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I crumpled up the paper cup and tossed it in the trash. “I think that’s the first thing I’ve had to drink since lunch.”
“Charlie,” Shelby scolded. “It’s after ten o’clock. You need to take care of yourself.”
“Shelby,” Wilder called. “Let the guy be. We just had an amazing day, and I’m pretty sure none of us drank enough today.” He looped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “I think we need to lock up and deal with the mess from today tomorrow.”
“I’ll be here early working on everything, and then the delivery truck will be here at nine.” I was going to be lucky if I got a few hours of sleep before I needed to be up.
Wilder nodded. “I’ll be here at eight.”
“Me, too,” Shelby added. “I can take a day or two off from my wreaths to help out.”
Neither of them needed to help. They had both done so much for the reopening. “I think you guys should take a few days and get away from all this madness.”
Wilder scoffed. “Hell no, man. I live for this shit. I love seeing something we put our sweat and tears into doing well. Today was just the first step in our plan for fried chicken and biscuit world domination.”
“I’d settle with just conquering Jefferson County,” I chuckled. Hell, I was good with just staying in business for forty more years.
“Maybe Chicken King will decide to move over a few counties and stay away from us?” Shelby suggested. “I mean, if I were Chicken King and saw the mega line of people we had today, I would think twice about moving in here.”
Wilder shook his head. “I think the boat has passed for Chicken King picking up and moving somewhere else. I drove by their site the other day, and they already had the foundation poured.”
“Damn,” Shelby sighed.
“But that doesn’t matter. Our chicken is better and for damn sure, our biscuits are better. All it is going to take is people going there one time and realizing that the better food is here. We’re making everything from scratch while Chicken King gets everything trucked in and just warmed.”
Wilder was right, but there were other factors that would possibly make people choose Chicken King over Chicken Biscuit.
Their prices for one.
They were a big chain restaurant that got large discounts, while Chicken Biscuit had higher prices for being scratch-made.
“Well, let’s hope the good food keeps people coming back.” That was one thing I knew we beat Chicken King at.
“Right.” Shelby downed the rest of her champagne and tossed the cup in the trash. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m about ready to fall down. Take me home, Wilder Presley; mama needs sleep.”
Wilder chuckled and tossed his cup in the garbage. “We’ll see you in the morning, Charlie. Try to get some sleep.”
Wilder and Shelby headed out the back door, and I finished shutting down the restaurant.
Twenty minutes later, I was lying in bed going over the day, but I kept getting stuck on one moment.
Missy.
I hadn’t expected to see her today.
I also hadn’t expected for it to feel like I was sucker punched when she looked at me. Her eyes felt empty as she looked at me. The fun, spunky Missy seemed to have disappeared and was replaced with just emptiness.
Was she okay?
Had something happened other than us breaking up?
Shelby didn’t mention anything about Missy, though not like I expected her to talk about her best friend with me. I’m sure they had some sort of girl code, but I wanted to know if something was going on with her.
Sure, we had always been casual, but I had cared about Missy. Hell, I loved her and still did. I just didn’t know how to give her all of the attention she deserved when the restaurant was pulling me in ten different directions.
She deserved to be the center of my world, and I couldn’t do it.
I had told myself she needed more than I could give her and let her be free to find something better.
