The Night Shift: A Red Dead Redemption 2 AU

Epilogue

"Hello?" The woman's voice was slightly gruff on the phone, as if she didn't appreciate callers by default.

"H-hi, am I speaking with Mrs. Adler?" Mia asked.

"You are."

"Hi, Mrs. Adler, this is Mia North," she greeted, with some relief. "I was your server at Outlaw, last November? You might not remember me-"

"-I remember you," Sadie Adler cut in, her tone much warmer on the line. "It were an unforgettable night."

"Mrs. Adler, I'm so glad to hear that," Mia said, her relief doubling. "I'm calling because I wondered if... if you and your husband might like to join us at a new restaurant, one we've started a little ways north of the city."

"Oh?"

"Yes, it's Chef Morgan and myself, and a couple of the other Outlaw staff. We have just the handful of tables while we test our concept and we're hoping to invite wonderful customers we've had in the past, like yourselves."

There was a pregnant pause on the line; Mia found herself painfully aware of her own breathing. Even with the generous loan from Uncle, she and Arthur had run short of funds a lot sooner than they'd expected, renovating the old lodge into Antler. Their inspector had missed a few crucial - and expensive - damages to the property, and to finance the rest of the job, they realized they'd need some money coming in. Charles rented out his cabin to them to act as their accommodations and a new, temporary location, one where Arthur could test his menu and build excitement for their restaurant.

In a true Outlaw move, Mia stole the restaurant's defunct reservations book, with the plan to dial all of their favourite customers and entice them north. There was no hesitation in Mia's mind who she'd call first.

Finally, Sadie asked: "What's the place called?"

Mia laughed. "It will be Antler, one day," she said, "right now, we're just calling it dinner."

Sadie laughed, too. "Well, Jake and I will come to dinner, gladly. Just give me the address."

The honeymooning Adlers - Mia could never think of them as anything but, so in love with each other they still were - were two of the first eight diners in the tiny restaurant they'd built in Charles's cabin. From there, Mia lined up all kinds of press and the secluded, exclusive restaurant with the formerly disappeared Chef Morgan became a hit overnight.

The pair, already tired from their renovations work, became even more exhausted, layering in a small-yet-bustling evening service from Wednesday to Saturday. But Mia saw Arthur's passion return to him in full: even as he rubbed at his aching muscles at night, he'd pause to jot notes down in his journal, or better still, grab her to him to sway around the emptied tables, humming into her ear.

Two months into their restaurant experiment, the completed Antler renovations still months away and overdue, Arthur sidled up behind Mia during a rare lull between diners and nipped at her neck, his arms encircling her waist.

"Having fun?" She mused, chancing a stroke of his cheek with her fingertips.

"Always," he said into her collar, before pulling himself back. Mia turned to him and smiled, tapping their reservations book.

"We have a single guest up next with the funniest name," she said. "Look, Hoagy." She giggled, showing the page to Arthur, but he only blanched, and left the cabin. She watched after him and then turned back to the book, the name Hoagy MacIntosh in her own writing staring up at her.

It made sense, moments later, when Dutch Van der Linde walked in, shedding himself of the light jacket he'd worn against the June evening's chill and handing it to Mia.