“Come on out and take a look at this,” Brant said.
Talulah had been so busy cleaning the kitchen of her new dessert diner, so she could be at the register once she opened the doors for the first time, that she hadn’t been in front for thirty minutes or more.
“What’s going on?” she called back, too determined to finish the dishes to allow herself to be interrupted. They were due to open in just a few minutes.
“I think this is something you need to see for yourself.”
The tone of his voice made her wonder if she’d missed some small detail she’d need to remedy before they could welcome any customers. Leaving what remained of the dishes, she wiped her hands and hurried into the front of the restaurant. “What’s wrong?”
Brant grinned as he gestured outside.
A line was forming, and Ellen, Jane and Averil were at the front. Brant’s brothers were right behind them. “Aw, look at my friends and your brothers,” she said, waving as they made funny faces at her through the glass. “They’re so good to us.”
In the six months she and Brant had been married, she’d grown closest to Ellen. Since Ellen lived next door, she came over often, and she had a knack for decorating unlike anyone Talulah had ever met. She could make something look fantastic for pennies. Together, they’d fixed up Phoebe’s house on a tight budget, since she and Brant had decided to put off any major remodeling—other than the few improvements he could manage in his spare time—to save money for the next iteration of Talulah’s Dessert Diner.
She gazed at the logo they’d had painted on the window. She and Brant had brainstormed changing the name and/or the logo, since Paul wouldn’t relinquish either. But in the end, Talulah had decided to keep everything the same. She didn’t care if there was another Talulah’s Dessert Diner in the world. Paul’s location was far enough away that it wouldn’t impact her. At least they’d come to an agreement on the financial end of things. She’d forced him to negotiate with her by threatening to call the police on him for throwing the rock that’d cut her arm.
He’d been difficult to deal with even though they had the evidence to prove it was him. Talulah had given him almost everything he’d demanded in the dissolution of their partnership just to get out of it as quickly and cleanly as possible. She’d get only forty percent of net profits for the next three years. But she had Brant. And he meant more to her than anything or anyone else. She’d made the right decision when she left Seattle, even though it’d meant walking away from her first restaurant. Now, other than receiving a monthly check from Paul, she was free of him.
“It’s not just friends and family coming to support you, Lu.” Brant took her by the elbow and tugged her closer to the window. “Look at that line! It goes three blocks down Center Street.”
Talulah felt her jaw drop. Half the town had to be waiting on the sidewalk. She and Brant had done a lot of work to advertise the grand opening. They’d stressed the success and rave reviews of the Seattle location as though Coyote Canyon was getting its own version of the diner everyone loved in the big city, and the citizens of her hometown were responding as if they were excited about it. “This is unbelievable,” she mumbled, overwhelmed.
“I’m sure you’ll have every bit as much business here as you did in Seattle,” he said. “There’s a lot less competition, and no one bakes as well as you.”
She didn’t dare comment. The dream of having another successful restaurant was important enough to her that she was growing emotional. Slipping her arms around his lean waist, she rested her head against his chest.
“You okay?” he said, smoothing her hair.
“I’m just happy,” she said when she was able to speak around the lump in her throat.
“I’m glad.” He leaned back so he could look into her face. “I’ve been afraid that if this flops you’ll regret your decision to marry me.”
“Never,” she said. “Even if these people weren’t here, or they don’t come back after today, I would still be happy. Marrying you was the best thing I’ve ever done.”
Pulling her even closer, he pecked her lips. “I’m glad. Because I feel exactly the same way.”
A surge of excitement went through Talulah. “Let’s open the doors!” she said, and with a final glance at the many cakes and pies she’d baked this morning and displayed in their new glass case, she grabbed the keys.