She laughed. “Are you busy now? Please tell me you’re not still manning the line back there.”
He glanced back in the direction of the kitchen staff. “No, you know I can’t handle all of that. Not since the heart attack. Here, let’s go out on the patio.”
He pushed the door outward, and they sat under the umbrella covering the table on the patio. It was a beautiful, clear night where the stars were visible, and the ocean rolling in the background was like a live photo.
“I’ll never get tired of this,” Sarah said as the gentle breeze toyed with her dark-brown hair and tossed it across her face. She was sweeping it behind her ear when she caught her father staring at her. “What?”
“I can’t believe how much you look like her,” Paul said as he remembered his wife. She had died ten years ago from leukemia, and the memory of it still cut like a knife, especially when Sarah was around.
He struggled to be a single parent after that, and Sarah went through bouts of rebellion that drove him up the wall. He constantly felt like a failure, but then, almost overnight, she blossomed into a woman he could be proud of, and he was. She was also struggling with the loss of her mother, but somewhere, through their grief, they reconnected.
“Sometimes I pretend she’s still here.” Sarah sighed.
“That’s really healthy,” Paul quipped, raising his brows.
She giggled, and he spotted the deep dimples in her cheeks. “I mean, I like thinking of her like she isn’t just…gone.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” he said to her and sat back in the chair. “I think the shock of it was what gave me the heart attack in the first place. I don’t think it was working here. I love doing this.”
“I know,” Sarah said as she stared at the ocean. “I couldn’t have handled losing the two of you.”
“Hey,” Paul said as he took her hand across the table. “I’m not going anywhere. But, even if I did, you already found a replacement.”
“Don’t talk like that,” Sarah scolded. “And Aaron is not a replacement. He’s the other man I love.”
Paul laughed. “The other man.”
“Yes!” She laughed. “But don’t tell him I said that.”
“How is he, by the way?”
“Uh, he’s okay, I guess. He’s been busy picking up night shifts at the hospital. I’ve tried to avoid those, but I guess it’s okay for now. I wouldn’t want him doing that when we decide to have a family.”
Paul’s brows shot up. “Is there talk of that? So soon?”
“Don’t worry, Dad.” She laughed. “I won’t make you a grandfather just yet.”
“Phew!” he teased. “Although I can’t say I’d mind a rug rat or two crawling all over me. It would give me something else to do now that I’m not here as much anymore.”
“And how’s that working out?” Sarah followed up and leaned forward.
A server came onto the patio, and Paul called him over and ordered a bottle of Dom Perignon.
“Oh, classy,” Sarah teased and wiggled her fingers. “But back to the restaurant. I was worried you’d lose your Michelin rating or something when you stepped away.”
“To be honest,” he said and leaned forward secretly, “I was a little anxious about that too. But Francois is doing an amazing job. The chefs, Will and Ken…superb.” He kissed his steepled fingers. “I mean, they bicker from time to time, but they manage to send out amazing dishes every time. I can literally walk away to help Trish without worrying.”
“I can see that.” Sarah smiled as pride radiated on her face. “Is she going to be alright? I like her.”
“I hope so.” Paul sighed as he thought about her. “I didn’t know she and I would have gotten along that well.”
“Yeah,” Sarah said. “For a second, I thought you two were going to be an item.”
“Never crossed my mind,” he said as nostalgia washed over him. “I saw what she was trying to do with the inn, but knowing the town folks as much as I did, I knew she’d have a hard time. She had some good ideas, but her execution wasn’t always on point, and I had more experience, so I offered what help I could.”
“You did way more than that,” Sarah noted. “You gave her your restaurant’s name. That was a big risk. What if she had flopped?”
Paul laughed. “I wasn’t thinking about that at the time. But it worked. I wanted her to piggyback off Lot 28’s reputation.”
