“I hope it was all good.I have to say, I'm completely clueless why I'm here.”I glare at Storm.
“You didn’t tell her?”Artie turns towards Storm with amusement in his eyes.
“Nah, I wanted to surprise Little Fox.Do you want to tell her or do you want me to?”
“I’d love to.”Artie leans forward and takes my hands in his.He squeezes them gently and stares into my eyes.
The smile lines at the corner of his eyes and around his mouth show a life of happiness.There’s so much love in his expression, making me want to sit and talk to him all night.I want to know what type of life he’s led.
“This restaurant was my Jenni’s dream.I helped her bring it to life, but it’s gone downhill since we opened sixty-three years ago.Storm said you want to open your own restaurant.I'm not quite ready to give this place up, but I’d like to see her dream of renovating and coming up with a new menu come to fruition before I die.Would you be interested in helping me make that happen?”
“You want me to help?”I squeak out as I glance from Artie to Storm and back again.
“Jenni wanted to rename the place The Little Fox Café.”Storm grins.
“Really?”
“Yes.I was thinking we could work on a menu and you could redesign the place however you want to.Jenni always dreamed of something with a country feel.What do you think?”
“I think you just made me the happiest woman in the world!”I squeal and move to give Artie a hug.
“I'm glad I could help.”He chuckles, hugging me back tightly.“You remind me so much of my Jenni when we got married.She was so full of life and so excited to open this place.I hope I cared as much as your boyfriend does and helped her fulfill her dreams.”
“Oh, we’re not-” I begin, but Storm cuts me off as he grips my thigh again.
“I think you did a good job, Artie.And the fact you’re still trying to make her happy proves what an amazing husband you were.She was a lucky woman.”The softness in Storm’s tone surprises me.He’s normally so rough around the edges.
“Thank you.”Artie dabs at his eyes and swallows hard.“I can work on getting the restaurant name changed and get your name on the business if you want to start figuring out how you want to change the menu and restaurant.”
“That sounds amazing.Thank you, Artie.”
He tugs a key out of his pocket and slides it across the table to me.He seems so excited for this which surprises me.I thought he’d be at least a little sad to see everything change.
“This is so you can get in whenever you want.Obviously, we aren’t busy, so we can shut the place down whenever you’re ready.But can I dig into this yet?It smells amazing.”He motions to the plate Storm brought.
“Absolutely.Dixie made this for me for dinner.It was delectable.”
Artie takes the tin foil off and grabs a fork from the table.He digs in immediately and I hold my breath, waiting to see how he’s going to respond.
“Dixie, this is delicious!It tastes almost exactly like my Jenni used to make.I'm so happy Storm stopped by and presented the idea to me.”
I glance over at Storm and he stares right back at me.He’s not embarrassed by what he did, but he’s also not proud.He’s just Storm.
“I'm going to get out of here and take this delicious dinner with me.Take your time looking around and deciding what you want to do with the place.Just lock up when you leave.There’s a business card with my phone number on it.You can call me if you have any questions or want me to know anything specific.Thank you both for helping me make Jenni’s dream come true for a second time.”
“It’s our pleasure, Artie.Thank you.”
We watch as Artie hobbles towards the back of the restaurant.As soon as I hear the back door open and shut, I leap out of my chair and walk around the dining room before moving into the kitchen.
I take note of the things that need to be upgraded or repaired, the changes I want to make, and the various ideas I have.
“What are you thinking, Little Fox?”
I spin around to face him.His attention is solely focused on me and nothing else.He stuffs his hands in his back pockets and stares down at his feet for a moment before he raises his gaze again.
“You did all of this for me?”
“You know you can't leave, but that doesn’t mean I can't help you accomplish your dreams.Your dad is on board with this too.He wants you to be happy.”
