Now it was my time to smile. “I have an idea,” I said.
TENSETH
Watch Hill Pizza looked like it came out of a magazine. As I walked toward the new outdoor patio, I marveled at that fact. There was a certain charm in the way the pergola, Italian string lights, reclaimed-wood fire pit, and wrought iron furniture set off the Tudor façade of the original restaurant.
We did good. Real good.
Best of all, patrons occupied every table, and it was only a few minutes after six. Kyle was going to have a big night, and my friend deserved it.
“Congratulations,” I said when I reached Kyle’s side at the freestanding bar set up on the far side of the patio. From there, people could order a variety of cold beers and the specialty cocktail of the night, the Watch Hill Spritzer. I held out my elbow. “This is awesome.”
Kyle bumped his arm to mine. “Damn right about that.”
“How many pizza breads have you sold?”
He chuckled. “Too many to count. Tyler’s inside hustling away on those orders.”
“The price of success.”
“Something like that.” Kyle eyed me. “You know, you’ve been a huge help to me over the last few months. I can’t imagine not having you around permanently.”
“Thanks man.”
“You want to stick around? Maybe see what we can do if we stay in business together?”
I regarded him. Before the pandemic, I wouldn’t have even considered that. But he was right. We did have potential as a team. So did this place. “You know what? I think I do.”
“Just what I wanted to hear. Let’s celebrate.” Kyle opened the large cooler beside the bar. “What are you drinking?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” I held up both my hands. “I probably shouldn’t—”
“You’re not working, it’s not a big deal.” He took an ale from the top and handed the cold can to me. “On the house. Least I can do for a guy who helped me get through one of the weirdest periods in my life.”
“Hey man, you helped me too.” I popped the top of the can but didn’t drink any. “I don’t think you realize how much.”
“I know you never expected to find yourself working at a pizza joint in Watch Hill, but hey, life is funny like that sometimes.”
“Sure is.”
Kyle smiled. “Especially when it comes to twists like Kendra.”
I frowned. “Kendra?”
“Yeah, man, she’s inside.”
“What?” I turned toward the restaurant entrance, then back to my friend. “What are you talking about?”
“She’s inside. She showed up about half an hour ago, and she’s helping Ashley organize the brochures we’re giving people with their checks.”
Kyle had hardly finished his sentence before I bolted inside the restaurant. We hadn’t spoken in a few days, and while I’d considered reaching out a few times, I kept vetoing it out of fear she would only rebuff me. She’d made it clear how she felt.
But if she is here now . . .
I found her seated at the table closest to the checkout counter. She was alone, and she stood up as soon as I walked through the door.
“Hi,” I managed.
“Hi, Seth.” She glanced in the direction of the kitchen. “Ashley’s back there helping Kyle if you—”
“You came.”
She nodded. “I did.”
I moved closer. “Did you accept the job?”
She nodded. “I start in two weeks.”
“Amazing.” Excitement filled my chest. “You deserve this.”
“Thank you.” She looked down for a moment, and when she returned her gaze to mine, I saw resolve behind her eyes. “Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for helping me.”
“I wanted to.”
“I know I was being stubborn. I was . . . it’s been weird lately.”
“I know. It’s been weird for me too. But it doesn’t have to stay that way.” Tentatively, I took her hand, and to my surprise she didn’t pull away. “This is your chance. Your fresh start.”
“You’re right.”
I moved a bit closer. “And on top of that, promise me this, okay?”
“What’s that?”
“Now that you’re back in this area, and now that things are—different—promise me that we can start the one thing that we’ve been dancing around for what feels like years. That we can start on us.” I tightened my grip. “Please. I’ve always admired you, Kendra. As a dancer, certainly. But also, as a woman. You’re talented, graceful, clever, and gorgeous as hell. And well, this pandemic has made me think about a lot of things, and I keep coming back to one thing: You. I really want to do life with you.” Talk about laying it all on the line here.
“Seems like it’s our time then, Seth Sampson, because I want to do life with you too.” I smiled, probably looking like a lunatic with how happy I felt. “You have no idea how long I have waited for you to say something like that,” she added.
Yes.
Maybe it was the craziness of the moment. Maybe it was the fact that the pandemic had made it impossible for me to put up with the usual bull that came from living the life I had. But I leaned in and kissed her right then because I couldn’t wait another minute to make her mine.
And it was the best decision I had ever made.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amazon Top 100 and Barnes & Noble Bestselling Author Sara Celi has lived all over the United States. She calls the Midwest home, and lives in a tiny town just outside Cincinnati's city limits.
Before writing books, Sara worked as a TV anchor and reporter at television stations in Louisiana, Ohio, and Oklahoma. She also wrote articles for publications, magazines, and digital media across the country. While working as an evening anchor in Oklahoma City, she wrote what became her first published novel. The Undesirable came out in 2013. In 2014, Natural Love became an Amazon Top 100 Bestselling Book, and was on the Barnes and Noble e-book bestseller list. Prince Charming followed as an Amazon Top 100 Bestseller in 2015. Since then, several of her other
