed.
I laughed and glanced over my shoulder to make sure the customers couldn’t see us.
“Parker.”
He shrugged. “You’re such a tease being all the way in the kitchen,” he said. “I missed touching you.”
I bumped him with my hip. “I missed you touching me.”
“Oh, God!” Tony groaned from the doorway. “Is this how it’s always going to be? You two all lovey-dovey and kissing? We’re never going to be able to get work done. And never mind the sanitary aspect of that.”
I blew a raspberry at him. “I’m the boss, remember?”