I just nodded, at a loss for words. A billionaire had just strolled into Willow Harbor and bought me a restaurant.
“So, the staff wants to know. Are we getting a five percent raise?” she asked.
I peered at the back kitchen and saw Lupita’s and Carl’s heads pop out of the door.
I smiled. “No. You’re getting ten.”
Sydney whooped and then pulled me in for a hug. “Oh, honey, you deserve this.”
This had been the darkest three months of my life, and Jack Marrow had just filled it with light to the point I could no longer see the shadows.
Thank you, God.
It was going to be okay. I was going to be okay.
If only Jack hadn’t left so soon…
Chapter Three
HANNAH
The next two weeks I spent with Raj, a nice guy in his forties with long, salt-and-pepper surfer hair and a penchant for Earl Grey tea. He threw me into restaurant management and taught me all about payroll, ordering, stocking, and rotating food. Then he taught me the most important thing of all: food safety and how to maintain Vinnie’s excellent rating with the health department. It was overwhelming, but he left a stack of books, his personal cell phone number, and a word to the wise.
“The customer is always right,” he said as he jumped into his taxi back to the airport. “Even when they’re wrong, they’re right.”
“Thank you!” I screamed after him.
I couldn’t believe I’d survived all of his instructions. He was incredible, and I had taken notes, but it was a lot. Last week, I hadn’t ordered the right parmesan, and now Carl was refusing to make eggplant parmesan, a dish our restaurant was famous for.
Willow Harbor was rallying aroundHannah’s Fine Italian Cuisine, glad to be rid of grumpy old Vinnie, who had happily retired early and was moving to Florida. They were also talking nonstop about the billionaire who’d slipped into town and bought me a restaurant. But I knew this show of support for mynew business venture wouldn’t last long. If things didn’t run as smoothly as Vinnie’s, they’d stop coming. I took Jack’s advice and kept the menu the same, adding only a few new dishes and changing out the name at the top of the menu for my own.
“Carl, I need you to use this parmesan just this once, and next time, I’ll get the right brand. Pretty please?” I sweet-talked him as he stood with his arms folded across his chest in an epic stare-down.
After a full minute, with neither of us backing down, he gave me a reluctant sigh. “Just this once, Hannah, because I like you. But if anyone complains that the dish is sour, I’m telling them it’s your fault.”
I nodded and gave him an easy smile. “Okay, deal.”
With that drama out of the way, I moved to the back office to start paying my employees. It had been two weeks since the last payday, and that meant checks needed to go out. I was working all roles right now: waitress, manager, hostess, food runner, admin. You name it, I did it. I really saw this as an opportunity to be part of something special.
Hannah’scould be my legacy, something I did until I retired and left a positive mark on my community. I was no longer a twenty-three-year-old with no career. Jack Marrow had rolled into town and changed all that, and I intended to do right by the gift.
The phone rang, and I picked it up.
“Hannah’s Fine Italian, this is Hannah,” I said.
“Does that ever get old to say?” My mom’s voice came through the line. She sounded stronger than she had this morning.
I put my pencil down and grinned into the receiver. “No, it doesn’t. Everything okay?” Fear laced its way through my voice. She had been sick to her stomach a lot this morning.
“Fine. I was just wondering if you finished your letter yet,” she asked.
I glanced at the drawer that heldthe letter. “It’s not done yet,” I told her.
How did you thank someone for buying you an entire restaurant?
Every night, I added a little bit more to the letter I planned on sending Jack. I just wanted him to know that he had blessed my life greatly, more than I could probably ever explain in words.
“Honey, it’s been two weeks. If you wait much longer, it’s going to be weird to send it,” she said.
