AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chicken Biscuit was taking off with the reopening, and I didn’t need to be hanging around distracting Charlie from his work.
I didn’t fit into his world.
He didn’t need me, and I was going to figure out how not to need him.
And that possibly could be in Wasilla, Alaska.
But first, Bandit and I were going to eat a dozen biscuits with chicken and wallow a few more hours in our broken hearts.
Chapter Four
Charlie
“I don’t think the tills have ever been this full before.” Margot handed me a bulging money bag and beamed proudly. “We were all pretty skeptical about the reopening, Mr. Beck, but we have to hand it to you and Mr. Presley. You guys are exactly what Chicken Biscuit needs.”
Everything that had happened today and the past couple of months had been Wilder. I just went along with what he said because he knew what he was talking about. The guy had designed and built amusement parks around the country and knew what he was talking about when it came to marketing and getting people in the door.
“Yeah, today was pretty crazy. I’m just glad we were able to get the oven fixed and not run out of anything.” I tossed the money bag into the safe and closed the door.
“Well, we might not have run out, but we have about two tenders left for tomorrow.”
I twisted the knob on the safe and sat back in my chair. “The delivery truck should be here at nine tomorrow morning. I’ll be here to make sure we get restocked on everything.”
“Great,” Margot smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Beck.”
The urge to correct her to just call me Charlie was on the tip of my tongue, but I let it go. My dad had been Mr. Beck for years, and now I guess I was Mr. Beck.
“Charlie!” Wilder called.
I checked to make sure the safe was locked and headed to the front of the restaurant.
“What is this?” I asked.
Wilder had a bottle of champagne in his hand, and Shelby was holding a bright red cake with a huge smile on her face.
“Congratulations!” she shouted.
“We’re celebrating, man. We don’t have the official numbers yet, but I have no doubt we just crushed our predictions of how well the reopening was going to do.”
“Even after the expenses of the trio of bounce houses and face painter?” I chuckled.
Wilder scoffed. “Dude, we paid half of what most people do for those. Today was free advertising for them. Scott from Inflatables, Inc., told me they have those three bounce houses booked until the end of the year from people who came to the reopening today.”
“Same for Megan, the face painter. Though I did tell her that someone said I had a colorful penis on my head.” Shelby pointed to the smeared unicorn on her forehead. “I mean, it was Missy who told me, but she always tells me like it is. I’m sure others were thinking it, too.”
“Hey,” Wilder laughed. “You started a trend with that colorful penis on your forehead. I saw at least thirty other kids with it after you got it.” He leaned over and pressed a kiss to her lips.
“You’re sweet even when I look like the penis queen.” She set the cake on the counter and grabbed two paper cups. “I forgot glasses for the champagne, so these are going to have to do.”
Wilder popped the cork and filled the two cups, then grabbed one more cup.
Shelby handed me a cup.
Wilder filled his cup and held it in the air. “To Chicken Biscuit,” he cheered. “May today be the start of something amazing for us and Adams.”
I tapped my cup against his and Shelby’s and downed the champagne.
“Whoa,” Shelby laughed. “It’s champagne, not a shot,” she laughed.
