Chasing His Kickass Luna Back Chapter 386

Abby

Despite the warm spring weather and the golden glow of the city lights at night, the restaurant feels more imposing than ever as I stare up at it. I take in a shuddering breath, blinking back the tears that threaten to spill.

Not tonight. I won’t cry tonight.

A warm hand slips into mine, and I look over to see Karl standing next to me. He gives my hand a squeeze and offers me a soft smile.

“You good?” he asks.

I breathe in again and nod, although I don’t really feel ‘good’. Karl, noticing this, loops his arm around me as we begin walking up the pathway that I’ve walked a million times.

“It’s gonna be a good night,” he says. “Remember: one door closes, another opens.”

“One door closes, another opens,” I echo softly.

We walk up the path together and up to the door leading into the restaurant. Tonight, we closed the restaurant to the public for one last dinner with everyone. Or at least, that’s what was supposed to happen.

But when I open the door to see balloons, streamers, and banners decorating the restaurant, I realize that the plans may have changed.

“Surprise!” everyone shouts as they jump out from behind tables, the bar, and various corners.

I let out a gasp. They’re all wearing ridiculous party hats and holding noise-makers that grate on my ears as they spin them and blow into them. Someone hits play on the stereo and loud music begins to play over the speakers, further adding to the din.

“Oh my god,” I say with a laugh when I see the mayhem beginning to unfold around us. I turn to Karl, who’s grinning from ear to ear. “Did you know about this?”

Karl shrugs. “I may have been involved with a thing or two,” he admits. “But it was mostly Chloe’s idea.”

“Chloe, huh?” I echo, turning to look at her as she saunters up to me with a party hat sitting crooked on her head.

“Good riddance!” Chloe teases as she skips up to me and Karl. “Finally, we’re getting the mean boss lady out of here!”

“You know what they say,” Daisy chimes in, perching on the corner of a table with a champagne flute already in hand. “When the cat’s away, the mice come out to play.”

“Now listen here,” I chide playfully. “I think I’ve been a very nice boss to all of you.”

John, chuckling, wraps his arm around my shoulders and ruffles my hair. “Yeah, yeah. Keep telling yourself that.”

I can’t help but laugh at my friends’ teasing. Before I know it, the party has evolved into exactly what I would expect at the end of the day; laughing, shouting, stupid party games, and most importantly, bad dancing to the music playing over the speakers.

Not to mention the fact that someone has made two gaudy paper crowns, which Karl and I now wear; the royalty of the bunch, even though I refuse to see myself that way.

On the dance floor, Chloe and Logan are doing a very poor rendition of the waltz; Daisy is showing Leah how to play an oddly specific card game in the corner; and John, Anton, and Karl are standing off to the side, having a rather animated discussion about who-knows-what.

As I lean up against the bar, sipping on something non-alcoholic and watching the scene in front of me, Ethan limps up next to me. He clinks his glass with mine, and we watch the others mess around on our impromptu dance floor for a few moments.

“So,” he finally says. “The restaurant’s really mine now, huh?”

I flash him a soft smile with only a hint of sadness behind it. “That depends,” I say, although the papers were already signed, essentially handing the place over, more or less, to Ethan several days ago. “Are you gonna do well with her?”

Ethan chuckles. “I’ll certainly do my best.”

“That’s all I can ask for.”

We sip our drinks for a few more moments in companionable silence. It’s hard to believe that it’s come to this; Ethan is the new CFO and head manager of the restaurant. I’m still technically the owner, but I’ll hardly be around to have much of a hand in it.

I trust Ethan, though. He, just like John, has been here since the beginning. I’d practically trust him with my life at this point.

“Hey, Abby,” Ethan says, turning to look at me. “I just wanted to say thank you.”

“What?” I ask. “You’re thanking me?”

“Yeah.” He nods and slides up onto a barstool, gesturing to his injured leg. “You accepted me when no one else would. You took in this old veteran and… you gave me a home.”

“Ethan…” I already feel my eyes misting over with tears. It’s not often that he spills his guts like this; if anything, Ethan is probably the most reserved out of all of us.

“I mean it,” he says. “And in fact, I think I speak for all of us. Daisy, John, Anton; we’ve all been put through the wringer in life. We’ve all been judged. But not by you.”

As Ethan speaks, I realize that I can’t blink back the tears. I quickly grab a cocktail napkin off of the bar and begin dabbing at my eyes and sniffling. “I love you guys,” I say softly. “You’re like my family.”

Suddenly, I feel a wiry arm firmly wrap around my shoulder.

“And you, Abby, are famille to us as well.”

I recognize the thick French accent immediately, and look up to see Anton smiling down at me. Chuckling softly, I lean my head against his shoulder and sigh. “I’m gonna miss you guys.”

“We’ll be together soon,” Anton says. “For that wedding of yours.”

“And in Paris in two years, apparently,” Ethan adds, raising his glass. “To win another competition, eh?”

I can’t help but laugh. “Yes. To win another competition.”

“We will make sure to visit plenty in the meantime. Besides, I will have to travel to visit your new restaurant, you know,” Anton adds. “Just to make sure that your new head chef is adding the right amount of spice to the dishes.”

“Actually, Anton,” I say, “I think I’ll be the head chef.”

Anton raises an eyebrow. “Just you?”

“Just me,” I say, glancing over at Karl. “And I’ve got a good sous chef in mind, too.”

“Ah. I see.” Anton follows my gaze, and I feel him sigh with satisfaction. “Well, I will still come to make sure you two are not getting up to… how do you say it? Shenanigans?”

“Oh, we’ll be getting up to plenty of shenanigans,” I say with a hearty chuckle this time. “But probably less without you and John around, actually.”

Anton smirks. “Then I will visit extra. For the shenanigans.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

As we talk, Karl looks up from his conversation with John and meets my gaze from across the room. He doesn’t come over to me, but instead raises his hand and waves, smiling slightly. I wave back and blow him a kiss, which he pretends to catch and put in his pocket.

And in this moment, as I look around at all of my friends, seeing how they’ve all grown and how far we’ve all come, I really do think that I’ve made the right decision.

“One door closes, and another opens,” the old lady at the motel had said. But I don’t know if I believe that. After all, the door hasn’t closed. Not fully, at least.

And we’ve all got the key.