“So it's not gonna be easy. It's going to be really hard; we're gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me... everyday.”― Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook
one of the tables doing some paperwork while Lexie and Hugo finished closing the diner. It was only 7:30 at night but my day starts at 3a.m., so it was feeling pretty late. In the back of my head, I knew if we started serving dinner, I would be sitting here at 12:30 at night doing this.
Still, the restaurant was doing amazing. The fact that people were wanting us to be open for dinner too was a good problem to have. We just had our best week yet. Some restaurants never get out of the red, there is so much overhead, but we had been open for not even a year yet and were making money.
I officially made Lexie the front end manager. She had more than earned it. In fact, she seemed to be thriving and really enjoy the work. Hugo treated the kitchen like it was his own sacred temple. Only the worthy could enter there. The two kitchen staff we finally were able to hire probably would've had an easier time getting to work in the kitchen at the White House. Hugo was very particular and would settle for nothing less than what he considered the ideal kitchen staff.
Sometimes I felt lucky that I could get in the kitchen. It was like an exclusive club or something. Our kitchen staff completely taking Hugo's lead and ensuring the sanctity of the kitchen. I didn't complain. I couldn't have asked for a more devoted head chef and kitchen manager than Hugo and he picked some amazing people to hire. The kitchen was treated with the utmost respect and care.
I leaned back against the booth seat and stared at the ceiling. With the diner only serving breakfast and lunch, we were well staffed and had a good schedule we could all live with. If we start serving dinner, we will need to bring on at least one or two more managers and multiple more staff. It would be a big undertaking. Still, we were all excited at the idea of a dinner service. Hugo had started making notes for a dinner menu and trying out some recipes. He served them as specials at lunch and all of them so far had been well received and repeatedly requested again.
French onion soup with a French dip sandwich. I jotted the thought down in my notebook. I always made a good French onion soup. I could show Hugo for lunch tomorrow and add it as a possible item for the dinner menu.
All the sudden there was a loud crash in the kitchen and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I was about to get up and rush back there when I heard Lexie laughing.
"You guys okay?" I called.
"Yes," Lexie yelled back, still laughing.
"This woman is a menace. She is no longer allowed in the kitchen," Hugo said as he came through the swinging door that separated the kitchen from the dining area. Lexie was right behind him and more than amused she got under the big man's skin.
"Good luck with that Hugo," I said, grinning at him.
Hugo and Lexie had hit it off from the day one. They had almost a brother/sister type of relationship. Their playful bickering and jabs at each other was fun to watch and always made everyone laugh. Even when we were slammed during the breakfast and lunch rush, the diner had a fun, light-hearted atmosphere that I think attracted people as much as the food.
I think Hugo and Lexie hit it off so well because they had more in common than people may think. Lexie's return to Crossroads had not been well received by a lot of the small town. Rumors swirled about her family and what happened all those years ago. Attitudes have started to thaw with her working at the diner but she wasn't going to be winning any popularity contests soon. Hugo was new here and it took him a while to warm up to people. But, once he did, you had a friend for life.
Headlights flashed across the diner as someone pulled into the parking lot.
"Who can that be? Is Benny coming to get you?" I asked Lexie.
"No, not tonight," she said. She looked a little sad. I wanted to ask her if something was wrong but now was probably not a good time.
"Stay here," Hugo said as he went to the front door to see who was here after closing.
Crossroads was a small town. Most of the crime here was petty and small. But Hugo was a cautious man. He always walked out with Lexie and me and made sure we were in our cars and pulling out of the parking lot before he left.
He looked out the window on the door as whoever had pulled in turned off the headlights. Then I could see the truck and the guy sitting in it through the window next to the booth I was in. Hugo saw him too and raised his eyebrows at me in question.
"What? Who is it?" Lexie asked, running up to peer out the window next to Hugo.
"Oh," Lexie said and started smiling ear to ear.
"You guys go ahead," I said as I stood up from the booth. I walked towards them and unlocked the door, holding it open for them as they got their jackets.
"I can be back in five minutes if you need anything," Hugo said.
"I know. Thank you Hugo, but I'll be fine."
Hugo nodded has Lexie gave me a hug.
"Good luck," she whispered in my ear. "And you might want to lose the apron,"
"Crap," I said looking down at the mess that was my clothing after a long day. I untied the dirty apron and Lexie took it and quickly threw it in the dirty laundry bucket we had stashed under the front counter.
Jack got out of his truck when Hugo and Lexie started to leave. He gave them a small wave as he passed them on the way to where I was standing in the doorway waiting for him. Neither of us said anything. I stood back to let him in the diner then shut the door. I took a minute to relock it. My heart was racing. I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly to try to get it under control. It didn't work. I turned around to find Jack standing there watching me.
I leaned back against the door. He was clearly just coming off a long day working the farm. His jeans were dusty, work boots still on, and he was wearing the same coat he's worn to work the farm since high school. I was no better in my Crossroads Diner shirt and jeans covered in God knows what from dealing with food all day. My hair was falling out of the loose bun I put it in earlier in the day. We stared at each other for a minute, taking each other in.
"Would you like…", I started to say as I pushed myself off the door but I didn't get to finish.
Jack came up to me, cradling my face with his hands that were rough from years of farm labor, and kissed me. I think my brain shorted out for a second. It took me a minute to react. I could feel him about to pull away when I snapped out of it, wrapped my arms around his waist under his coat, and pulled him to me.
We pulled apart and Jack rested his forehead against mine and looked at me.
"I love you. I never stopped," he said quietly.
"It's always been you Jack," I said back.
We stood there holding each other. There was nothing else to say right now. We had our whole lives ahead of us. We would have our ups and downs but I knew, whatever life threw at us, we were now in it together.
"Come on," I said. "Let's get out of here."
He smiled at me and took my hand. We closed up the diner and left. The paperwork could wait until tomorrow.