“Well, I mean, I just guess I want to know if this is really what you want? Do you really want to go through with this? So soon?” he asked.
“Of course I do,” I said. “I’ve never felt anything like this in my life. I thought you were excited for me?”
“I am,” Jordan protested, “for real, I am. Just, as your brother, I needed to make sure you aren’t moving too fast, you know? Plus, with as close as Chloe and Hannah are, I’m looking out for her, too.”
“I get that,” I said. “But I’m not moving too quickly. For God’s sake, Mom gave me crap every time we talked, and even you joked about how I never settled down. Now I find someone, and you all the sudden have a problem with me moving too fast?”
“I didn’t say I had a problem with it,” Jordan said. “Just that I worry about you. You’re my brother, Matt. My little brother. It’s my job to keep an eye on you and protect you as best I can.”
“I know,” I said, moving back to the butcher’s block and pulling out the chicken breasts I needed to cut up for the night’s chicken strip dishes. “I know it’s fast. We just met and everything. I know all that. But we clicked, Jordan. And when you know, you know, right? Mom and Dad got married after knowing each other for two weeks, and they were together until Dad died. Remember?”
“That’s true,” Jordan said. “Look, I just want you to be happy. If that’s how you feel, then I’m happy, too. Happy for you and happy for our family.”
“Good,” I said.
“So.” He opened the small fridge that had our designated drinks and pulled out a couple of beers. He brought one to me and sat it down, popping the top with his keychain bottle opener. “When do you think you’re going to have the wedding? Or is it too early to start planning yet?”
“It’s not too early to plan,” I said, grinning, “since we’re just going down to the courthouse.”
“Oh,” Jordan said, a bit taken aback. “You’re not going to have a wedding?”
“No,” I said flatly. He looked surprised, which I figured would happen. Jordan was always a little more dramatic than I was, so avoiding the spotlight like that would seem weird to him.
“No?”
“No. Look, it’s not that important to me. And for Chloe, she would only have Hannah on her side. Her parents want nothing to do with it, so a big wedding would just be a reminder of how no one in her life is there for her because she didn’t obey what they told her to do.”
“I can understand that,” Jordan said after a moment’s contemplation. “What about Mom?”
“FaceTime exists, Jordan.”
“Right,” he said. “I can’t say she doesn’t have a valid point about not having people there. I can only imagine how terrible that would be to have your big day and have no one there for you.”
“Exactly,” I said. “So, you’re cool?”
“Me? It doesn’t matter if I was or wasn’t. This is your life, Matt,” he said. “But yes, I’m cool. I support you in whatever you think will make you happy, as long as it’s not something that is actively hurting you. And Chloe is a sweetheart and my wife’s cousin. So of course we’re cool.”
“Good,” I said. “Now, either come help me prep for tonight or get the hell out of my kitchen.”
Jordan laughed, and I waved my knife menacingly. He put his hands up in mock surrender and backed out of the kitchen before ducking his head back inside one last time.
“Just in case I didn’t say it before, congratulations,” he said, and then his head disappeared as he made his way back to the main part of the bar.
I was right about the night rush. It was absolute chaos from the time the doors opened. Both bachelorette parties arrived almost at the same time within minutes of us being open and were fully in celebration mode by the time they got there. One of them left before the rest of the bar really filled up, but the other one was still there at midnight when the place was jam-packed, and I was furiously working on appetizers to send out.
The chicken strips I prepared weren’t selling, but the mozzarella jalapeno poppers were flying, and they, of course, took more time to make. It couldn’t be easy. The universe just didn’t act like that.
I was in the weeds for quite some time, but eventually my line cook and I straightened things out and we had service running more or less smoothly. There was always a lull right at twelve-thirty, and I took the opportunity to sneak outside with a beer and take a few minutes to myself. I had no more sat down and opened the beer that the door opened behind me and Chloe came out.