Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105161 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105161 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
My morning meeting with Bruce found us both working hard to hammer out the best severance package offering we could. Bruce was generous with his budget allotment and had some great contacts in the Dallas recruiting community to help us create a list of resources to make available to all Ames employees. I was pleasantly surprised as Bruce illustrated his dedication to his employees in his actions.
Before breaking for lunch, I got up the nerve to ask him about Fig and Bramble.
“I noticed the pub isn’t listed in the assets transferring ownership,” I began. “Do you have plans to retain it as a personal investment?”
Bruce looked up from his laptop. “I’m not sure, to be honest. OQI would probably turn around and sell it to a big chain, and I’d hate to see what they’d do to it. At the same time, I never intended to run a pub myself.”
“If someone in Hobie could gather the necessary capital, would you be interested in selling it to a local?”
What was I even saying? It wasn’t like I had that kind of money, and I sure as hell didn’t have a desire to run a pub for a living.
“I’ve thought about talking to a few local investors, yes. But I don’t have the time to tackle that until the bigger deal is completed. You might ask your grandfathers if they know anyone who’d be interested. They own quite a bit of Hobie commercial real estate in the square. It’s a large investment. Not many people in Hobie have that kind of capital.”
He was right. Even if I used every dollar of savings I had and asked my grandfathers for help, I still wasn’t sure I could invest enough in it to make it worth Bruce letting it go. The man wasn’t stupid; he was a professional business investor. He’d insist on getting out way more than he’d put into it even if he sold it to a friend.
I nodded and thanked him before heading out to pick up a sandwich. As I made my way down the street toward the deli, I pulled the phone out of my pocket out of habit. Instead of thumbing through my email or news apps, I pressed the button to call Charlie.
“Hiya, handsome,” he answered with a smile to his voice. “Miss me already?”
More than you know. The stress from my conversation with Bruce evaporated with the familiar sound of Charlie’s voice.
“I might be heading home earlier than I expected and wanted to find out if you were going to be around tonight.”
“Hmm,” he teased. “What’s in it for me if I make myself available to you?”
My voice came out deeper and hungrier than I’d intended. “Very, very good things, I assure you.”
“Fuck,” he muttered. “Hoist on my own petard.”
I barked out a laugh. “I’d rather you be hoist on my petard if it’s all the same.”
“I think I could manage that. What time shall I expect you to come a calling, kind sir?”
I felt a bubbly lightness in my chest that could only come from flirting with someone new and exciting.
“I’ll call you when I leave Dallas?”
“That works.” I heard him mumble something to someone else in the background.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt you,” I said, not really wanting to let him go but knowing he had a busy day at work.
“It’s fine. They’re hanging all the framed photos. It looks good. You’ll like it.”
I hesitated to ask, but I did it anyway. “Do you like it?”
Silence for a beat. Then, “Yeah. Yeah, I do. Reminds me of home.”
I closed my eyes for a moment to savor the gift he’d given me. It was a benediction of sorts, an acceptance of what my visit to his family’s pub had set in motion.
“Hudson,” he said in a much quieter voice. There was less background noise too, and I wondered if he’d escaped into the small office in the back of the pub. “Is everything okay?”
For a moment it felt like he was my partner, the one person I could come home to at the end of the day and confide in. But he wasn’t. He was as likely to be screwed over in this company transaction as many of the other Ames employees. How in the world could I tell him?
“Yeah. It’s fine. I’m just looking forward to coming home soon, that’s all,” I said.
It wasn’t until long after we’d ended the call that I realized I’d referred to Hobie as home. Or had I been referring to him as home? Either way, it was the first time in many years Dallas hadn’t felt like home to me anymore.
34
Charlie
Charlie’s Luck:
I finally get the man into bed and he leaves town quick as that.
With Hudson off to Dallas, I spent the entire day at work with half my brain on work and the other half back in my bed at the ranch with a naked Hudson Wilde beneath me. It wasn’t until midafternoon when I headed into Sugar Britches for a coffee break that I realized I had a major problem.