Breaking New Grounds

by Amy DeMeritt

  “Lunch sounds good. I’m starving. What can I do?”

  “Can you get the SUV warmed up and come back in to help us bring the car seats out?”

  “Ok, babe.”

  ***

  The Flaming Duck is our favorite restaurant close to home, and since we’ve been coming here since my first and only year of college, we have come to know the staff pretty well. The head chef, Dana is a good friend of ours and she’s a genius in the kitchen. She turns food into incredibly tasty pieces of art. Her two daughters are students at Jaime’s original dance studio and they are the reason we met Dana – both of them were in my first ever choreography class.

  We’re seated at a six-person round table, which is perfect. We sit a chair apart with the babies between us in their carriers.

  “Now, that is a picture-perfect moment.”

  I look up from playing with Helaku to see Dana is smiling really big as she looks around our table. I cheese like a goober as I pull my phone out and hand it to her.

  “Will you do the honors?”

  Dana steps back and takes a couple pictures for us, then hands me my phone back. They look really good. God, my wives and babies are so beautiful.

  “Thank you. How have you been? How are the girls?”

  “The girls are fine. They’re not happy winter break is over already, but they’ll get over it.” She looks around nervously, then quickly grabs a vacant chair and pulls it up close, taking a seat with us. She leans forward on the table, glances around again, and very quietly, she says, “Ok, don’t tell anyone I told you this because the entire staff hasn’t been briefed yet, but we may be closing in a couple of months.”

  My jaw drops and I feel like I’ve just been punched in the gut. This place means a lot to us. “What? Why?”

  “The owners want to retire and move to Florida. They’re looking for a buyer, but they don’t want to announce it to the entire staff till they know if the buyer will be keeping things running or shutting us down. This is a college town so it’s very likely a franchise will buy the location and shut us down to open their own restaurant. Some of the wait staff could easily be absorbed, but most of our cook staff will need to look for work. I won’t work for a franchise restaurant unless I absolutely have to, so I started looking. I’ll let you know where I end up, if we do close down.”

  “No, this is not acceptable.”

  Dana laughs at me in a non-humorous way and shakes her head. “Sorry, honey, but this is out of my control.”

  “Buy the place.”

  Dana laughs hard and looks around us. “I’m not that liquid, honey. If I was, I would have bought it years ago. Trust me, I hate this more than you do. This is my home. I’ve been here for twelve years. I started busing tables and now I’m the head chef. Do you really think I want this place to close? I’ve put my blood, sweat, and tears into this place.”

  “Then I’ll buy it and be your silent partner.”

  “Kayla, I didn’t tell you this to try to get…”

  I wave her off and shake my head as I sit forward more. “I know. This place is very important to us too. I don’t want to see this turned into another generic burger or pizza joint. I love burgers and pizza, but there are plenty of places I can get those.”

  “You’re serious?” She looks at Shannon and Awenasa, as if expecting them to object, but both of them are smiling. “Are you two on board with this?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Yes, and I know the rest of our wives will also want to do whatever is necessary to keep the doors open and keep your menu.”

  Dana takes a deep breath through a fist as her eyes redden. “Do you mind if I call Jody and tell her? I don’t want her and Hank to make a deal with anyone else.”

  “Yeah, of course.”

  Dana stands with tears forming in her eyes and a giant quivering smile on her face. She kisses me on the head and says she’ll be right back.

  Awenasa takes my hand and kisses my knuckles. “That was very sweet of you to make that offer.”

  “I didn’t even think first. I just didn’t want to lose this place. We have so many great memories here as a family and with the dance squad and our other friends. This place is like another home or something.”

  “I agree and I know everyone else will as well.”

  “Oh, you brought the babies!”

  Paige, our waitress steps up next to the table and starts unloading a tray with a pitcher of fruit water, glasses, a basket of honey oat rolls, and a bowl of honey butter. After tucking her tray under her arm, Paige bends down with a broad smile and makes baby noises to play with each of our babies. It’s cute. She stays to talk for a few minutes before she has to go check on some other tables.

  As we’re lifting our menus to decide on what we want to eat, Dana sits down, politely saying, “Wait.” Her hands are shaking and her eyes are red, as if she has been crying. She looks around to make sure we’re alone, then leans forward. “Jody and Hank want to accept your offer. Are you able to meet with them today?”

  Shannon and Awenasa look at each other before looking back at Dana and nodding.

  I smile really big, and say, “Alright, looks like we’re buying a restaurant. I might be a dancer and actress, but buying a restaurant makes perfect sense for me. I mean, I love food.”

  Dana’s eyes tear up again. She wipes her eyes and releases a deep breath into her tightly clasped hands, as if trying to expel her excitement so she doesn’t explode.

  “Can I make you something special today?”

  “Only if you let me pay for it.”

  Dana is notorious for making us incredible off-menu items and not charging us for them. The first time she did it was the day after her daughters were in my first choreography class and she did it as a special thanks for including her daughter with down syndrome. Which, we didn’t learn about the connection till after she stuffed us full of the most amazing food we had ever had and she came out to introduce herself.

  Dana laughs and nods, saying, “Ok, you can pay. I have so much I want to say right now, but I don’t want to cause a scene.” She clears her throat and stands up. She looks side to side, and with a shaky jaw, she says, “Thank you,” then leaves our table.

  Awenasa pulls her phone out and starts swiping her finger across the screen. “I’m sending a message to our wives to see if any of them are able to join us.”

  I smile really big and leap forward, kissing her on the lips. She smiles and pets my head. As I’m about to pull her into a real kiss, her phone starts blinking and vibrating with new messages.

  “Madison and Sam can join us, but Jaime and Symone are getting ready to start their second workshop. We should…” She looks up as Paige is walking by. “Paige, we’re going to need two more chairs and place settings. Madison and Sam are going to join us soon.”

  “Ok, no problem. I’ll be right back.”

  “Can you also let Dana know?”

  “Sure thing.”

  I didn’t get to see them before they left today, so as Madison and Sam walk over to our table, my chest floods with heat and happiness. I stand up and give both of them a hug and kiss before they bend down to kiss our babies and Shannon and Awenasa.

  “So, Awenasa said something important is happening.”

  Madison looks between us, waiting for an explanation while she takes her jacket off and hangs it on the back of her chair.

  “Tell them, puppy.”

  I look around and lean in to speak quietly, since Dana was concerned about other employees overhearing. When I finish, Sam and Madison are smiling really big and look around the restaurant for a few moments.

  “Are you ok with this?”

  “Uh, hell yes.” All of us laugh a little bit at Sam’s bursting. “We love this place and Dana is like family. Are we going to be co-owners, or are we just backing her till she can pay us back?”

  “We should probably talk to our lawyers first to see what would be in our best interest. We also need to make
sure there aren’t any outstanding debts, lawsuits, or other issues that the owners are trying to push off onto someone else.”

  “Madison is right. We also need to review the books. We need to know what it costs to operate and what the revenue is to make sure our investment doesn’t go down the drain.”

  Madison smiles at Shannon for a moment before pulling her phone out. She swipes through a few screens, brings up her email, and starts typing for a few minutes.

  “Ok, I emailed our lawyers and asked them to start researching things. So, what are we eating?”

  “Dana is surprising us.”

  Madison looks towards the kitchen for a moment before resting her head on her upturned hand, looking at all of us with a serene smile.

  “This is exciting. Of all of the things I thought we’d be doing this year, buying a restaurant wasn’t one of them. Are we going to keep the name or change it?”

  Awenasa shakes her head as she picks up her glass and takes a sip of water before saying, “I think we should leave that up to Dana.”

  “Ok. Sorry to change the subject, but I only have one class tomorrow morning. Do we have time to go look at a couple of locations for our merch business?”

  Helaku starts fussing so I pick him up out of his carrier and sit him on the table in front me. He smiles and waves his arms while he lulls his head around, looking at all of his mommies and looking around the restaurant. His face feels warm so I take him out of his jacket, hat, and mittens. After he’s free from his thick bundle, he makes a sighing sound and shakes his body. I laugh and kiss his forehead.

  Shannon and Awenasa bend down to take Malana and Montana out of their bundles as well, and while we hold and play with the babies, we listen to Madison talk about the research she has been doing for the warehouse location.

  “I also talked to Carmen and Candi about running things. They already know the entire process really well and they’re good with people, so I think they’ll be able to handle managing the staff. I just need to teach them how to do the merch ordering and system inventory.”

  I look up from bumping noses with Helaku, and ask, “I thought Candi wants to become a free-spirit traveling blogger?”

  “She still wants to do that, but she thinks she can do both. If they train and manage the staff well enough, they should be able to continue traveling with us sometimes and take their own trips too. I trust them and I know they won’t become flakey and mess things up. If they decide it’s getting in the way of what they really want to do, they’ll let me know and I’ll find someone else to do it.”

  “Ok, boss, sounds good to me.”

  Madison smiles at me and leans over to kiss my lips. “I wonder if we’ll have time to finalize all of this before you leave for California.”

  “I hope so. I don’t want you having to worry about all of this on top of trying to finish your last semester. We might at least be able to come to an agreement to postpone things long enough with the restaurant till I finish filming the sci-fi movie. Even if we just give Dana the money and let her take care of it, I’m fine with that. I guess we don’t really need our names on this place. I wish all of you were coming with me. I’m going to miss all of you so much.”

  I bury my face in Helaku’s tummy and he shrieks and giggles as he pounds his hands on my head.

  “I’m going to miss you so much, Son. I love you, times infinity.” He grins at me and cocks his head to the side, looking in my eyes. I kiss his lips and butt noses with him and he presses both of his hands to my face, holding me close to him. I smile really big and kiss him again. “I love my baby boy so much. Yes, I do.”

  He gurgles something while he gets a grip on my lip. I munch his fingers and he laughs.

  “Mom Ayla.” He grins and smacks me on the cheek, then repeats himself, saying, “Mom Ayla.”

  My eyes tear up and I scoop him up in my arms, nuzzling in his neck. I inhale his sweet baby scent and kiss him.

  “I can’t leave my babies and wives for a month. I just can’t. I’m going to go insane without my family for that long.”

  “Mom Ayla.”

  He giggles and bounces in my arms. My emotions tighten my chest and tears break over the rim of my bottom lids and saturate his soft long sleeve onesie. I swallow hard and kiss his ear and cheek, and as I lift my head to look at him, he grabs my face and gives me a concerned look.

  “Mom Ayla.”

  “I love you, Helaku.”

  Awenasa and Madison are closest to me and both of them reach over to rub my back, offering me some comfort.

  “Maybe Awenasa and Shannon should go with you.”

  “But how are you and Sam going to manage the businesses and everything else while you’re in school? Jaime and Symone have to be in California for at least three weeks, so you won’t have anyone here to help you.”

  Jaime and I have a bunch of promotional work to do for NuGlow and Delilah’s clothing line. Sara also secured a great opportunity for the squad to create and teach choreography for a dance movie. So, while I’m working on my sci-fi movie, they’ll be teaching another movie cast how to dance. We’re all going to be very busy with insane schedules.

  “It would be really difficult to manage the businesses and school all alone, but I guess we can figure it out. Are you going to be able to focus on work if they stay here?”

  I shrug a shoulder in defeat and run my hand over Helaku’s soft dark brown hair.

  “I’ll have to. It’s not fair to you and Sam to leave you with all of that responsibility. I guess if I can’t handle being apart, I’ll have to fly home for my days off. I hope they don’t forget me.”

  Fresh tears well up in my eyes. I quickly wipe the tears away and bury my face in Helaku’s tummy. He places his hands on my head and gently pats my head with both hands. I smile and nibble his belly. He shrieks and pounds his little hands against the top of my head.

  “They won’t forget you, puppy. We’ll video chat as often as you can.”

  “Is this a bad time?”

  I look up from Helaku’s beautiful face and quickly wipe my eyes. The restaurant owners, Jody and Hank Duval, are standing behind Sam, looking very concerned and awkward.

  “No. I’m just having pre-separation emotions for when I have to leave town for work in a couple of weeks. You can join us.”

  Chapter Three

  I sprint to the front of the house to open the door. Sara is standing on the step with four bottles of champagne in her hands. Keira is standing next to her with a large bouquet of beautiful long stem crimson roses, white lilies, and long sprigs of thin vibrant green pine. And Tonya and Jade are standing behind them with a couple more bottles of champagne and a bag of ice.

  Sara inhales deeply with her eyes slanted, and says, “Damn, it smells amazing in there. Is Dana cooking already?”

  I relieve Sara of two of the bottles of champagne and step aside so they can walk in. “Yeah, she’s making a feast in there. You didn’t have to buy me flowers for inviting you to dinner.”

  Sara shoves my arm, saying, “They’re for Dana, weirdo.”

  After they shed their jackets and hang them in the closet, we follow Keira and her beautiful giant bouquet of flowers to the kitchen. Dana stops mid-pour as she’s filling small ceramic pots with what looks like chocolate cake batter.

  “Oh, those are beautiful.”

  Dana’s eyes tear up as she quickly sets the mixing bowl down and wipes her hands off on a towel. As Keira hands her the flowers, they give each other a hug.

  “Thank you so much. Kayla, do you have a vase I can put these in?”

  “Yeah, sure. Here, Sara, you should probably put these in the spare fridge in the garage because this one is full.”

  Sara takes the champagne and she and Jade take them down the hall to put them in the garage. After I find a sturdy crystal vase for the flowers, Keira arranges them nicely and sets them on the informal dining room table for Dana. Her teenage daughters Courtney and Alexis and her husband Phil admire the
flowers before Alexis moves around the squad, giving all of them very tight hugs and thanking them for giving her mom such pretty flowers.

  Alexis is a very sweet energetic girl with down syndrome. Dana has had a lot of trouble from other people making fun of Alexis or judging Dana for her decision not to abort the pregnancy when the doctors told her the baby would likely be born with the disorder. But I’m so glad she didn’t listen to them and she brought Alexis into the world. I first met Alexis and Courtney when I did my first ever choreography class at Jaime’s dance studio before our careers really took off. I immediately was drawn to Alexis’ energetic spirit and we have been friends with the family ever since.

  In her slower and very calculated speech pattern, Alexis takes my hand, and asks, “Can I be in another dance video with you?”

  I smile really big and Alexis’ face instantly spreads into a giant smile too. “Yeah, we can do that. Do you want me to choreograph something?”

  “No, Jaime taught me a dance. I want to teach to you and you do my dance with me.”

  “Awesome. That’s even better. Dana, how much longer before dinner?”

  “Only about fifteen minutes. Honey, can you teach Kayla your dance after dinner?”

  “Ok, after dinner. You’ll put it on your channel?”

  “I’ll have to get Jaime’s permission since she created the choreography.”

  Alexis looks over at Jaime with a slack jaw and wide eyes. Jaime smiles as she walks over to us. She rubs Alexis’ shoulder in an encouraging way and nods once.

  “You can upload the dance.”

  She hops in place with her hands in loose fists at her shoulders, saying, “Yay, thank you! I’m going to be famous with Kayla so other girls like me know they can do it too.”

  Her happiness and energy are so incredible. “I can’t wait to see this dance. What style is it?”

  “Lyrical.”

  “That’s one of my favorites.”

  Montana starts crying in the bassinet she’s lying in by the dining room table, and Alexis quickly rushes over to her side with me following her.