“They look very retro,” Kate said. “Very diner. We want something more unusual.”
“But this town wants retro and diner.”
“No, there are enough of those places. You know I want to cook something more creative than burgers and spareribs.”
“I know, hon.” Mandy shook her head and shrugged. “But I don’t see any of our customers enjoying a vegan quinoa bowl with avocado, either.”
Kate’s stomach tightened. A part of her agreed with Mandy, but she didn’t want to give in to negativity. Mandy seemed to have felt well over the past couple of weeks. She took her medications regularly and didn’t miss therapy. But there wasn’t any way to know if she was thinking clearly.
“Only because they’ve never tried one,” Kate said.
“And they’ve never tried one because they don’t want one.”
Kate didn’t want to stress out Mandy with unnecessary arguments. She’d better change the subject. She walked towards the back of the space. “Here’s a good place for a kitchen door.”
“Yeah. That looks good. Nice central place for the waiters to move quickly. That’s what you want.”
Kate smiled. “Yeah. Agreed. And there are also stairs leading to the first floor where we all can live. Do you want to see it?”
A smile blossomed on Mandy’s face. “Of course!”
She let Jax out of the stroller, and the three of them went up the stairs and into the apartment. Like downstairs, it was big and empty. The old windows, hardwood floors, and flower-patterned wallpaper made Kate think of old times.
Kate finished the tour and they stood in the living room. “We don’t need much. Two bedrooms is enough, right?”
“Absolutely. I’ll share a room with Jax. And it’s so convenient that it’s in the same building as the restaurant.”
Kate hugged her sister, her small frame feeling fragile in Kate’s arms. “I’m so relieved you like it.” She sank to the floor and stroked Jax’s full cheek with her knuckles. He giggled. “And don’t worry, I’ll take care of you two. With money coming in, Jax can go to preschool. You can go to college like you wanted.”
She picked up Jax, set him on her hip, and kissed his sweet, plump cheek.
“Actually,” Mandy said, and her eyes sparkled for the first time in a long time. “What would you think if I were to help you in the restaurant?”
“Help me?”
“Yeah. With anything. Waitressing. Cleaning. Running the business.”
Kate frowned. “Are you sure you’re well enough? And what about college?”
“I want to go to college to be able to run my own business one day. But here we’ll have a business, already. And I could always get an online degree, part-time.”
Kate bit her lip. “I’d love nothing more than to do this together, but I don’t want to overburden you. I’ll take care of you, don’t worry.”
Mandy’s smile fell. “I’m not worried. I just want to do something. Feel useful.”
“Does Dr. Lambert think it’s a good idea?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Tell you what, let’s talk to her and if she clears you for work. We’ll figure something out, okay?”
The doctor had cleared Mandy for work, but Kate still had trouble delegating and giving her sister tasks, afraid that anything might trigger another episode of depression. Mandy’s episodes became less frequent with time, and she became more help than Kate had admitted to herself.
Kate told Ian how Mandy had gotten a celebrity interested in their restaurant—it took a bit of explaining about what TV was and that a TV cooking show was widely popular. Ian blinked, disbelief written all over his face, but he didn’t interrupt.
She told him how she’d wound up in Scotland. How this was their last chance to save the restaurant and keep their home. Ian didn’t ask questions but listened intensely. His face solemn, he nodded from time to time.
Telling someone about her life was strange. She didn’t usually like to talk about herself or her past, but sharing with Ian was freeing, and surprisingly easy.
When she finished, the last word drying out like a drop of water in the fire, Ian was looking at her, his jaw muscles working.
“Say something,” Kate said finally, unable to wait any longer to hear what he thought.
“So ye want to go back to… 2020? Is that so?”
She clenched her fingers together till her knuckles whitened and hurt. She didn’t want to go back. What she wanted, was to stay with him forever. But she had to leave.
“Yes, Ian,” she said, her throat painful.
He nodded.
“Aye. It makes sense now.”
“What does?”
“God wouldna have sent me a woman like ye to make me happy. He sent ye to me to punish me. To give me the biggest happiness of my life only to take ye away.”
Pain pierced Kate’s gut. “No, no. No one is punishing you. You were already hurt enough. You should stop beating yourself up for something that was done to you. For something beyond your control.”
“’Tis all right, lass. At least I’ll ken ye’ll be alive and safe, even though in the future. I never expected to be happily marrit. My life is destined to be lonely, lass.”
Kate’s chest tightened painfully. To hear a man like him saying that was so sad.
And yet it reflected her own thoughts about her future. She’d never thought she’d be one of those women who found their soul mate. Somehow, in the back of her mind, she’d always known she wasn’t worthy of true love. She wasn’t lovable.
Maybe that’s why her mom never took care of her. Something about her made her simply unworthy.
“So is mine,” she said.
“Yers?” He chuckled. “Ye should be praised and worshipped and loved every single day, by a man who’s worthy of ye. ’Tis nae me…”
But it was him. Kate knew it like she knew her own name, if anyone could make her happy, it was Ian.
“I promised ye, I will take ye to Inverlochy,” he said. “And I will make sure ye get back to yer time.”
Kate’s heart shook and trembled, threatened to break into a million pieces.
