Chapter Seven
The conversation was short and not so sweet. I’d taken his number because I wasn’t sure I wanted him having mine. Dawn had come to the Inn to tell me about her phone call with Ben. She said it was so he could stew for a while, but that was before she knew what happened at the reading. She felt bad when I filled her in and made me swear I’d call him right away.
He suggested we meet at his friend’s bar, said they served good seafood, and he could kill two birds with one stone. That sure made me feel special.
Kevin was shocked when I called to fill him in, too. When he asked what I’m going to do, I didn’t have an answer. I called Larry earlier to find out the intricacies of the situation.
I like to know everything, and all options when I’m faced with a problem, and we’d both run out of the meeting without doing that. I have a good grasp on what is expected of us now and I’m concerned.
The easy thing would be to refuse, have the business sold to this national company and leave, but something is stopping me from doing that. A few something’s really. The main one being it’s wrong. It isn’t up to me to destroy not only my dad’s business, but the lives of all the people who work there. I can’t walk away, go back to New York knowing my decision will leave a trail of devastation behind me. I curse my dad all over again.
The Twisted Barrel looks a lot different from how it did when I was younger. It was a rundown place populated by old drunks that we never tended to go near. It surprised me when Ben suggested it.
But when I pull up outside, I can see it’s had a massive facelift. It’s busy too, which isn’t ideal for the kind of conversation we need to have. I slip my purse over my shoulder and adjust my sweater. My jeans are tight and my sneakers are comfy. I’ve dragged my hair up into a ponytail, even though I have a slight headache.
I don’t want to admit to myself, or anyone else, that I’ve made an effort for this meeting. But I did spend some time perfecting my make-up, and the just thrown together style I’d actually spent an hour agonizing over.
Inside, the place looks nice. It’s modern but still maintains the small-town feel of Mystic. There are a lot of nautical decorations, but it’s not pretentious or too in your face. There is modern lighting, a huge bar, and the restaurant area has booths as well as tables. I glance around but don’t see Ben. I do see Craig Wilder behind the bar, though, and I can’t help but smile when he spots me and waves. I head over.
“Elle George,” he comes out from behind the bar. I’m surprised when he hugs me. I don’t usually do that, but I return it quickly, then step back. “Looking good,” he tells me, eyeing me up and down. He always was a flirt. “Ben’s in a booth near the back,” he points, but I don’t turn around just yet, very much aware I haven’t said a word yet.
“How are you?” I ask cautiously.
“Can’t complain,” he looks around. “I took over this place about eight years ago. It’s damn hard work, but we’re on Trip Advisor as one of the top ten restaurants and bars in Connecticut. ”
“Wow, that’s impressive. I’ll be sure to leave a review.”
“You’re gonna love the food. The company?” he squints slightly and holds his hands out.
“We’ll be fine,” I tell him.
“Okay.” He doesn’t look as if he believes that. “Ben has menus on the table, but let me tell you the specials, and what can I get you to drink?”
I order my drink and thank him for his recommendations on the food, then weave my way through the tables. Ben is sitting in a booth near the back. It’s the most private table in here. He has paperwork spread out in front of him and a bottle of beer in one hand. He’s reading something and I’m momentarily stunned to see him wearing glasses. Damn, he looks sexy. My little romance author's heart goes thump .
I gulp, push my shoulders back and tell myself to stop thinking those kinds of thoughts. We have a serious discussion ahead of us. As I step up to the table, my shadow falls across him, cast by the light on the wall behind me. Ben looks up, his lips part slightly, and he removes his glasses, folding them up and slipping them into his shirt pocket.
He gets to his feet and holds his arm out for me to join him. I wasn’t expecting such a gentlemanly gesture, but I appreciate it. I nod my thanks to him and sit down. Then he resettles into his seat and straightens up the paperwork. I catch the George Fishing and Charter logo at the top of some of the pages, but he shuffles them into a folder before I can see anything else. Neither of us has said a word yet and now we’re just sitting here staring at each other.
I clear my throat, trying to think of something to say. “Did you speak to your employees?”
That was the wrong thing to say. He scowls and I lean back in the seat. “Yes, and they’re just as concerned as I am,” he says.
“Well, that’s why we’re here, to figure this out. ”
“The way I see it, there is only one way we can save my employees and keep the business running. And it all lies on your shoulders.”
“Yeah,” I blow out a breath. “Good old dad.”
Ben raises his eyes to look behind me. The server is bringing my gin and tonic. He eyes it with a smirk. “You used to be a beer girl.”
“Things change.”
“They sure do,” he says, holding my gaze.
“Do you know what you would like to eat?” the perky girl says, holding out her notepad.
I order the special Craig recommended. Ben frowns as he orders the same, as if he’s unhappy we want the same thing. The server takes our menus and heads away from the table. God, this is painful. It doesn’t help. I suddenly remember the last time I saw him, just before I walked away and left him behind.
He was angry, scowling much the same way he is now, but the underlying sadness in his eyes always stayed with me. I’m not sure he actually knew I broke my own heart that day, too.
“It seems I’m at your mercy, Elle,” Ben leans back. “What do I have to do to convince you not to sell the company?”
“Do you think I want to sell? If it was up to me, I’d just hand it over to you. I’m not the bad guy in this scenario, Ben. The guy you seem to have grown close to while I’ve been gone is the one who has done this to us.”
“He changed, Elle.”
“I’m glad you got to see that.” I cross my arms.
“He made a lot of mistakes. He knew that.”
“And I’m sure I would have been happy to hear all about that, had be bothered to contact me.”
“You told him not to,” Ben points out.
“If he cared even one iota about making things right, that wouldn’t matter, and you know it. He didn’t care. Or he was scared. Either way, he never tried. ”
His left eye twitches. For a second, I think he is going to give me some shit about that, but he holds his tongue. Looks like it took a lot for him to hold back. I eye him warily. Truth is, I do hold all the power here and I don’t like it. I’m not an aggressive person, I’d sooner avoid conflict at all costs, especially this kind.
I wonder if he ever got married. My eyes sweep down to his hands. No ring. When I look back up, he has a knowing look on his face. A blush rises up my cheeks.
“I know there are some bad memories between us, but can we put them aside to figure this out?”
“I’m all ears,” he says.
I’ve spent hours trying to think of something, but it’s impossible. Short of me spending half of my year here, which I absolutely do not want to do.
“Would Day Away Fishing employ you?”
Ben just stares at me in silence.
“It’s not an invalid question.”
“Let me remind you of something. The biggest part of George Fishing and Charters is commercial fishing. More than seventy percent of our revenue comes from the catches we provide, not just locally, but from all the contracts we have around the greater CT area.
The happy little day trips were only ever meant to supplement the income. That side of the business is small, and I only have one person who runs those tours. The rest of the people working for me are fishermen, Elle. Do you know what Day Away Fishing does?”
My lips purse. “I looked them up.”
“Oh good, so you know that what they do is one hundred percent party tours for rich men who want to go fishing for fun, or as a group bonding exercise? They’ve already swallowed up two businesses here. You know we all work together, sure there is rivalry for contracts, but we’re not competitive and we don’t take each other’s business. We stick together .
The two that sold were due to debt and needing to move away from the area. It has already affected the charter side of George’s. We don’t offer the flashy boats and gifts, we offer a solid day of proper fishing. When people call up expecting the kind of shit Day Away offer that we can’t provide, they don’t book with us.
“What exactly do you think is going to happen to the fishermen in Mystic if more people end up going out of business? If I sell to Day Away, that is three businesses they will have taken over. The others won’t stand a chance. Elle,” he shakes his head and looks away from me. “I get it. This is a tough spot for you. If someone came in here and told me I had to move to New York for six months out of every twelve, I’d lose my shit.”
“Exactly,” I say.
“But you’ve lived here. George’s is your family legacy.”
“You’ve just said it yourself, Ben. For six months I have to live here? And do what?”
He shrugs. “Couldn’t it, like, give you inspiration, some peace and quiet away from the big city? Don’t writers like that kind of thing.”
“I was never as creative here as I am there.”
“So, what are you saying?”
“Put yourself in my shoes,” I implore.
“Oh, yeah, why don’t I do that? I could afford to give up my livelihood because I’m rolling in it. So much so, I can turn down my inheritance.”
“That is not why I turned it down and you know it.”
“So you’re still going to blame Acer for everything?”
“Do all of your family still live here?” I ask, the change of topic momentarily surprising him.
“Yeah, why?”
“You have an amazing family Ben, four brothers you love, amazing parents who would do anything for you. People who would cut off a limb if you needed it. There is nothing here for me. There could have been. We were all the other had, but he got so lost in his own problems over what happened that he forgot all about me. He pushed me away, and he never did anything to make me come back. Now he’s dead, he thinks he can play with my life?”
Ben holds out his hands and I suddenly realize people are looking over at us. I’ve been steadily letting my voice get louder. His eyes have softened slightly. A lot of the time, when I still lived here, it was Ben I turned to when my father broke my heart. Back then, he’d hated him as much as I did. What the hell changed?
“Yelling at each other isn’t going to get us anywhere,” Ben says. “Would it be that bad, coming back here?”
“Yes.” I drop my eyes to my hands in my lap.
“Because of me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
He smirks, and his lip twitches slightly. “I’m hard to get over.”
“I’m sure you have managed to have plenty of people over you,” I huff.
His smirk grows into a grin. His dimples show and I give him the stink eye. The server arrives with our food, eyeing us to make sure we’re not about to start yelling again. She places the food in front of us, asks if we need anything else, then gets out of their sharpish. The food looks and smells delicious.
“Fresh catch,” Ben tells me.
“Yours I presume?”
“Craig is a customer, yeah. As are a lot of the restaurants around here.”
I hear that dig loud and clear. If George’s goes out of business, these companies are going to struggle to get their seafood, especially if more of them fold if Day Away gets their hooks into any more of them.
“Craig is an amazing chef, but the guy he has here is legendary. Try it.”
I try some of my pan-fried flounder, making sure to get some lemon sauce on the bite. A low moan escapes me at my first mouthful, and I notice Ben’s fork stop halfway to his mouth as he looks up at me. My chest flushes, but he just continues to stare.
“What?” I ask.
“Nothing,” he grunts and shovels some rice from his dish into his mouth, as if it’s just told him he’s an ass and challenged him to a fight.
I’m sure I hear him curse under his breath and I get the feeling it has nothing to do with the topic of our conversation and everything to do with the moan of complete ecstasy I just made.