“Thank you. I’m so glad y’all came in for our opening. Let me know if I can get you anything.”
“Thanks, Sylvia.” Owen smiled at the woman. “I think you’ve had a fabulous opening.”
“I’m quite pleased. Thanks for all your help, Owen. We owe all of this to you.”
“You don’t owe me a thing. I was glad to help.”
“Y’all make sure you save room for dessert. I’m really proud of our dessert menu. I’m sending over a sampling of the desserts for y’all to try them and let me know your thoughts. On the house.”
“Thank you. That sounds great.” Becky Lee had already been debating which dessert to try. A sampling of them sounded wonderful. She’d had no idea that Sylvia was such an accomplished cook with so many creative ideas. A woman after her own heart. Becky Lee loved to experiment with recipes and try different combinations, always adding a little twist of something to a recipe to make it her own.
She looked around the table at her friends. A perfect evening as far as she was concerned. Good friends. Good food.
~ * ~
Jenny was thrilled to hear about the Franklin’s house. That would be perfect if they wanted to sell and the price was right. She’d miss her house that she’d shared so many years with Joseph, but it was time to move on. Joseph’s death had been a hard adjustment for both her and Nathan. A new place for her and Nathan to start a new life with Clay and his girls sounded like just what they needed.
The waiter brought their food to the table and Jenny sat and listened to her friends and Clay carry on overlapping conversations sprinkled with laugher. Her life was so good right now. Her heart was full of love for Clay, though, to be honest, it had always been full of love since their first date all those years ago.
Now she just needed to pull off a simple wedding. They’d yet to pick an exact date. She’d kind of hoped the whole thing would just be dropped in her lap, all planned out exactly how she’d have wanted it if she’d—you know—actually planned it.
She sighed and Clay looked at her questioningly. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. Just a bit overwhelmed with all we have to do. Find a house to move into. Pull off a wedding.”
“We could elope.” Clay flashed a devilish smile.
“Who would kill us first? Greta or our kids?”
“Or maybe Becky Lee and Bella.” Clay placed his glass on the table and looked straight into her eyes. “But we don’t have to have a big fuss for our wedding. I just want to be married to you. It’s been too long in coming. I want to be your husband.”
“I want us to be married, too. I’ll see how much Becky Lee, Izzy, and I can do on Monday. It’s just going to be a super simple wedding.”
“We can have any kind of wedding you want. It just needs to be soon.” Clay winked at her.
“Okay, I’ll pick a date and we’ll get this wedding planned.”
~ * ~
Bella stood by the front door of Sylvia’s Place after her friends left. Owen had gone back to the kitchen to say a quick goodbye to Sylvia and Jake. She saw him walking back towards her a few minutes later. A confident businesslike stride, a smile on his face.
“Sylvia is just thrilled with the opening. I couldn’t be happier for both of them. Even Jake gave me a grudging thank you. I’m so glad I was able to give this building back to both of them and help them open the restaurant.” Owen’s eyes shone with satisfaction.
“You did a good thing giving them back the place, even if it meant I lost my shop here.”
“But, at least it all worked out. You have your new shop, a place to live with the boys, and I got to meet you.” He reached over and opened the door. “That was the best result of all the upheaval. That, and getting to know my half-brother.”
They walked out into the cool night air. Owen draped his arm around her shoulder. “Can I drive you home?”
“You drove here? It’s only a block or so from the Sweet Tea.”
Owen’s face held a sheepish look. “I know. I can’t get out of the habit of jumping in the car to go somewhere.”
“You can walk me home, it’s such a nice night out, but then you’d have to walk back and get your car.”
“I’ll just leave it here and get it in the morning.”
They headed down the sidewalk lit with old fashioned streetlights. The warm yellow light poured around them as they strolled down the street. Bella sighed in contentment. Life seemed about perfect now. Her friends were happy, she was happy… even her boys seemed to be adjusting to having divorced parents and the turmoil of living in two different places. She’d thought that was never going to happen. It had been really rough at first. Then when she’d lost her shop, and Rick had threatened to take the boys away. Now that she had her new shop space and her fabulous carriage house to live in with the boys, things had settled down between her and Rick, too. All she wanted was a civil relationship with him so it made it easier for the boys.