Six Months Later

“What the fuck, Ryder?”

I was all too aware of people behind windows watching us as we walked down the raggedy pier. I swore I knew what those poor jar specimens felt like in science class now. Uncomfortable as fuck.

The pier or boardwalk or whatever they called it, was raggedy but the few businesses that lined the wooden walkway held an air of pride in the way their fronts were clean and painted almost too perfectly. I noted a boat shop with fisherman nets lining its eves, the coffee shop that teased wholesome smells as we wandered past and a book shop - which seemed mightily out of place for no apparent reason. No big chains, just regular village people making their living. It was comforting, homey and I grudgingly liked the place already. Whatever Ryder was cooking up his sleeve would not be a hard sell. Cities were getting boring.

“What?” he asked, mildly amused.

I glanced around feeling self-conscious, the frigid air biting at my gloveless fingers.

“What?” I was exasperated at this point. “We left Brighton years ago for good fucking reason. Now you want to drag us back to goddamned hell?”

“Chill man. It’s hardly Brighton, is it?”

Yeah, it was as close as I wanted to ever be, that was for sure. I was a hair’s breadth away from shouting, only the eyes watching prevented my meltdown.

“This better be bloody worth it or I’m leaving your arse here and disowning you. Five hours in the car with Mr. Mute was not my idea of fun.”

I pulled my jacket collar further up around my neck. We’d left York at the butt crack of dawn, too early in my opinion, and Ryder kept schtum the whole journey down. My nerves had bounced the further South we travelled. There was a reason we’d left all those years ago, and now here was Ryder, acting like nothing had ever happened, like it was no big deal to come back to this part of the country. I wasn’t one for revisiting long dead memories, being in this neck of the woods made me uncomfortable.

Ryder’s steps halted, and he stopped short, opposite a dilapidated shop front, at the very end of the pier. I sighed. The man had gone nuts, certifiably bonkers. I peered around in disbelief, then glared at my closest friend.

“This?”

“Oh, yeah.” Punching my arm, he beamed like he’d won the bloody lottery.

The seaside property stood out for all the wrong reasons. The building was a corner unit with a jetty and a long balcony, which didn’t look at all safe, wrapping around the side. Both looked to be ready to collapse into the water should the wind blow it the wrong way. Admittedly, it was an appealing location, but the place was so run down it was difficult to see past the broken window frames and rusted iron on the door. Paint peeled from the wooden siding and I spied at least two overhangs needing replaced. How the locals put up with this eyesore was beyond me, I’d have torn the place down already.

Taking several steps forward, Ryder rubbed the palm of his hand across a grimy, cracked window creating a bit of ‘clean.’ He cupped his hands together and squinted through the filthy glass to look inside. Stepping back after a few moments, he thrummed with barely restrained excitement. His grin was a mile wide, his eyes dancing.

I puffed out another long sigh, seriously – I was sick of listening to them myself. I moved over to the window to repeat Ryder’s motion and leaned down to look through. I wrinkled my nose as I pressed into the murky glass and took in the mess of the place. Debris was everywhere; scattered bottle crates, broken furniture and old newspapers seemed to be the interior theme. The main room was huge, at least the building had that going for it.

“Where’d you see this?”

“Estate agent. Got keys too.”

He jangled the set in my face. Of course, he had keys, sneaky git. I sensed a story I’d pry from him another time. I shifted from the window and stood next to him, folding my arms across my chest. I wasn’t going to make it easy for the cocksucker.

“Oh, you’ve been a busy fucking bee, haven’t you?” Ryder sniggered. “Come on then, show me what’s got your knickers in a twist, dickhead.” I nudged him forward with my elbow.

Once the rickety door had been coaxed open and the dust had settled, the beauty of the place smacked me in the face harder than the old musty smell that hit me on entry. Money pit or not, the insides had enormous potential. Beyond the mess, I could see a long wooden counter up one side of the main room, opposite a wall of news papered windows. Once cleaned up, the view would be phenomenal. I kicked my way across the old parquet flooring, bottles skittering around as I toed them out of the way, and stood in the middle of the room.

“This is something all right.” Ryder walked over to the windows, ripping newspaper free from one. “Well?”

Hopefully he’d done his homework and no nasty surprises lurked. With the building essentially in the water, it made me nervous. We’d need to make sure all pre-requisite checks and building regulations were accounted for, to ensure the place was safe and useable. Regulations would be different for this property.

“How long’s it been empty?”

“Too long? Couple of years? The old guy let it run down. Lewis, I think his name is. Took a while to decide to sell it, I guess.”

A few doors led off a short lobby down the back end of the main room, I headed down that way. Opening one of the doors, I popped my head around and was surprised to find a large kitchen area, albeit the appliances rusted and broken. Through another door was generous office space, those big windows prevailing. At the third door I opened, I staggered back at the smell. Jamming my hand over my mouth I braved another go, quickly shoving my head through the small opening of the door. Signs of someone having slept in the room lay all over; an old, mangy sleeping bag was tossed in a corner, ancient food cartons strewn over a half rotten desk, the smell abhorrent. Lord only knew how long the putrid debris had been there, there were signs of life I had no desire to examine. I shut the door with a slam, my stomach revolting. Gross. I quick footed it back to the main area.

Ryder was perched on a stool that barely looked like it could take his weight, another next to him resting up against the wooden counter. I gingerly sat down, resting my arms on the bar.

“What’s the deal here, Ryder?”

“I thought we could open up a restaurant that sold hearty food like your Mama used to make.” He looked at me, as if figuring out the right words.

“Yeah, she made damned fine food. That’s not what I meant though. I see restaurant, yes. But come on...”

“Well, this is only half the property. There’s a self-contained unit at the back.” He looked around, severing eye contact. “It’s been here a while. Original features, steal of a price.”

I shook my head, he was evading. He knew what I was asking, and it wasn’t the particulars of where we were sitting, or if he thought here would be the right place for a restaurant.

“What’s the deal?” I asked again.

I watched as he scrubbed his hands down his face, squirming uncomfortably on the rickety stool.

“Okay, okay...”

Ryder was gearing up for ‘serious’ talk. We were back near a place where neither of us ever dreamed of coming back to. Sure, we had a big hotel in Brighton. The Q had been my father’s and why we hired the best of managers. We’d left, not intending on returning. Yet - here we were.

“You’ve been down here?”

Realisation slammed into me and I smelled his bullshit. The days he disappeared, saying he was checking up on business and scoping out deals. He’d been coming down for months.

“I met someone,” he confessed. My mouth must have been wide open, ready for catching flies for he laughed at me. “Yeah...”

“Down here?” I asked.

“Well, I didn’t meet her down here, but this is where she is.” He shrugged again.

The Ryder sitting opposite me was not a Ryder I knew. We followed each other, sometimes I followed Stella, he never followed anyone. Ever. So yes, this was serious if he was planning on making roots for a woman. For the first time in my life, I didn’t know what to say to my best friend. He’d blindsided me.

“Back in the belly of the beast, huh?” he scoffed, unamused.

“You like her this much?” Dust motes scattered when I waved around the upturned room.

“I love her, Lucca.”

She was his love?

I shook my head. Someone had stolen my friend, of that I was sure. I was annoyed. No...not annoyed...disappointed. Ryder had found a woman, a woman he professed to love, and this was the first I was hearing about it? Had my head been so firmly stuck up my arse, I hadn’t seen what he was doing? Sorrow crept over me. When the other shoe dropped, and he fell for someone, I’d wanted to witness it myself, see his face. I’d missed it. I’d been so self-absorbed with my own circumstances I’d not seen my closest friend, the most precious person to me, bar Ayden, fall in love. A fucking reality check was in order.

“It’s complicated,” he said, sitting straighter on the stool. “I want this, want her. If it means I must give up the businesses I own, then I will.”

He was offering me an out. We owned hotels – together. He’d not so subtly, just told me he’d walk away whether I was with him or not. Money wasn’t the issue for either of us, losing his shares would be no big deal for him.

He loved her that much?

“Let’s go do a walkabout then.” There was a lot to wrap my head around, I could do it going through the building.

Getting up from my stool, I didn’t bother to wait for him as I wandered around the room, making closer inspections. When I turned, he held up a pencil and pad of paper, grinning at me.

We spent a while spotting things here and there, making idle plans for spaces, going from room to room, avoiding the nuclear disaster in the back. No major points needed raising but plenty smaller ones were found where we could haggle price on. We talked renovations and ideas, things we’d done many a time on many a project, yet this felt different. Ryder was yearning for it, hungry, an emotion I recognised in myself. Maybe Ryder was on the money.

The potential of the premises slowly creeped up on me the more we peeled back newspaper and shifted rubbish around. To bring it back to life would be a challenge; a worthy one, possibly not a financially sound one.

“So, what do you think?”

Ryder was looking for approval he didn’t need. If he was in, so was I. All I wanted to know was how far. The unit had an aura that felt...right. It might be worth the headaches it would undoubtedly cause to refurbish the place. A restaurant of this kind wasn’t our usual venture, was a lot more diminutive than our norm. Did we really want this? We’d discussed it often enough over the years; a smaller, quieter place, more personal. Maybe coming back home was as good a place as any to start again. I was about to close the door on a significant chapter of my life, Ryder’s door was just opening. Beaufort could give me the necessary breathing space to consider my next move, the distance to untangle my relationship with my soon to be ex-wife. It could work. Maybe it was more than a woman calling Ryder home.

“You don’t need my say so, Ryder.”

“We do these things together. I’d like for this not to be the exception.”

His words penetrated, loud and clear. “What are we talking about then?”

“All in,” he said confidently, “time to come home, you know?”

Ryder was ready. After all the years of fucking around, jumping from bed to bed, city to city, the man wanted roots, wanted to stand still for a change. I didn’t blame him, and I wasn’t going to deny him. I desperately wanted to ask about the woman who’d captured his heart, the timing was wrong. Business decisions and having whoever in his head wouldn’t help keep things straight while we hammered out our intentions and put together plans. It would wait.

“I’ll front my half in your name. I don’t want Stella tainting this or thinking she has a claim on it. She’s taking enough.”

“This would be ours, Lucca. If you want it.”

“All right. The idea’s grown on me.”

He chuckled and patted my shoulder. “No managers here. This is us. Renovate and run it. The estate agent gave me a rental dossier too.”

Having only seen the place for the first time a few hours ago, I hadn’t thought that far ahead. But what if...what if we left the whole darned lot behind? Clean slate? Ryder had lax responsibilities, nothing that couldn’t be handed off, I was the same. Hand-picked teams ran our hotels. Ayden was twenty, a grown man in his own right, able to make his own decisions. Ryder and I had slogged our guts out for years shedding old reputations, building new ones.

“This what you want?”

Ryder pursed his lips. “Yes.”

Stella was taking half of all I’d worked for anyway; the divorce was a guaranteed mess waiting to happen. Even after she took me to the cleaners and demanded what she felt she deserved, I’d still have enough in the bank for Ayden and me to live comfortably.

Could I give up my hotels?

I could see the appeal in slowing down, enjoying an easier pace. My retirement years had been earmarked to be spent peacefully with my wife, sadly Stella had snuffed the dream out many, many years ago. There was nothing to lose, not a frigging bean.

“Fuck it!” I held out my hand to Ryder. “I’m in. It’s time, dude.”

Ryder dismissed my hand and grabbed me in a hug so tight he was close to bruising my ribs. He pulled back, hands on my shoulders, eye level with me. “Seriously? You’re in?”

I gripped his forearms. “Seriously, I’m in.” Excitement rippled over my skin when Ryder hugged me again.

“Let’s go find this agent.”

The sneaky bastard had whoever tucked away in the wings somewhere, I was betting in the café down the way.

“I knew you were a sure thing, babe. We can meet the agent tomorrow.”

He winked at me then strode off toward the doors, his steps light, the world in his hands. I flushed with love for him and decided to let the man lead me where he may, he’d never steered me wrong before.

My stomach rumbled loudly as we left the unit. “Is there coffee and food, maybe?”

Locking up, we walked the short distance to the cosy blue fronted coffee shop. A place I’d frequent often if we bought the old restaurant. Cake and a hot drink was on the menu to chase away the chill of the early afternoon that had sharpened since we’d first arrived. The bunch of bells above the door chimed unharmoniously announcing our arrival to a busy café. Toasty warm, smelling of chocolate and coffee grounds, the sign on the window about having the best chocolate cake for fifty miles might be true. Spotting a free table, I shrugged off my coat making a beeline for the empty seat. Thankful for the heat, I sat and rubbed my fingers together, trying to get warm.

A sheepish looking young woman approached our table with a pen and pad in hand, eyeing Ryder awkwardly, not sparing me much of a glance.

“Hi. Great to see you brought your friend. What can I get you, gentlemen?”

Her voice was quiet, shy, and she dropped her chin when Ryder looked up at her. Women did this, went gaga for Ryder’s charm, before he’d even opened his mouth. Ryder winked at her before pointing to the window.

“Chocolate cake by any chance, Jenny? Cappuccino to go with it, please? For two.”

The red-faced waitress scurried back behind the counter. I evil eyed the bastard for teasing the poor girl, all he did was shrug at me, casting a look around the room. The thing about Ryder was; incorrigible flirt suited him fine, he couldn’t help himself. For all the bad boy, fuck them and leave them reputation he had, the man’s heart was gold and women sensed it, gravitated toward him. No sooner had the waitress disappeared then she was back again, sliding large mugs across the table and two hugely fat wedges of cake that would sure cause a heart attack if eaten on a regular basis. The cake looked seriously delicious and the coffee smelled so fucking aromatic I almost drooled.

“Thank you, darling.” The waitress took off sharp and I rolled my eyes; couldn’t take the dog anywhere. “What?”

“You know what,” I chuckled. “She’s half your age, old man.”

Ryder held his hands in the air, grinning at me. “I know, just being friendly. She knows I’m kidding. No harm done. I’m in a good mood!”

I took a sip of the hot, frothy coffee and almost groaned at the creamy taste as I swallowed it down.

Heaven.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” he said, casting his gaze around the crowded café for a second time.

I noticed he stopped longer in one place, off to the corner, before shifting his eyes back to me. I took an inconspicuous gander over to the other table, spying two brunettes deep in conversation. No wonder he was in a good mood if that’s who he was ogling, the women were both gorgeous. I’d lose his attention the minute they saw Ryder had noticed them, he’d be thinking supper. Wouldn’t be the first time he’d been the filling in a female sandwich.

I discretely studied both women again; one had a rounder face, a softer edge to her, a passing familiarity I struggled to put my finger on. The other woman seemed the more serious of the two; a despondency to her that drew me in far more than the other. I shifted in my seat uncomfortably as she looked around and caught my eye, as if she knew I’d been staring at her. Not necessarily checking her out, although the woman was beyond beautiful, breath taking actually, but just taking her in. She gave me a slight tip of the head before turning away and resumed her conversation.

Ryder sighed, bringing my attention back to him, pushing those soulful eyes from my mind. “I’m ready, Lucca.”

He said it in such a matter-of-fact way, I was startled. It dawned on me that should we do this, he wasn’t ever going to leave Beaufort, that this was his last restaurant venture. Ryder was done, his goals had shifted, he’d found another purpose.

Sitting back in my chair I studied my best friend. “Ryder...”

Leaning forward on his elbows, he looked at me, the way he always did when he brokered no arguments. “You’re done too, Lucca.”

No point in denying it, he wasn’t telling me something I didn’t already know.

This was the beginning of the end and the start of the beginning. The next chapter in our lives. Whether happy endings ensued or not, time would only tell.