Almost There, page 28
“I like my job. It feels good to know that I can make my own way in this world, and do some good in it, too.” Naveen shook his head. “I never thought I would say this, but I want to thank you and Father for cutting me off. It turns out that is exactly what I needed.”
His mother cupped his cheek. “I am proud of you, son. I always knew you could accomplish anything once you discovered your heart’s true desire. Well, at least I’d hoped that would be the case,” she amended with a laugh. “Just know there is always a place for you here. You can always come home.”
Naveen caught sight of a sparkling blue dress out of the corner of his eye. He looked over and saw Tiana walking toward them.
“I have found my home,” Naveen said.
“Oh, yes.” His mother patted his cheek. “My grand-children will be lovely.”
She nodded and smiled at Tiana before drifting off to mingle with the other guests.
Naveen took Tiana by the hand and walked her out onto the balcony that overlooked the extensive ornamental gardens below.
“So are you enjoying your first night in the royal palace?” Naveen asked.
“What do you think?” she returned, a hint of sass in her voice.
“Well, I would hope you are, but I can also understand if it’s a bit too much. My sisters can be a handful.”
“They are lovely, and so are your parents, and that adorable little brother of yours. I think he has a crush on Lottie.”
Naveen laughed. “He is a charmer, that one.”
“I wonder where he gets that from?” She winked at him, then walked over to the marble balustrade and leaned against it. Looking up at the sky, she said, “Doesn’t it amaze you that these stars we’re staring at here in Maldonia are the same stars they’re looking at back in N’awlins? It really puts things into perspective when you think about it.”
“It does,” Naveen said. “It tells me that no matter where I am, I can be connected to home if I just look up at the stars.”
“And what a lovely home it is,” Tiana said.
He shrugged. “It’s okay.”
“Okay? Do you want my honest opinion?”
“Of course. Always.”
“I can’t believe you would choose to live in that dusty little apartment in N’awlins when you could live here.”
“It is not the apartment that is keeping me in New Orleans,” Naveen said.
She turned to him, her smile demure, though there was a twinkle in her eye. “Is that so? What else is there that could even compare to this?”
“Come now, Tiana,” Naveen said, taking her by the hands. The moon shone down on them, illuminating her beautiful face. “I don’t have to tell you that I would give up all the money in the world to be with you.”
“Would you really?” she asked.
“In a heartbeat,” Naveen said. He leaned forward until his forehead met hers. Staring into her eyes, he said, “There is nothing that I would not do for you.”
She regarded him with a devilish grin. “I’m gonna remind you of that when I make you wash dishes at the new restaurant.”
Naveen frowned. “Did I say there was nothing I wouldn’t do?”
“That’s right,” Tiana said. “And it’s too late to take it back.”
Then she claimed his lips in a sweet, tender kiss.
“I can’t wait to see that new restaurant in action. Your palace,” Naveen said when they broke apart.
Tiana grinned slowly. “Tiana’s Palace—I like the sound of that.”
New Orleans, 1928
Mardi Gras
“How’s it looking out there, Mama?”
“Like all the Mardi Gras revelers have converged on this place,” Eudora said. “The line of people waiting for tables stretches all the way to the French Quarter. You’d better put on a second pot of gumbo, because you have a whole lot of hungry mouths to feed.”
“That’s just the way I like it,” Tiana said as she added a few dashes of Tabasco to the pot. Her daddy’s dinged-up pot might not shine like the new copper and steel cookware in her gleaming kitchen, but Tiana refused to use anything else to cook her gumbo.
She could barely hear the band over the din of the noisy kitchen, but she found herself rocking to the faint sound of the traditional Mardi Gras song they were currently playing. She had requested their playlist include only the liveliest tunes. Tonight was a celebration, and she was determined to enjoy every single moment of it.
Tiana’s Palace was filled to capacity yet again, just as it had been every single night for the past two weeks, ever since its grand opening. It truly was the place to be, with some of the city’s most elite clamoring for a seat at one of her tables.
Just the day before, the newspaper had published a front-page story on the new restaurant that had everyone talking. Tiana’s decision to employ an all-female staff—save for the Crawfish Crooners, who would always have a place on the bandstand—was the type of thing that made news from Baton Rouge to Mississippi. Some were skeptical, but many others applauded such a unique idea.
However, it was the food that had people lining up for a table. All her daddy’s favorites were on the menu, and the people of this town couldn’t seem to get enough. A reservation at Tiana’s Palace was the most sought-after thing in all of New Orleans.
“Addie Mae, can you watch the gumbo while I go out to greet some of the guests?” Tiana asked her head chef.
“Sure thing, Tiana! You tell Mr. LaBouff that his oysters will be right up.”
After suffering from nightmares for months following her rescue from the Shadow Man’s dungeon, Addie Mae had taken some time to recuperate. She’d felt ready to return to work just as Tiana closed the deal to buy the old sugar mill she’d always dreamed of owning. The man the Fenner brothers had sold it to a couple of years before had decided to leave New Orleans—but not before enjoying an evening of good music and even better food at the supper club. When he’d learned it was Tiana who had put in an offer the very same day it went on the market, he’d sold it to her on the spot.
She’d never lost hope that the place would one day be hers. She’d felt it in her bones.
And now it was.
She would have pinched herself, but she already knew this wasn’t a dream. This was real life, and she was embracing it all.
Tiana untied her apron from around her waist and went out into the grand dining room. It had taken a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get it to this point, but with the help of her friends, her restaurant looked exactly as she had always imagined it would.
She was still a work in progress when it came to relying on others for help, but she was getting better at it. Especially after the experience she’d had with renovating this place. Naveen, Louis, Lisette, and Charlotte had been by her side every single evening, polishing light fixtures and refinishing the tables. Even Maddy, Georgia, and Eugene had come by a few times, sweeping and mopping and sanding down the floors.
Tiana started her rounds at their table. Georgia and the gang had a standing invitation to dine whenever they wanted to, no reservation needed.
“How’re y’all doing tonight?” Tiana asked.
“This place is hopping,” Maddy said. “I know Donald will be sorry he missed this.”
“From what I hear, he’s found good luck up there in Detroit. I’m guessing it won’t be long before you join him up there,” Tiana said. She winked at Maddy, who blushed like a schoolgirl. “I’ll see you all a bit later. Don’t leave without trying my newest creation, Mardi Gras beignets. They’re covered with praline sauce!”
She left her old schoolmates and went over to Mr. LaBouff, who was holding court, as usual.
“Hey there, Mr. LaBouff. Addie Mae said to tell you that your oysters will be right out. Although I really think you should try on one of the other dishes for size. Addie Mae makes a mean muffuletta.”
“Nope.” He shook his head and cradled his ample belly. “Bring on the oysters Rockefeller. Or oysters LaBouff, as I like to call them.”
Tiana laughed. “Coming right up.”
She stopped by Mr. Salvaggio’s table to check in on him and his wife, then went over to Roselande, who had joined Lisette that evening.
The girl had really come into her own since she’d moved to New Orleans that past year. Maison Blanche had dedicated an entire display case to her products. People around town claimed that Lisette’s skin cream was the perfect balm for skin burned by the hot Louisiana sun.
“Tia! Tia!” Tiana turned at Charlotte’s call. Her friend ran up to her and enveloped her in a hug. “Oh, Tia, it all looks wonderful in here. I’m so happy I made it back from Baton Rouge in time for your big Mardi Gras celebration. What a perfect way to end this perfect day!”
“Based on that smile, I take it your speech at the State Capitol went well,” Tiana said. “I hope you gave them hell, Lottie.”
“You know I did!” Charlotte said.
Tiana’s heart swelled with pride as she listened to her friend recount her impassioned speech to the state legislators on behalf of the Federation of Civic Leagues. Lottie had joined the group last year after organizing a campaign to bring better conditions to the schools in communities like Tremé and the Ninth Ward. But she no longer limited herself to New Orleans. Charlotte had begun to travel around the entire state of Louisiana, fighting for those less fortunate.
But she hadn’t given up on finding herself a duke. She’d booked a passage on a luxury cruise liner to England leaving after the Easter holiday.
It took Tiana another half hour to visit the rest of the tables in the dining room, but she made it a point to drop in on each one of them. She was convinced that the key to her restaurant’s success—besides the food—was the hospitality. Each patron at Tiana’s Palace knew they were appreciated.
She returned to the kitchen to get started on desserts. A few minutes later, Eudora walked through the door.
“Do you need a rest, Mama?” Tiana said as she drizzled praline syrup on the order of beignets she’d just made.
“No, baby. You know I stopped sewing to embrace the excitement of the restaurant business.”
“Well, that’s not the only reason you’re here,” Tiana said with a laugh. She rounded the cooking station and enveloped her mother in a hug.
“No, it isn’t,” Eudora said. She and Tiana stared up at the portrait of her daddy that hung on the wall, looking down over the entire kitchen. “I’m here because this is exactly where he would want me to be.”
“And it’s exactly where I want you to be, too. What did that man from the paper call you? The queen of Tiana’s Palace?”
“Well, he’s right,” her mother replied with no small amount of sass.
Then she and Tiana burst out laughing.
“Ah, what has my two favorite ladies in New Orleans in such a good mood?” Naveen greeted as he came upon them.
Tiana turned around. “The band taking a break?”
“Only because I insisted,” Naveen said. “If it were up to Louis, he would have us playing nonstop all night long.”
“That’s because he’s doing what he loves,” Tiana said.
After much soul-searching, Louis had decided to remain in New Orleans instead of petitioning Mama Odie to help him change back into a gator. But he still took his boat out to the swamp every so often, just to be closer to the place where he’d grown up.
Naveen put an arm around Tiana’s shoulders and pulled her in to his side.
“I only have ten minutes, so I want to make the most of it. Mother,” he said to Eudora. “If you do not mind, I am going to steal my wife away for a bit.”
“As long as you bring her back before the second dinner rush,” Eudora said.
“I promise.”
“Where are you taking me?” Tiana asked.
“To the best view in all of New Orleans,” he said.
Five minutes later, she and Naveen were standing at the railing of the restaurant’s outside balcony. She stood with her back to his chest, his arms wrapped around her. Tiana rested her head back, listening contently to the beat of his heart as she watched boats of all kinds floating along the river, their lights twinkling among the waves.
“This really is beautiful,” she said.
“Very, very beautiful,” Naveen replied. She looked up to find him looking at her, not the river.
He dipped his head and placed a gentle kiss upon her lips.
“Tell me. Are you happy, my love?”
“I am,” she answered. “So much happier than I ever imagined I could be.”
Not too long before, she would have maintained that no matter how well things were going, she would never be truly happy again, because her father was no longer with her.
But he was here. She felt him every time she walked into the kitchen at this restaurant. She felt him whenever she walked into her mother’s house in the Ninth Ward, or when she was in the house she and Naveen shared uptown.
She felt him everywhere.
And because she knew his spirit would always be with her, no matter how far she traveled or how long they were apart, Tiana now knew true happiness.
She took Naveen’s hand and squeezed it, taking in the view.
She’d learned a lot about letting go that past year. About not holding on to the past and embracing what fate had in store. About taking pride in a hard day’s work, but also taking time to rest and find peace in the quiet moments of the day.
Most of all, she’d learned the importance of spending time with those she loved. She now understood just how precious time was, and that it wasn’t promised.
Another Mardi Gras, and once more she was forever changed. It was just as Roselande had said: symmetry was the universe’s way. And Tiana looked forward to what new transformations the future—and she—would bring.
Farrah Rochon is the USA Today best-selling author of The Boyfriend Project and over thirty other romance novels. She hails from south Louisiana and is a two-time finalist for Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award, as well as the 2015 winner of the Emma Award for Author of the Year. Her June 2020 novel, The Boyfriend Project, has been lauded by O, The Oprah Magazine as a must-read Black romance novel, as well as praised by Cosmopolitan as a Best Romance Novel of 2020. Almost There is her YA debut.
Farrah Rochon, Almost There
