AN: Verse used in previous chapter was part of Little King by the Hollowbodies.
Verse in this chapter is from Busted by Jennifer Page.
You're the fever of my night
The dream I just can't fight
Every time I try - busted
You're the shiver up my spine
Can't keep my cool in line
You catch my eye - busted
David checked his watch while he waited at the fisherman's stand. He saw he had just under an hour to get back to the restaurant. He looked at Tina and Mike as they wrapped up his order. Tina saw the time and yelled, "Hurry up the Dalton order or heads will roll!"
David smirked at the petite Asian. "Yeah, I don't have a lot of time. And I know Tina wants her favorite meal tonight, right?"
"A man after my heart, Davie." Tina smirked back. Mike fake-glared at David. David smiled at Mike and moved to stand in front of him. "You know I only have eyes for you, Mikey!"
Laughter rang out all over the shop, Mike included. David held out his fist, and mike bumped it. Tina yelled teasingly, "One of these days boys, I'm going to get you two to kiss!"
The two men shuddered in repulsion, having been friends since they were in diapers. David looked at Tina and replied, "Kiss him? That's like kissing my brother!"
Tina called David to the register and placed 2 full bags on the counter. David handed over the payment and yelled, "See whoever at Dalton when u come in!"
He gathered all his purchases and moved as fast as he could toward the Dalton Cross. Entering the restaurant, he spotted his Aunt Emma. She saw him with so many bags and the bucket of crabs. He smiled at her and pointed toward the kitchen. She nodded and grabbed some of the bags. They headed back and started unloading food.
"I saw Finn today." David said without preamble.
"Oh how's he doing? Haven't seen him since he left for training." Emma smiled at him.
"He's fine. He asked me how I felt about the restaurant closing."
"Oh."
While this conversation was going on, in that little basket of crabs, a crab watched the two humans talk and clicked its pincers. It listened closely and kept a keen eye on the events.
"Emma, we agreed to run this place together. Why didn't you come to me instead of trying to hide it?" David peered at her.
"OK, We aren't making it, Davie. We haven't for some time. The mortgage is 5,000 dollars away from paid off but we haven't had the money to cover that and run the restaurant. I've paid as much as we could spare each month, and we both know the mortgage per month is 1,000. The most I have been able to pay is 900. The company understands why but they would like to see the minimum paid each month. Meaning a thousand each month."
David looked at her, "And I'm guessing banks won't loan us due to declining sales. We can't let anyone go because it's just you, me and Thad. I know we have returning customers but honestly, we need new customers."
Emma nodded at him. She could see the stress this was causing him. He looked at her straight in the eye and asked the question neither wanted to ask, "How long before we would have to close down?"
"A month, give or take," was her reply. David nodded.
"We have been here for almost a hundred years. I'm sorry, this seems to be my fault. I am not as good a cook as Dad and Uncle Will."
"Honey, it's not your fault. We knew it would take you time to be like them. They were some of the best chefs and I, for one, am glad you have taken the reins in the kitchen. We both know I'm hopeless in the kitchen.
