South Beach Love

by Caridad Piñeiro

  He seemed happy, truly happy. She liked to think she was the reason for that change. She liked to think he would want to keep that change going and explore a life with her. But first they had to get past tonight.

  She checked what was happening with her toston and picadillo first course. With a quick taste, she said, “Delicious. We’ll start plating at my station once the quinceañera traditions are finished.”

  Sara hated the thought of not seeing Angelica and Samantha go through the rituals marking their passage into womanhood, but she had to be in the kitchen to make sure the first course came out on time. When she returned to her station, two of her women were already laying out the plates for the first course and prepping them with the first batch of tostones out of the fryer.

  “That looks good, Diana. Sheila,” she said to her chefs. Pride filled her at how her staff was handling things.

  Jeri came rushing over from the pastry chef’s station where they were decorating the plates that would later hold the trio of flans they’d prepared the day before.

  “Everything okay?” she asked her partner.

  “No, it’s not. The girls are about to walk in, and you and Tony should be out there to see it. Get him and go,” Jeri said with a shooing motion.

  “But –”

  “No, buts. We’ve got this,” she said and once again urged Sara to go with a wave of her hands.

  “Everything okay?” Tony asked as he walked over, a furrow of concern across his forehead.

  “OMG, you two are like peas in a pod. Everything is okay and you should be outside watching your nieces,” Jeri repeated, exasperation dripping from her voice.

  With a quick look around the kitchen, Tony seemed satisfied that they could spare the time. “Let’s go,” he said and grabbed Sara’s hand to playfully drag her into the ballroom where they stood by the kitchen door, watching the festivities. Still holding hands. Together, she thought, buoyed by their connection.

  The MC for the band announced, “Would everyone please take their seats to welcome Angelica and Samantha and their quinceañera courts.”

  The guests hurried to find their places and barely a minute later, the band launched into the cover of a pop song both girls loved. The doors to the ballroom opened and the court consisting of the girls’ friends and their dates danced their way into the room. After a brief pause for the MC to announce them, Angelica and Samantha walked in on the arms of their escorts, bright smiles on their faces. Each girl held a plush doll which they stopped to hand off to a youngster seated at a table before they walked up to where Matt and Esteban waited for them.

  Their escorts helped them sit in the chairs positioned before the two fathers on the dance floor and then walked off. As the fathers came around, each holding a pair of high heels, the two girls lifted their dress hems to reveal they were wearing their soccer cleats, prompting laughter from their guests as well as Sara and Tony.

  Since the tradition was meant to signify giving up childhood, Sara joked, “I sure hope this doesn’t mean they’re done with soccer.”

  “Me either, since Sylvia tells me their team might make it to the championships this year,” Tony said.

  The cleats came off and the high heels went on so that the girls could dance with their dads and it was as awkward as the girls had said it would be. The dads did an off-rhythm back and forth, barely moving. In a change-up to tradition, in the middle of the song the dads stepped away and let the moms dance with their girls.

  “That’s so nice,” Sara said, her gaze wavering as tears of joy welled up in her eyes.

  “It is. Maybe one day you’ll do that as well,” Tony said and when her gaze met his, she let herself hope that it might be their child she danced with. A child with her light eyes and his dark hair.

  As the music ended, the next part of the ritual continued with each girl receiving the different items of jewelry that a woman would wear. A tiara from their mothers and a bracelet from a godmother. Her sister Bridget stepped in to slip the bracelet on Samantha’s hand while one of Sylvia’s best friends did the honor for Angelica. After, Bridget came over to her with a box holding the necklace Sara had for Samantha. She left Tony’s side to take part in the ritual, easing the gold necklace with Sam’s initial over her niece’s neck before returning to Tony.

  While the girls were receiving their gifts, the photographer from South Beach Style was busy taking pictures, a videographer tagging along with him. Sara craned her neck and finally took note of Roberta Lane standing on the edges of the dance floor, a pleased look on her face. She still was uncertain about the reporter’s supposed about-face, but she guessed she would see once her article about the event came out. Whether good or bad, no matter who she featured, she refused to let it upset her.

  With the ritual completed, the MC announced that the first course would soon be coming out which was their cue to head back into the kitchen. As they entered, Tony said, “Let’s make this a meal they won’t forget.”

  “Let’s do this,” she said, happy to be working with him. She was certain that the quality of the food would speak for itself and help them both with their businesses. In a moment of spontaneity, she dropped a kiss on his cheek before hurrying away to her station. When she arrived, she was pleased to see that the line chefs were already dishing out the picadillo over the Cuban toast and grating a little cotija cheese, a last-minute addition for visual appeal, over the dish. Another set of servers were loading all the completed plates onto serving trays and heading out to serve the first course.

  With the first course well in-hand, she hurried over to another station where Tony assisted a different group of chefs with the salad preparation. She helped scoop, slice, and present the avocados while Tony handled the dressing and final decorations.

  Finished with that, they were both about to oversee the main course when one of Sara’s pastry chefs scurried over, a look of dread on her face. “Chefs, we have a problem,” she said, hands fisted at her side.

  “What is it, Brenda?” Sara asked patiently, not wanting to add to the chef’s apparent upset.

  “The strawberry jelly didn’t set. I used the right amount of gelatin, I just don’t know what went wrong,” Brenda said, almost in tears. Wringing her hands with worry.

  Sara laid a hand on hers to still the nervous motion and gave a reassuring squeeze. “These things happen. Let’s figure out what to do.” She walked over to the station with the chef where, sure enough, the assorted trays they’d laid out to set in the fridge were still not firm enough to cut into the circles they wanted for the banana flan.

  With Tony beside her, she considered what to do. Shooting a quick look at Tony, she said, “We can whip up some cream, add the unset jelly, and make a mousse to pipe on top. What do you think?”

  Tony nodded. “I think it’ll work. I’ll help you in a second,” he said and in no time, they had put things to right for the dessert.

  Just in time, Sara thought as the busboys had started bringing in the dirty dinner plates while the waiters and waitresses took out coffee and tea for the guests.

  She and Tony stood by and watched the dessert plates fly out the door. When there wasn’t a plate left to serve, they turned and faced the many chefs who had worked with them to execute the meal.

  “Thank you, all. You did an amazing job,” she said and clapped her hands to congratulate them.

  Tony smiled, and wrapped an arm around her waist. He drew her near and said, “It’s been a pleasure working with all of you. Each of you is a true professional. Now let’s get ourselves something to eat!”

  With that the kitchen went into action to set up meals for the staff on some nearby worktables, but Sara was too wired to eat. She laid a hand over her stomach and said, “I can’t believe we pulled it off.”

  “I can,” Tony said and cupped her cheek. “You’re an amazing chef, Sara. It’s truly been wonderful t
o work with you.”

  Joy filled her, warming her heart with intense pleasure and pride at his recognition of her talents. With his support and his love. “You too, Tony. I’m glad the girls found a way to deal with everything so we could do this together,” she said.

  He ran his thumb across her cheek, his touch gentle. Soothing. “I’m glad too.”

  She crinkled her nose and he tapped it playfully, smoothed his finger across it as she said, “I hope that means that you and I can cook together again?”

  Tony grinned, a broad welcoming grin that caused her heart to skitter, but then he lowered his hand to wrap around the nape of her neck and draw her closer. “You know Javi has said he might be interested in making some investments here in Miami. Like maybe in a new restaurant for his little brother. But I don’t really want to go it alone. I’d rather have a partner to help me do it.”

  “A partner? As in–”

  “You and me, Sara. I want to be partners in every way you can think of because I love you,” he said and applied gentle pressure to draw her even closer.

  “Not just think you love me? You love love me?” she teased even though her heart was racing so hard, it was knocking against her ribs.

  “I love love you. I think this is the part where you say–”

  “I love love you too, Tony. I want to be your partner in all things,” she said, but then guilt jumped in.

  “But what about Jeri?” she said, worried about her partner. Jeri and she had always worked together and she hadn’t really envisioned that changing. But she was sure her partner would never hold her back, not matter how hard it might be for Jeri.

  “I think Jeri can manage Munch on her own. Or with Rick helping her. So, what do you think?” he said, and his warm breath spilled across her lips.

  Rick would only be too willing to help Jeri and maybe that would help her partner also move on with her life. Certain that they could make things right for all of them, she moved the last little inch until her lips brushed against his as she said, “I think you’ve got yourself a new partner.”

  He shifted his mouth over hers, deepening the kiss, and she let herself melt into the moment she’d only imagined as a young girl and then a teen.

  It was far far better than any of those kisses she’d only dreamed about because he was there, in the flesh, and he was hers. Nothing could be better.

  Two weeks later, Tony sat beside Sara at the News Café as they read the article in South Beach Style. He’d been dreading it and yet the article was incredibly upbeat on various levels. The focus on the girls and their quinceañera was nicely balanced with the competition that had never really happened once the girls had combined their parties. Much like in the national television segment, there was nothing but praise for how the quince had helped Bridget’s non-profit group as well as for Tony and Sara’s skills. And to his surprise and pleasure, both of them had been equally featured in the piece as well as the national segment.

  Within days of the segment airing, both he and Sara had been inundated with requests for more interviews about the quinceañera and also about their future plans. Since they had both discussed it with their partners and chefs, it had been the perfect time to talk up their personal and business partnership and what they hoped to do with a new, shared venue. That had generated a great deal of interest from various sectors and in no time, they had lined up the financing for a new restaurant.

  “I’m surprised,” he said and lay the magazine down on the table.

  Sara swept her hand across the glossy pages with the pictures of the girls and the two of them at the quinceañera. The emerald and diamond engagement ring on her finger caught the Miami sunlight as she did so, bringing warmth to his heart just as it did every time he looked at it. She was his and in just a few months, she’d be his wife.

  “I am too. I guess she was serious with her apology,” Sara said and glanced at him, her grey-green eyes alive with joy. She smiled in a way that made his heart skip a beat and he knew it would always be that way between them. Exciting. Happy. Comforting.

  “She was. And this article, like the national segment, is going to be a big help,” Tony said.

  “I can’t believe how fast this is all happening. I mean just a month ago –”

  “We barely knew each other?” he said, took hold of her hand, and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

  Sara laughed and wagged her head. “Kind of. And now, we’ve got our whole lives to get to know each other better.”

  “We do, but first we need to go check out all those locations Esteban has lined up for the new place. There’s even one just a few doors down from Munch,” he said, closed the magazine and pulled out the printouts with the details his brother-in-law had sent over.

  Sara pulled out the listing for the location near Munch and perused it with a twitch of her nose. “It would be nice to be close, just in case.”

  Tony laughed and smoothed a finger across her nose and then down, across the tight set of her lips. “Now who is being controlling? Jeri can handle it. Deep down you know that. Plus we both know Rick will be there and Bridget too. Maybe even Javi, sabes.”

  “Yes, I know,” she said and shot him a side glance. “Did you know Bridget and Javi were involved ages ago?”

  Tony nodded. “Javi said it was ‘water under the bridge.’”

  “But you don’t believe him,” she said and then quickly added, “I don’t either. You should have seen Bridget’s face when she heard he was back and staying.”

  Tony paused, considering what Sara had said. With a chuckle and a shake of his head, he said, “So much romance. Jeri and Rick. Javi and Bridget.”

  Sara cupped his cheek and ran her thumb across his lips. “You and me. Forever, Tony. Side-by-side at the restaurant. In life. I can’t wait to be your wife. I love you so much.”

  Tony leaned his forehead against hers and rubbed his nose across hers. “I love you too, and I can’t wait to start our lives together.” He dropped a quick kiss on her lips, shifted away, and grabbed the real estate listing from Esteban so they could look at not only locations for a new restaurant, but for a home to share.

  “Let’s take this next step together,” he said, rose from the table, and held out his hand to her.

  She slipped her hand into his. “Together.”

  Epilogue

  “Chica, stop moving around,” Dolores groused around as she undid the bustle at the back of the wedding gown.

  “I just can’t help it,” Sara said and peered over her shoulder at Bridget who was standing by the entrance. “Are they ready yet?”

  “Patience,” Sylvia said as she came to stand by Dolores. “You really outdid yourself with this dress, amiga,” Sylvia said and hugged her friend.

  “It had to be perfect for Sara and Tony,” Dolores said and did a “come here” motion to Angelica and Samantha who had been standing off to the side in the anteroom of the church. “Niñas, one last look, por favor.”

  “Mami, chill,” Samantha said and rolled her eyes as her mother did another inspection of the bridesmaids’ gowns she had made for them.

  “You chill. You want to look right for that celebrity magazine, don’t you?” Dolores shot back.

  “They are all going to look fabulous, and you won’t be able to keep people away from the shop,” Sylvia said. Bridget seconded the comment.

  “You really are a genius, and I’m so appreciative of all that you’re both doing with my ladies from the shelter,” she said and hugged Dolores and Sylvia, who had been offering legal help to the group.

  The music that had been softly playing inside the church stopped and a second later the wedding planner stuck her head into the anteroom. “The rest of the bridal party is on their way back here. Get ready for the walk down the aisle.”

  Sara sucked in a breath and couldn’t resist sneaking a peek up the aisle to whe
re Tony stood in his tuxedo, looking more handsome than possible. Her heart did a little skitter while her stomach fluttered in anticipation of her walk to meet him.

  So much had happened in the last year. Dolores had been able to open her own shop, and it was doing well thanks in large part to a new article from Roberta about how Dolores was helping to train women from Bridget’s nonprofit. The shop had also gotten some grants from Javi to smooth the way. The two teenagers, once rivals, were now the best of friends. As promised, Javi had settled down in Miami and provided part of the financing so that Tony and she could open a new restaurant that was a melding of both of their styles. Located at the furthest end of Lincoln Road, just blocks from Munch, Fusion offered high-end twists on family favorites and had been a great success. They had already won several local awards and been featured in a couple of cooking magazines. Those accolades had helped bring business to Fusion and to their other restaurants also.

  But best of all, she was now getting married to the man she’d had a crush on since she was ten years old. A man who was kind, talented, funny and so many other things she hadn’t even known but had come to learn and love over the last six months.

  What could be better? she thought as the wedding planner signaled for everyone to get in line to begin the walk down the aisle.

  Tony had his hands clasped in front of him and rocked back and forth on his heels as he waited for his bride to meet him at the altar.

  The church was filled with friends and family, but Tony only cared about seeing Sara walking down that aisle to his side.

  The months since he’d made his decision to stay had been a blur, but a happy one. After all the work to open their Fusion restaurant, he was back in the kitchen doing what he loved best. Even better, he was doing it with his absolutely brilliant and amazing Sara by his side.