No Ordinary Love - G.Callen NCIS L.A

Chapter 50

Deja put a crate down and wiped her hair back from her face. She turned to Jess. "You have the other one?"

Looking around, Jess nodded. "The car is empty." Curious, she folded a flap back and peeked into the box. "Oh, it's pretty!"

"Right? You don't mind me buying it without conferring?"

"On glassware? Are you insane?"

Rounding the bar of her, their, new café, Deja shrugged. "You're my partner now, Jessie, for better or worse. We're supposed to make these kinds of decisions together."

It had been plain luck, to be honest, that Deja had found the property. She had visited one of her favorite places just around the corner of her old building, when she'd run into the owner, talking to a realtor. As it turned out, the owner wanted to retire and spent more time with his family, and she had caught him just as he had shown the realtor around. Deciding to be bold, Deja had asked if she could look at it. Two hours and a cup of coffee later, she walked out of her new cafe. It was only later, when she talked to Grisha about it, that she thought of asking Jess to fill in Lindy's old position, because running a café was so much easier with two.

The only thing that didn't sit particularly well with Dee was that she couldn't tell Jess the real reason there was no more old Indulge. Grisha was sending Eric and Nell over in a few days, as it was still weeks before the opening, to set up an intricate alarm system that should keep everyone out that didn't need to be there. Dee prayed that it would be enough.

"Well, I decide that I like your taste. Where in the world did you find these?" Jess held a blue-green water glass against the light. "The color is amazing!"

Dee nodded. "I was wandering in one of my favorite thrift-shops, looking for nothing in particular. You know how it goes." She gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "They had brought in a few dozen of them, and Gerard thought it might be something for us."

"They're perfect," Jess said, wrapping the glass back in paper. "We have nowhere to store them yet, though. Not before we move all of the old furniture out."

"I know." Deja sighed. "I'll take them back to the car later, but I figured you should see them first." Reaching for her bag, she pulled color swatches for paint and drapery. The rest of the morning was spent talking about colors and how to redecorate the space.

Jess circled tables in a catalog and thoughtfully bit her lip. "It's going to be smaller," she said. "I didn't realize until now that we're adding up numbers. We're not going to have as many tables."

"Yeah," Dee agreed. "On the other hand, we can fit a small bar over the length of the window, with stools, which will give us a few extra seats. But yes, it's a bit smaller than what we had."

"It's not necessarily a bad thing." Jess looked around. "It makes it a bit cozier, I think." She stretched her hands above her head and yawned. "When do you want to do the menu? Can you squeeze it in this week, in between moving?"

"Not really." Deja touched her phone to look at the time. "We're showing the house to Garrison in an hour and a half, for the first time. I spent all day yesterday cleaning it for him, and then Grisha helped pack the last few things yesterday evening. I'll be so glad when the weekend is over and the move is definite."

"I can imagine. You want to push menu's to next week?" Jess leafed through her calendar. "And when are the interviews for the extra waiters again?"

Deja gave her a blank look. "We had planned those?"

"We had." Jess knew exactly when it was growing Deja over her head. Which was now. She chuckled. "Never mind. It's in an email somewhere. You concentrate on moving this weekend, we'll figure all the other stuff out next week, okay?"