Chapter Ten – Liam
Liam
A light knock on my office door caused me to glance up. Nathan stood there with a shit-eating grin on his face.
“It’s nice to see you sitting behind your desk again.”
I leaned back in my chair. “To be honest, being back full time has been nice.”
“How is the new nanny working out? Aurora told me you used to date her?”
“A million years ago in high school.”
“Do I know her?”
“You probably remember her, Kim Thompson,” I replied. “She lived in Lake Placid.”
Nathan’s face screwed up in disgust. “Dude, I could not stand that girl!”
Confused, I asked, “Are you sure you’re thinking of the right person?”
He snarled his lip. “The cheerleader from Lake Placid who was making plans for the two of you to get married out of college?”
I thought for a moment, then started to laugh. “Oh my gosh, that’s right! I forgot about that. It was the reason I ended things with her. She was cool about us breaking up, though.”
“She was? Didn’t she show up to our graduation and then insist you bring her to Ted’s party that night?”
I thought for a second. “Christ, how did I forget all of that? After telling her we weren’t getting back together didn’t she end up sleeping with Ted that night?”
“I thought she snuck off with Brad Huntington.”
My brows went up. “Wait. Didn’t Brad and Ted have a threesome that night?”
Nathan started laughing. “Dude, your nanny is…well…I don’t even want to say it.”
I laughed. “That was forever ago. She’s a nice lady, and Winnie likes her.”
“And you don’t think that will be strange, having someone you dated and who is a known threesomer…if that is a word…be the nanny of your daughter?”
“Not at all. I mean, we did get our wires crossed when I made the mistake of inviting her over for a movie night, but I thought it would be a good way to introduce her to everyone. She got the wrong idea, but we cleared things up.”
He nodded. “Do you think you might be interested in something more with her?”
I let out a humorless laugh. “No. The last thing I’m interested in is dating anyone.”
Especially when I dream of your sister nearly every night.
The sudden ache in my chest almost made me reach up and rub it. That was washed down by another dose of guilt for thinking about Aurora and not Hope.
“I know Hope wouldn’t want you to be alone.”
I stood. It was time to change the subject. “What brings you by?”
He pretended not to notice the shift in conversation. “I’m here on a double date.”
Surprised, I asked, “You’re on a date and you’re in my office?”
“She’s meeting me here in about,” he glanced at his watch and said, “five minutes. Aurora and Gary are probably already here.”
“Aurora?” I asked.
“Yeah. She’s on her first date with Gary Harris. Have you met him yet?” he asked, the corner of his mouth kicked up in a smirk.
“I haven’t. He’s the new finance director for the city, right?”
“That he is. Seems like a nice guy.”
“That’s good,” I said. “I’ll walk you out so you don’t miss your date. Who is your date, by the way?”
Nathan walked out of my office first and bumped into one of the waitresses. “I’m so sorry about that.”
She smiled politely. “No worries at all. Mr. Turner, there is someone here to speak with you. A Mr. Mitchell. He’s at the hostess stand.”
“Right, thank you, Lynn.”
Turning to look at Nathan, I said, “Mr. Turner is looking at building a restaurant on the lake. He owns five acres and is looking for an investment partner.”
Nathan’s eyes widened. “Are you thinking about it?”
I shrugged. “I told him I would let him pitch me his idea.”
Hitting me on the side of the arm, Nathan said, “Well, make sure you know everything about this guy before you even think about going into business with him.”
With a roll of my eyes, I replied, “Thanks for the advice, Dad.”
Nathan laughed and then started to walk in front of me.
Once we arrived at the hostess stand, I saw a woman with blondish-red hair smile as Nathan approached her. He reached down and kissed her on the cheek. A gentleman around the same age as me stood off to the side, reading a menu. I assumed that was Mr. Mitchell.
“Elle, this is my best friend, Liam.”
She reached her hand out. “I’ve heard nothing but great things about you from Nathan.”
Surprised, I replied, “He’s probably exaggerated half of what he told you about me.”
She laughed.
“Enjoy your evening,” I said to Nathan and Elle. “Drinks and food are on the house.”
Nathan hit me on the arm. “I’ll be sure to let Aurora and Gary know.”
I laughed and started to make my way to the gentleman I was sure was Mr. Turner. When the gentleman looked up from the menu, he grinned, set the menu down, and then reached for my hand. “Mr. Turner, I presume?”
“Yes,” I replied, shaking his hand. “Please, call me Liam.”
He nodded. “Call me Rich.”
“Rich, it is. Shall we go to my office?”
Rich looked around and smiled. “You’ve got a good crowd here this evening.”
I followed his gaze and replied, “It’s a good turnout for a Friday evening. I won’t complain.”
He laughed. “I’m glad to hear it.”
“Shall we?” I asked, prompting him to walk ahead of me.
Once Rich started to make his way through the tables, I heard a familiar laugh.
Looking in the direction it came from, I saw a woman with blond hair that flowed down her back.
When the gentleman partially blocking the view moved, I saw it was Aurora.
She wore a black dress, and her hair was down.
I didn’t know her hair was so long because she almost always wore it up in a ponytail or piled on top of her head.
I stopped walking and stared, as if it was the first time I had seen her.
She must have felt me watching her because she turned, and our eyes met.
A brilliant smile broke out across her face, and she lifted her hand to wave.
I waved back, then quickly caught up to Rich, trying to ignore the pit of jealousy that sat in my stomach.
“Someone you know?” he asked. “She’s very beautiful.”
One more look back, and I nodded. “She’s a friend of mine. Her brother is my best friend.” Opening the door that led to the non-public side of The Muddled Moose, I asked, “Shall we?”
“Yes, of course,” Rich stated, but not before he shot one more look in Aurora’s direction. I was instantly agitated and had to push down the urge to move him along.
Once inside my office, I shut the door and motioned for him to take a seat. I rounded my desk and sat.
“Is she single?” Rich asked.
Frowning, I asked, “Is who single?” I knew damn well he was talking about Aurora.
“The best friend’s sister.”
Forcing a smile, I answered him. “No, I don’t believe she is. She’s dating someone who works for the city of Moose Village.”
“That’s a shame. I was hoping you could introduce me to her. I always like to have a side piece in each town where I own a restaurant.”
“Side. Piece?”
He waved his hand in front of him. “No offense to her or your best friend.”
I leaned back in my chair and gave the guy a good look.
He was a bit shorter than me, with light brown hair and eyes that reminded me of a mouse I once had when I was a kid.
They were dark and beady-looking. He wasn’t bad looking, but then I didn’t go around judging how men looked.
“Did you come here for me to introduce you to women or to talk business?”
Rich cleared his throat. “Of course, I’m sorry.”
He launched into his pitch about the upscale steakhouse restaurant he wanted to build on a lot he had purchased the previous year.
“You realize it would mostly be tourists who would come to the restaurant. I highly doubt any of the locals would be interested in a five-star steak restaurant.”
His brows rose. “You’d be surprised. People like to have a fancy place to go to for special occasions and such. From what I can tell, The Muddled Moose is the closest thing to that. You’re a restaurant, but you’re also a bar.”
“You wouldn’t have a bar?” I asked.
He laughed. “Of course I would. But it would be in a more elegant location inside the restaurant.”
It was my turn to raise my brows back at him. He held up his hands. “Not knocking this place at all, from the few times I’ve been here, you are pulling in the crowds.”
“I don’t do bad. The last few months I’ve been absent, though.”
“Really?” he asked, leaning forward. “Been traveling? Are you looking to sell your place?”
I blinked a few times at him and ignored the instinct to say yes, I was interested in selling. I could spend more time with Winnie if I didn’t have The Muddled Moose to run.
“I am not interested in selling. My wife died this past February. I have a young daughter I was staying home with.”
His face fell and that fucking look of pity washed over his face. “I’m so sorry, Liam. I had no idea. Forgive me.”
I shook my head and waved him off. “You couldn’t have known. It’s fine. Each day it…well…it gets better. For lack of a better word.”
Rich exhaled. “I lost my mother not that long ago. I felt lost for several months. I still do at times, if I’m being honest. They say losing a parent is one of the worst things, but I cannot even imagine what losing your spouse is like.”
“It sucks,” I answered with a half-smile. “Back to business. You’re looking for a partner. A silent one or someone more involved, because I can tell you right now, I’ve got my hands full with The Muddled Moose.”
“You can be as involved as you’d like. I don’t need money from someone else to open the restaurant, but I’d like to have someone local involved, and if you put your money into it, you’d be more likely to be involved.
I’ll hire out someone to manage the restaurant, take care of the day-to-day things, but it would be nice to have you make an appearance once a week. ”
“And where will you be?”
He grinned. “Italy? France? Who knows. I like to travel, Liam. Opening another restaurant isn’t going to stop me from doing that.”