Chapter 11
THEO
Life in Quartz Pass was starting to feel normal to me. A month ago, I’d been crossing borders with only a backpack strapped to my shoulders and no real destination in mind, but now, I had a preferred gas station and people waved when they saw me in public.
I’d become a regular at the diner, I knew which days to go to the grocery store to get the good deals, and I’d finally found out about that loyalty program at the hardware store. I’d signed up for it, too.
Nobody treated me like an outsider anymore and it was pretty great, getting drawn into random conversations anywhere I went.
Just about an hour ago, I’d run into Harvey and he’d come with me to the autobody shop, which was how I’d found myself chatting away with him and Clyde, Avery and Raquel’s dad, on a normal Monday.
I sat on a rolling stool while the two older old men argued about roof sealant like the very life on our planet depended on it. Harvey scoffed and pointed a finger at Clyde. “Never. I’m telling you, silicone is the problem nowadays.”
Clyde barely looked up from the carburetor he was tinkering with. “You say that about everything.”
“That’s because everything is worse now,” Harvey muttered.
“Including your blood pressure.” Avery smirked from behind the front desk. “Stop worrying so much, Harvey. Let your hair down and live a little. You’re retired. These are supposed to be your golden years.”
“No such thing anymore.” Clyde finally looked up, but instead of talking to Avery, he turned to me. “You know, if Frieda ever lets you go, you could take over Randy’s contracting business and he could finally retire.”
“What happened to there being no such thing as the golden years anymore?” Harvey asked, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair. “What, you think Randy’s going to get them, but not you?”
“Randy is seventy-three,” Clyde retorted. “I’m only fifty-five. I’ve got a lot of good years left in me.”
“Age doesn’t matter,” Harvey said sagely. “Randy is still going strong, but if anyone has to replace him, I agree. Theo is the best man for the job.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I’m not sure I’m cut out for a contracting business, though.”
Clyde waved me off, but as he and Harvey started going back and forth about whether anyone could afford to really retire anymore, I thought about that comment he’d made. I’d learned a lot about this sleepy little town so far, but one thing that had stuck out to me was that Quartz Pass was aging.
Most of the people keeping the town running were at retirement age or older now, people who’d spent decades building steady little businesses that held the place together, but not all of them had someone to pass it along to.
Avery and Raquel were already stepping into larger roles here.
I’d heard Miley talk about eventually buying the café from the owner.
Even Frieda, who I strongly suspected would outlive civilization itself, had told me once that she wasn’t sure what was going to become of the motel when she was gone.
Naturally, as a Westwood, I’d been born and raised to spot opportunity when it came my way and I’d seen plenty of those in this town. Opportunities abounded here, one after the other, each business as viable as the last.
Quartz Pass needed investment, infrastructure, and tourism money that would have to be handled carefully so as not to destroy the town itself.
There was an entire stretch off the pass that could become destination property if someone developed it right and the motel had so much potential if someone just upgraded it.
For the first time since I’d arrived, I suddenly found myself looking at this place as both versions of myself, the Theo who didn’t want to leave and as Theo Westwood, who knew how much this town could grow.
I was still struggling to come clean about who I was, so I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone, but I had considered calling Alex a few times.
There were so many potential acquisitions here, and from what I’d heard, the same was true for a least a few other towns in the area, but this wasn’t really W&S’s usual deal.
We dealt in major acquisitions, international development, and Fortune 100 negotiations. Billion-dollar deals.
Quartz Pass was old trucks, dusty storefronts, and customers who paid certain services back with casseroles.
These people were blue-collar, down-home, small-town folk, and as tempted as I was to call in the cavalry, I just didn’t know if something like this would fit in with Alex’s vision for expansion.
Clyde and Harvey eventually wandered out toward the breakroom, still arguing about roofing materials and societal decline, and I went back to working on my motorcycle. Avery had finally agreed to let me help, but not with any of the stuff that actually mattered.
Basically, I was just polishing some parts while Raquel worked on designing a replacement for the component that was impossible to find. Avery had been servicing the motor while we waited, but for now, there wasn’t that much else we could do.
He kicked away from the front desk and strode over to Bay Four, where he’d been working on diagnosing a strange noise being made by a pickup. Clyde had obviously provided a refill coffee for the thermos Harvey always carried around with him, but I hadn’t seen Raquel around all morning.
I looked around once again, but the diesel bay was empty and quiet. No sign of her anywhere. About an hour later, Raquel’s truck pulled into the lot so fast that the tires kicked up dust.
Her door burst open and she climbed out fast, her sunglasses on and her expression unreadable.
Clyde had been walking Harvey out, but Raquel intercepted him before he could walk back into the shop.
They talked for a minute. Then Raquel got back into the truck and Clyde climbed into the passenger seat beside her.
They drove off with more dust being kicked up behind the truck and I frowned, glancing over at Avery, who was also watching the truck disappear around the corner. “What’s up with them?”
“Raquel is finally forcing Dad to go to the doctor.”
I frowned. “What for? He didn’t seem sick this morning.”
“Nah, it’s not a flu or anything like that.” He shrugged. “She’s been bugging him about getting a physical for, like, a year now, but he hates going to the doctor and he hates having to go to the one a town over even more.”
“That’s every dad over fifty.”
“Yeah.” Avery took a sip of coffee, swallowing it slowly as he shook his head. “He keeps bitching about the cost, which is ridiculous. It’s not like he can’t afford it. I think it’s just that he doesn’t like the idea of someone telling him something might be wrong.”
“That’s definitely every dad over fifty,” I said and he laughed, but something was off about it, making it sound just a little bit wrong. My gut twisted, suspicion lodging deep inside. “Is there anything specific you guys are worried about?”
Strangely, he didn’t answer right away, and that amplified the bad feeling suddenly swimming around inside. Finally, he shook his head again and brought a hand up to squeeze the back of his neck. “I don’t know. Maybe. We’ve just noticed a few little things lately.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He glanced into his coffee cup and inhaled a deep breath. “It’s nothing major. Mostly just some blips that keep popping up on the business side of the shop. Orders he forgets he’s already placed. Lost invoices. Numbers that get mixed up.”
“I’m assuming he hasn’t always been bad with paperwork?”
Avery scoffed down a laugh. “He’s been running this place since before I was born. He can basically do inventory in his head. Our customers used to receive the world’s most comprehensive quotes and our supplies were paid for before the ink on their invoices had time to dry.”
As he said it, memories of the past few weeks popped into my head, playing differently now from how I’d experienced them at the time. Clyde wandering around the shop sometimes, looking kind of absent. I’d thought he was just distracted. Busy.
I’d thought the same when he’d repeated himself on occasion, but I’d also seen Raquel watching him, her brow slightly puckered before she’d steer him gently back to his office or remind him what he’d been saying if he trailed off mid-thought.
Avery leaned against the workbench, his features a little drawn and his gaze faraway. “I’ve been stepping in more lately, trying to help out with the things he’s been struggling with, but I don’t think that’s enough.”
I refocused on him. “What are you saying?”
“I want him to retire. He deserves to.” Avery raked a hand through his dark hair and blew out a heavy breath. “I’m pretty sure he just needs a break, you know? He’s spent his whole life here, in this shop, working hard to provide for us. It’s time for him to let us do the providing.”
“How does he feel about that?”
Avery snorted. “After Mom died, this place became his whole life. He threw himself into it and it’s been keeping him going ever since. I don’t think he really knows what else to do with his time.”
“Yeah, I can relate to that,” I said after a moment. “We were in a similar situation with my dad for a long time, but he finally retired recently and he’s been finding stuff to keep himself busy.”
I didn’t go into detail, but only because it wouldn’t help much if I did.
If telling Avery about all of dad’s trips to the Maldives, playing golf, and becoming a king at bingo would’ve helped Clyde, I would have told him in a heartbeat, but somehow, I didn’t think that would make much of a difference.
Avery sighed, staring out at the heat shimmering on the street beyond the parking lot like he was waiting for news to come flying in. “So retirement is treating him well, your dad?”
I nodded. “There were a few false starts. You know, times when we thought he was retiring, but he ended up going to the office or attending meetings anyway.”
“That sounds about right.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, but it’s all good now. He’s finally fully retired and my oldest brother took over the family business. It just took some time for us to get there.”
“Well, I hope we’ll be following in your footsteps soon.
” He drained the rest of his coffee and set the dirty mug down.
Then he straightened and scrubbed both hands over his face.
“Anyway, one thing at a time, I guess. At least Dad is seeing a doctor now. Hopefully, we’ll know more soon, and in the meantime, I’ll keep reminding him that there’s more to life that just the shop. ”
“Good luck with that,” I said, and I meant it. “Dads don’t tend to just hand over the keys to the kingdom without kicking up at least a little bit of a fuss.”
He laughed. “We’re prepared for the fuss. I’d just like to get to the point of it actually happening. For now, though, have you got plans for the weekend?”
“Outside of checking off a few more items from Frieda’s never-ending to-do list? Nope. Why? What do you have in mind?”
“A few of us are going camping at the lake. Do you want to come?”
“There’s a lake in Quartz Pass?”
“No.” He grinned. “There’s a man-made lake not too far outside of Quartz Pass, though. It’s a little underwhelming if you’re imagining something like the canyon, nature in all its majesty or whatnot, but the fishing is decent and it’s always fun trying to start a campfire before we get too drunk.”
“That sounds completely safe,” I said. “I’m in.”
“You’ll be fine.” He laughed. “I’m thinking about inviting Raquel too, and unlike most of my friends, she does actually know how to start a fire.”
“Why am I not surprised?” I shook my head, hiding the flicker of excitement I felt over the possibility of her joining us for the weekend. Raquel knows how to start my fire.
The giddy feeling was not something anyone else needed to know about. Raquel Thompson was becoming a problem for me and it wasn’t one I particularly knew what to do about.