It broke my heart to see him now, ashadow of his former self. But I also knew he was finally at the point where hecould start to recover, put his weight back on. Thanks to surgery, he was cancerfree! There had never been better news than that.
The door opened again, and Vann and Dadmoved out of the way so Molly could step inside. She had a bottle of champagnein her hand.
“What’s that?” I asked her.
“To celebrate.” She held it up.“Aren’t you supposed to smash it on the front before you sell it?”
I stared at her for a second, tryingto decide if she was for real. “I think that’s for ships. Before you sail them.Not sell them.”
She hugged the bottle. “Oops!”
The door opened again, and Wyattstepped inside. Now it was so crowded that we all had to squish around thegalley. I slid onto the counter with my feet dangling, hoping to make moreroom. “I didn’t realize this was going to be a party.”
Wyatt smiled and stepped over byMolly. “We all wanted to say goodbye. I’m going to miss this truck. Now wheream I going to get my fourth meal from?”
“You’re head chef now, bucko. You’renot going to have time for fourth meal.”
He nodded solemnly. “Or third meal.Maybe not even second meal.”
My dad patted him on the shoulder.“Well, there’s always breakfast, son.” Wyatt looked up at him curiously, and Dadadded, “Most important meal of the day, you know.”
While we laughed at my dad’s joke,the door opened, and Ezra Baptiste stepped inside. He blinked at the five of ushuddled in the galley and glanced at the door as if he wanted to run away.“Hello.”
Wyatt was the quickest to recover.“Hey, boss.”
Ezra stared at Wyatt. “Who’s in thekitchen?”
“Killian’s saying goodbye,” Wyattexplained. “It was too emotional for me. All the crying and shit.” He looked atme. “From Killian.”
Nobody believed him.
The door opened for the fifth timeand when Jo squeezed in, I knew something was up. “Okay, what’s going on?” Thenfeeling rude, I smiled at Jo. “Hi, Jo. Welcome.”
She smiled back at me and then toldEzra to shove over. “Hello, Vera Dear.”
I couldn’t help but ask her, “Whatare you doing here?”
She held out her hands. “I wanted tosee what all the fuss was about. You’ve talked so much about the truck, I justwanted to see it for myself.”
“Okay, something is going on.”Glaring at each of my visitors in turn, I waited for someone to confess.
They just smiled at me like dorks.
The door opened and Killian finallystepped in. Obviously, this was his doing, but I didn’t know why. Was it just athoughtful gesture because he knew how much Foodie meant to me? I’d beenbugging him all week with dramatic tears and second guesses.
Foodie had been everything to mewhen I needed her to be everything, but now it was time to chase after what Ireally wanted.
This truck had healed me. Andintroduced me to this man I loved so much. And for those two things I wouldalways and forever be grateful.
But I also couldn’t wait to see whatelse I could do.
Killian had given his notice to Ezrathe day after I’d agreed to open a restaurant with him. He’d also recommendedWyatt to replace him. Ezra had been furious of course. And he had a right tofeel that way since he still had to replace the head chef at Bianca too. EventuallyKillian had convinced him it was for the better or at least that they shouldstill be friends despite Killian’s abandonment.
We’d all been a little surprisedwhen Ezra had agreed to let Wyatt take over though. It showed just how muchEzra trusted Killian after all. Even if Wyatt wasn’t totally convinced yet. Killianhad spent the last two months training Wyatt in all things Executive Chef.Yesterday was Killian’s last official day atLilou,although he had to tie up all the loose ends today.
Tomorrow we would officially beself-employed.
It was awesome.
