Nothing But This (Broken Pieces 2)

“Stop what?” she asked blankly.

“Allowing what your parents think of you to influence the way you think about yourself. You can do this, Tina. We can both do it.”

Tina scrubbed both hands over her face and allowed herself another deep sigh before lifting her eyes to Libby’s again. “Yeah, we just need to figure out a way to get all those previous customers back. If the townspeople really are as stubbornly loyal to the old MJ’s as Thandiwe thinks, then I’m not sure how to lure them back.”

“Look, it’s only the first night. They have to drive thirty minutes to get to another halfway-decent, affordable family restaurant. Or leave their kids at home and go to Ralphie’s for limp fish and chips or stale burgers. Soon, desperation for a good night out, more than anything else, will have them coming back.”

“Maybe.” Tina nodded, again looking completely unconvinced.

“Definitely. And Daff said she’d help us with some marketing.” The woman was the marketing-and-promotions manager for her husband’s three huge sporting-goods stores and had promised to work up a marketing strategy for MJ’s while she was on maternity leave. Her husband hadn’t been too pleased with that, but Daff had complained of being bored at home.

“It seems like a lot to expect from a total stranger,” Tina said skeptically.

“I don’t know about you, but after five minutes with those sisters, I feel like I’ve known them for years.”

“Yeah, they’re pretty nice.” Tina, being Tina, still looked doubtful.

“More than nice.” Warm and welcoming were the words that sprang to mind when Libby thought of the sisters. And immediately affectionately familiar. It was hard not to like them. Tina nodded again. Her eyes were troubled, but she didn’t say anything more on the subject.

“Come on, let’s go home and get to bed. We have another long day tomorrow,” Libby said, and Tina ducked her head, powered down her laptop, and tucked it under her arm; she then slung her bag over her shoulder. Libby packed up the baby bag and gently gathered her contentedly sleeping baby into her arms.

The kitchen staff had left, and the building was eerily quiet as Tina did a walk around the restaurant to make sure everything was off and in place. It looked amazing. The staff had done a wonderful job of cleaning up. The decision to keep them had been a sound one.

Libby watched as Tina took one last, lingering look around and smiled at the glimmer of pride she saw in her friend’s eyes. The place looked beautiful, a far cry from the shabby interior of before, and Libby experienced her own surge of pride at everything Tina had accomplished here. Her good taste was evident in everything from the furnishings to the tableware to the new color scheme. Tina may have made a few crucial mistakes this weekend, but this was something she had done exceptionally well.

Libby hoped, for both their sakes, that the townsfolk would start supporting MJ’s, because it would be a shame for all of this work to go unappreciated.

“You sure you don’t want to stay at mine tonight? I mean, does your shower even work?” Tina asked as she stood beside her car and watched Libby secure Clara in the car seat.

“I managed to get it working this morning. The water was cold, though.” Libby shuddered at the thought of another cold shower, but she was determined to tough it out. It was her home, for better or worse. She was going to make it perfect . . . and she’d appreciate it more after all the initial trials and tribulations.

Tina had a small semidetached house just a few minutes away from the restaurant, but she had driven to work because of the heavy rain that morning. Libby’s house was a little farther away, closer to the beach.

Tina nodded and got into her car. She rolled down the window and watched until Libby was safely in her own car. They both started up their vehicles simultaneously and drove in opposite directions.

The house was shrouded in darkness when she got home, and she cursed herself for not remembering to at least leave the porch light on when she left for work. Her place was a little out of town and quite a distance from the next-closest house. A security system was another item on her very long to-do list, but until then, she had to remember to do things like leave lights on. She didn’t just have her own safety to consider anymore.

It was going to be enough of a struggle negotiating the cobbled path to the porch while lugging a baby carrier, baby bag, and her own huge purse. Having to do it in the dark would be much worse.

She considered leaving Clara in the car while she dashed inside to switch on some lights, but the thought of leaving her baby in the gloom was disturbing, and she decided to leave the baby bag and purse instead.