“Fifty-yard line?”He stares at the card, then jolts to attention.“Which game?”
“All of them!At least for the upcoming season.”
He looks at the card again, and his face brightens.His eyes even clear.“Mr.MacLaine.”He opens his arms wide and wraps me up in a bear hug.He might be crying.“Thank you so much.The Raiders.Fifty-yard line.This is a dream come true.”
When he finally lets me go, he drops two keys in my hand.“There you go, sir.You have a really great day.”
“I plan on it.”
“Raiders!”he shouts, walking to his car.
Clenching the keys in my hand, I walk to my car too, ready to give Emma her big surprise.
“I thought we were eating breakfast at the diner.”Emma stares down the street to where she thought we were headed, then looks at the building in front of us.
“I was thinking about this place instead.”I gesture toward the grimy, paper-covered windows.It’s a large storefront with floor-to-ceiling windows that takes up a half-block of town.
She looks around, like I’ve brought her here by mistake.“I don’t think this is open.I don’t think it’s anything.It’s empty.”
“For now.”I hand her the set of keys I’ve put on a Cartier gold and diamond-encrusted key chain.“Who knows?It might be a restaurant someday.”
Emma palms the keychain, letting it roll around in her hand, feeling the weight of the gift.The weight of the possibilities.I watch it all play out in her face… the confusion, the awe, the gratitude, the self-doubt, and then confusion again.
“Restaurant?Wait, what’s happening?”
“Maybe you should use those keys, open the door, and check it out.As Jasmine would say, youdon’twant to miss that.”
She squints her eyes at me but turns to unlock the door.We walk inside.It’s a dusty, empty mess, but there are still booths and tables and chairs.Emma barely glances at any of it.Instead, she walks straight back to the brightly lit kitchen that spills faint light into the rest of the space.I follow her.
I want to be there when she sees it.
It’s large and spotless, filled with gleaming glass and stainless steel and tile.It’s outfitted with the newest and best in appliances and equipment, everything a professional kitchen would need.I made sure of it.I gutted the entire back of the building to create this, but I didn’t change the dining room.I knew Emma would have ideas for how that should look.
“I don’t understand,” she says.
“It’s yours, if you want it.”
She looks up at me with tears in her eyes.“This could be my restaurant?How, Finn?How did you make this happen?”
“I just did.I made it happen for you, and from here on out, that’s how it’s going to work.You tell me what you want, and I make it happen.”
“But…” she starts.“If I have my own restaurant, I’ll miss you and Jasmine and Yosemite Ranch too much.”
“Oh,” I say, pretending to think that over.“I’m sorry.That was thoughtless of me.Give me back the keys.”I hold out my hand and she slaps it.
“What I mean, Finn, is that I’ll only want to do it part time.Maybe open for lunch during the week and have it closed on weekends.At least until I decide what kind of staff I might be able to hire.That’ll give me time to pick up Jasmine from school and be home every night.What do you think about that idea?”
“I’m very happy with that idea,” I tell her.
“There’s another reason I’d like to work part time.I want to have kids.”
I freeze.My heart drops to my knees.I would love Emma just as much if she didn’t want children, if she believed that Jasmine was the only child we’d ever need.But the fact that she wants more, that she wantsmychildren…
“I know we haven’t talked about it.But I’ve been thinking…”
“Yeah?”I’m trying to prevent a huge grin from eating up all the real estate on my face.
“I want a big family.Is that possible?Like five more kids.I know that’s a random number, but it’s just that I know how rare it is for a child to have a life of love and security and opportunities.Maybe we could even adopt someday, in addition to having kids of our own.I just want… I want…” She looks up to me, her eyes glistening.
