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“Yep.” I had to grin a bit too because I was still fairly proud of myself for pulling this off. “I already had savings and I spent the next year busting my ass, working nonstop and living as frugally as possible so I could scrounge up the money to buy the company from Dad. But it wasn’t just buying the company I had to think about. I knew I needed something to revive the actual business, too.”
“And that was the restaurant, right?” Emmett guessed.
“Sure was,” I beamed.
I had dreamed up Stanton Family Market as a way to revitalize the company’s image. People saw us as old, outdated, and I wanted to change their minds. So I pulled all my old work connections, landed a miracle i
nvestor, and ran a few pop-up restaurants in less expensive locations before finally opening up in East Hampton.
I knew if I could make the café popular, I could make the company relevant again. So I created social media buzz with our over-the-top, admittedly overpriced smoked tuna and roe sandwiches, as well as our notoriously Instagram-able brunches, including that lobster claw Bloody Mary. I emailed a million food blogs and magazines to do write-ups about us. I was busting my ass to rebrand the Stanton Family name to something “cool and relevant.”
And within a year of doing that, our orders at the warehouse started going up again.
“That’s fucking nuts, Aly. Basically, you saved the shit out of your family business,” Emmett said, wearing a broad grin on his face. The fact that he sounded genuinely proud of me made my heart skip a beat. “So, do you ever plan on having a location that’s open for more than just the summer?”
“I’d love to. And I’ve thought about it a lot, but it would only make sense to do that in the city, and I just don’t have the money for that yet,” I said. “And for now, I should concentrate on this first location.”
“I gotta be honest, I looked it up the other day and you’ve got fuckin’ killer reviews,” Emmett grinned, watching me beam like an idiot. “I mean your dad has to be… I don’t know. Crazy happy? Over the moon?”
I smiled awkwardly. “Oh God, my dad is… embarrassingly proud,” I said in a rush before taking a swig of my water. I tried to think of a subject change but right in time, my phone buzzed. “Oh,” I laughed when I saw the text. “It’s your mom.”
“Really?” Emmett snorted as I read the message.
AUNT AUDREY: Oh no Aly!!! Emmett texted me that he’s actually staying in the Hamptons? I hope you’re not angry with me for promising you the house to yourself! He told me he’d be gone all summer!!
“Aww.” I giggled and showed Emmett the screen. As he laughed, I cocked my head. “Dude. Why did you tell your mom you’d be gone all summer?” I asked while texting Audrey some reassurance.
“Because she was trying to set me up with her friends’ daughters.”
“What, are they not pretty enough for your astronomical standards?” I teased.
“They’re pretty,” Emmett said, making me irrationally jealous for a second. “But if my mom’s introducing me to someone, she’s suggesting I start a relationship with her, and like I said, I don’t do those.”
“Have you literally never been in a relationship since high school?” I asked.
“No, I was in one during college,” Emmett replied, giving no details beyond that. I blinked expectantly.
“And… it just wasn’t any good?”
“It was great.”
“What? Then why did it end?” I asked. I knew I was pressing a bit hard, but I also couldn’t imagine a scenario that didn’t involve Emmett being the one who ended things. That was just who he was. In high school, after the two or three-month mark, he always found a reason to blindside his girlfriend and dump her. He was always so blithe about it too. While the poor girl usually spent a month or two recovering, Emmett just went on being Emmett – not having a care in the world.
But judging from his dark expression right now, that maybe wasn’t the case with his last relationship.
“I just didn’t have the time for it,” he said flatly, getting up to make a sandwich. “Any more questions?” he asked, eyeing me before opening the fridge.
“No,” I said, mildly rattled by the return of Angry Emmett. I squirmed in my seat for the next few minutes, neither of us saying a word. Emmett made his food and I just sat there, staring at his muscled back and watching his shoulder blades move under his shirt.
I wet my lips.
“Dude. Did you see what happened with the game last night?” I asked suddenly, opting for some Empires talk to lighten the mood. I held my breath when he didn’t immediately answer.
“No,” he finally said, prompting me to exhale. “I know we won, but I didn’t catch highlights.”
“Well, apparently we went into extra innings,” I said eagerly. “Jennings hit the walk-off homer in the twelfth.”
“Yeah?” Emmett peered over his shoulder, lifting his eyebrow with interest. “Pull up the video.”
