Page 47 of Bones

Changedeverything.

“I know,” Kevin said as he rubbed his face again, “but… hell. I hadn’t thought it would happen. That was a problem for future Kevin.”

“It’s not a problem for any?—”

“Does this have anything to do with Aurora? Because I’ve never seen you so much as glance at any of theverywilling women who practically throw themselves at you, and now suddenly you’re giving lovey eyes to this mystery woman. Who—no offense again—is way out of your league, so I can’t even fault you. I’d want to spend all my time with her if she was mi?—”

My magicks might not have anything to do with wildlife, but the growl that rumbled out was animalistic enough to cut off Kevin’s words.

Less than a day, and I’m already this bad.

I couldn’t say I was upset by that fact, either.

Kevin recovered and rolled his eyes at me. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

It was my turn to scrub a hand down my face. “To answer your other questions, I’m not boarding up the windows and ditching out. Black Horse will remain open, just without me involved in the day-to-day.”

“How’s that even going to work?”

“The same way millions of other restaurants do it.”

With about a hundred of those being my previous ones that’re still operational.

“Scales Restaurant Group”—also my company—“will handle payroll, taxes, maintenance and upgrades, and whatever other bullshit comes up. They’ll be there if you need them, but so long as everything is running well, they’ll stay out of your way.”

“So menu decisions, staffing?—”

“You’ve been handling most of that with Chris,” I said, tilting my head toward where the head chef was likely cursing in the deep freezer at the lack of ordered items. “Only thing changing is I won’t be here for the final sign-off.”

“Does this mean I can switch our supplier to the one the chains use and just serve cheap frozen food at an inflated price while pocketing the profits?”

Unlike a lot of restaurants, profit and coming in under budget never factored into bonuses. I had more money than I could spend, so we could’ve operated in the red for all I cared—and some of my other places did. It was about filling a need.

Filling stomachs with fresh food that nourished.

I knew Kevin was joking, but horror rippled through me.

My expression must’ve shown it because he burst out laughing. “I’m fucking with you. We’ve got a good thing going. I’m not stupid enough to mess with it.” He laced his fingers behind his head, and despite the casual pose, I could see the anxiety in his expression. “So how long until your new woman and wanderlust drag you away?”

“There’s still time.”

Hopefully.

My gaze went to the door before I continued. “I won’t be in as much. And when I am, I’ll be stuck in paperwork hell, getting my chaos in order. But that’ll give us a safety net window to make sure the transition goes smoothly before I’m gone. And, obviously, this role change for you comes with a raise.”

“I’ll probably regret pointing this out, but you already overpay me and everyone else here compared to industry standards.” He tilted his head. “Or any standards.”

“And look how well the place runs.”

All my staff were paid well and worked reasonable hours. It was part of why we were only open for dinner—there was no reason to take up their days for only a small lunch crowd to trickle in. During the summer, when tourist season hit, we also did a weekend brunch, but those were busy enough to be worth the staff’s time.

And for reservations to book up six months in advance.

My former restaurants ran the same way. Good pay and decent hours so the staff had a work-life balance.

Balance and fulfillment. It was ingrained in me.

It was the base of who I was.

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