“There’s always another choice, Angel. You’re just choosing to make this one.”
Angelica hummed. Hope left her for two seconds to hit the self-timer on the camera and then came back. Within seconds she was wrapped up in a kiss.
This had better work the way they all wanted it to.
Because if it didn’t—every other outcome ended in disaster.
Chapter
Nineteen
“We managedto hire two servers yesterday.” Hope reiterated that fact to Elsie, who already knew, but so that the camera could be sure to catch the moment. The repetitive exposition was sometimes annoying, but it was all part of the process.
“We did,” Elsie answered dutifully, though Hope could still detect the annoyance with the process in her voice. “I’m still worried we won’t have the money for it.”
“Yeah, I get that.” Hope tapped her fingers against the prep table. “They’ll train tonight when we open the restaurant for full service. All right?”
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Hope ignored it.
“I’ll help you in the kitchen with prep and you can take the reins on the meals.” Hope’s phone buzzed again. She tried her damnedest to focus on what she was supposed to be doing, but it was like her phone had a mind of its own. “Let’s get started on the prep now, so we can be ready when it’s time to open those doors.”
Elsie tapped her palm against the counter and then walked away, saying nothing. That had become her norm, more shut offeach passing day, more skeptical of how all of this was going to work. Hope couldn’t blame her. They were taking huge risks with this place, setting them up for an even bigger failure if it didn’t work out in the end.
Hope nodded toward Cadence and slipped her phone out of her pocket.
“Jesus,” she mumbled under her breath. There were missed calls, missed texts, everything under the sun that she could imagine. Unlocking the phone, she scrolled through them. Each one of her sisters, all three of them had sent her texts, including Rachel, whose last one jarred Hope’s heart.
Rachel
I’m so sorry. I tried to convince them to leave you alone, but they think you need an intervention.
Intervention? What the hell for? Hope tapped Rachel’s name on her phone and scrolled up to where the texts started.
Rachel
Mom saw the Instagram photo and announcement.
She’s not happy.
You could have at least told her you were a lesbian now before doing this.
Hope sighed heavily and clenched her jaw. She wasn’t a lesbian, something she’d maintain until the day she died. She still very much appreciated men and was sexually attracted to them. Butshe didn’t have time or energy to dive into that one with Rachel. Not right now anyway.
She clearly had bigger fish to fry.
Rachel
Ugh, now she’s calling me to see what I know. I’m not going to tell her anything, but she knows I know.
I told her you were in love and that she’d just have to get over it.
Hope’s lips quirked slightly at that. In the end, she’d known somewhere in the back of her mind that Rachel would have her back no matter what. But this only confirmed the fact that she’d made the right choice in trying to reconcile with her over the season break. It’d been slow and tenuous at first, but then again, that wasn’t surprising.
“What is it?” Cadence came over and stared down at Hope’s phone.
“My family saw the Instagram post, and probably all the tabloid crap after that.” Hope sighed heavily and ran her fingers through her hair. She hadn’t fully thought this one through. She’d just been elated that they were finally not going to be hiding in secret anymore, that their love could be celebrated rather than shamed.
Except it was being shamed.
