2. Declan
Chapter 2
Declan
I t’s been a long day at work and now I’m at Hooplas for a meeting with my business partners. Buying into this business with four of my childhood friends was one of the best things I could ever have done. Yeah, the extra money is nice, but just being with my friends and hanging out plus becoming a staple in the community of Hibiscus Harbor has been great.
Living in this town my entire life is special and there’s no place else I’d rather be. If I ever find someone to spend the rest of my life with, I’d want to stay here and raise a family in Hibiscus Harbor. Having roots is what has kept me grounded. The desire to serve the community that I love has given me purpose.
In college, I thought about going into the fire service or the medical field, but when career day came around, I knew after talking to the law enforcement officers that my path was clearly in protecting my hometown. I can’t believe that was ten years ago already.
Thinking about my childhood friends, I can’t help but think about the one friend that isn’t here. He’ll never be here but he should be. And, of course, every time I think about River, I think about Riley and wonder how she’s doing. She’s probably married with kids, a house with a picket fence, and a happy little life in Atlanta.
“Can we start? I’m hungry,” Jax says leaning back in his chair at the conference table.
Somehow, we all look to Reid to run these meetings even though we’re all in this business venture in equal parts.
“You’re always hungry,” Kane replies to Jax.
“That’s ‘cuz he can’t afford food now that he owns a boat,” Hudson says.
“You’re no longer invited on my boat.”
“Bullshit. You need me to pay for the gas for your dinghy,” Hudson teases and we all laugh.
“I thought you boys would be thirsty and hungry.” Steph, Hooplas’ number one bartender says as she brings in five beers and two plates of nachos.
“You’re a lifesaver!” Jax dives into the nachos.
“Okay. Now that you’re eating and drinking, can we get this started?” Reid says as he turns on the overhead projector so we can see the financials on the screen in the front of the room.
Reid, our technical nerd and resident doctor, goes over our income and expenses and a bunch of other accounting terms this dumb cop doesn’t care about. I’m making money and Hooplas is doing great. That’s all I really care about. But Reid gets off on this stuff, so we let him drone on for a half hour.
“So, as you can see, business clearly picked up after we had that event for Kate – not that it wasn’t warranted,” Reid looks to Hudson, and he nods in appreciation. “but I think we might want to look into hiring someone to do more events for us. Like, Labor Day is coming up in less than a month. Maybe we can do something for that.”
“Who’s got time to put something like that together?” Hudson looks around the table and none of us respond.
With all of us working at Hooplas on our time off, Hudson and Kane working at the fire station, Reid working as Chief Resident at the hospital, and Jax and I working at the police department – none of us have any time or knowledge to do something like this.
“What about hiring someone to do this?” Reid asks. “We have the funds and if the results of the last event are any indication, Hibiscus Harbor will show up in droves.”
“Hey, we can look into that company that did Ian’s engagement party. That was pretty nice,” Jax suggests.
They all nod in agreement and then Hudson looks at me. “Are you on board?”
“I wasn’t there. Had to work that night, so I have no idea about the party, but if you guys liked it and want to try hiring this out, let’s do it.”
“That’s right. You got stuck working that drug case,” Jax says.
I only nod.
“Okay, then. Let’s do it. I’ll reach out to Ian to find out who they hired. I don’t know of any event planners in Hibiscus Harbor since Sydney left, but maybe they used someone from down south. Either way, I’ll reach out and get their information and we can take it from there.”
“Great. Is the meeting adjourned? I’m still hungry.”
“You should probably get that checked out by a doctor,” Reid says.
“You’re a doctor.”
“I meant a psychiatrist.”
We all laugh as we file out of the conference room and into the bar and restaurant to a packed crowd for a Thursday night.
“Hey, man,” Ian Gallo, our silent partner in Hooplas, slaps me on my shoulder. “I hear you’re handling the security for Mia’s grand opening tomorrow night.”
“Yep. I’ll be there. Everything is all set, but I don’t anticipate any issues,” I tell him as I take a seat at the barstool next to him.
“I know, but I want to make sure that tomorrow is all about Mia and her shops and not me. I’m just the supportive fiancé.”
“Have you thought about being the supportive fiancé from the couch at home? That may be easier than dealing with the press.”
“Funny. If you had someone like Mia, you’d want to be with her around the clock, too.”
“That’s harsh, man. Harsh.”
Ian taps his beer bottle against mine, “Maybe someday, brother. Maybe someday.”
I drink to that, but don’t believe it. Being in my early thirties and still alone – I think the universe has spoken.
Declan Hayes is a solo act.