Chapter 24
Ravage wove his way through the traffic. It had been about six weeks since Abe and Clint had asked him to consult on the bar they wanted to open, and Ravage was heading to meet them at one of the buildings they were considering.
Clint had sent him the address two days ago, and Ravage was vaguely familiar with the area, even with it being in the next city over. Once he placed it in his GPS, he was proven correct. It was downtown, off the water, as he’d suspected.
They were meeting on a Tuesday, both men taking into consideration that Ravage would be off that day, and he wouldn’t be short on time.
A part of him had thought about asking Karter to come with him, and they could enjoy a night out once he’d finished with Clint and Abe.
However, he didn’t want to drag her around while he essentially worked.
He figured he could just bring her back next week for her birthday. Admittedly, he could have waited for them to take their couple’s vacation on her birthday, but he didn’t want her to miss spending it with her parents.
When Ravage pulled up to the building, he was the first one there, but he wasn’t surprised. He’d left about thirty minutes sooner than he needed to in case he got caught in traffic for a while.
Getting out of his truck, he walked to the front of the building, wanting to inspect it.
It needed a little work on the outside, but nothing too major.
He went around to the side of the building that sat closest to the water and took the walkway to the back.
There was a deck that could easily be converted into outdoor seating for the warmer months.
Ravage returned to the front of the building along the other side to look at it as well. The back and both sides were in much the same condition as the front, which was pretty good for the year he suspected the building was erected.
Pulling out his phone, he sent a text message to Karter, letting her know that he’d made it. He’d meant to do it when he first arrived, but hadn’t been able to stop himself from getting a look at the building before the other two men arrived.
He let down the tailgate of his truck and sat on it while he waited.
It was still pretty warm for almost the middle of October; however, the breeze coming off the water made it feel cooler.
He supposed that would be a plus during the hotter months of business if this were the spot they went with.
He was scrolling through his phone when Abe and Clint pulled up a few minutes later.
“Hey,” he greeted, getting off the tail of the truck.
“Hey, Ravage,” Clint greeted before turning his attention to Abe. “I told you he was going to beat us here, and we should have left earlier.”
“You did not say that,” Abe spoke, with a raised brow after greeting Ravage as well.
“I thought it, and you should have been able to pick up on it,” Clint countered.
“The realtor still isn’t here, so we aren’t late,” Abe informed him.
“You’re actually five minutes early,” Ravage supplied.
The three men sat and talked for the next few minutes until the realtor pulled into the parking lot. She stepped out of her vehicle with a folder in her hand and approached them.
“Gentlemen, hello. I was unaware that there would be three of you,” she stated. “But the more, the merrier,” she added with a smile.
They followed her inside, and Ravage noted that the interior only needed slight work as well. The foundation seemed to be sturdy, and there were no cracks in the walls that he could see, though there were two water damage spots that Clint noticed as well and pointed out.
After they’d looked around for a bit, he returned to the entrance.
Because of where the bathrooms were currently located, you could only really go two ways with the setup.
If they planned on incorporating food, then just one.
However, Ravage knew that not all bars felt the need to serve food, even if they kept the menu short as he had.
They went to the back deck. Abe had the same idea about adding seating, and Clint mentioned a fire pit so the space could be used year-round.
“I personally wouldn’t, but that’s just me,” Ravage told him.
“Is there a particular reason?” Abe asked.
“Half of this deck is over water. If you place a fire pit in the middle and the deck catches on fire, the people closest to the water would have to swim. If they don’t know how, that poses an issue.
Not to mention insurance premiums are going to be higher because of the possibility of something like that happening,” he informed.
“That’s a good point,” Clint responded.
“But I don’t see why you couldn’t put heat lamps at each corner,” he supplied, getting the feeling that Clint had been excited about a fire pit.
“We’d need to place railings on the walkway and around the deck. It would have to be high enough that a drunk person couldn’t stumble over it, but not take away from the atmosphere,” Abe added.
“You’d be surprised at the feats a drunk person can accomplish,” Ravage told him.
Once they made it back to the front of the building, Ravage pulled out his phone, which had gone off while they were looking around. It was a text from Karter telling him to have a fun playdate with the smirking emoji. He chuckled to himself before sending her the eye-roll emoji.
“So, we’ve got two more places to see,” Clint came over and informed him as Abe was still speaking to the realtor.
“Okay, I’ll follow you.”
Clint nodded before heading towards his car as Abe and the realtor went their separate ways. Ravage climbed into his truck, pulled out of the parking lot, and followed them to the next location.
Ravage took his turn, aiming to get the four in the corner pocket.
Once they’d looked at all three locations, they decided to get something to eat and go to a sports bar.
They’d discussed the three locations as they ate.
Ravage only gave his input when it was asked for or when what they were suggesting would be a bigger headache than it was worth, because he wanted whatever they chose to be just that, their decision, without too much influence from him.
Ultimately, the two had decided they needed to look at more buildings and asked Ravage when he’d be available next.
While he planned to be in town the following week, it would be to celebrate Karter’s birthday, and that was what he wanted to have his focus on.
So, he told them two weeks from the date, but assured them they could look at properties without him.
However, neither Abe nor Clint seemed to be in a rush and stated that two weeks was fine, and he had left it at that.
“So, Ravage, what is the missus doing today?” Clint questioned while taking his shot.
“I honestly don’t know,” he responded. “When I asked what she had planned for the day, she just said she’d find something to do.”
“You should have brought her along,” Clint stated.
“I thought about it,” Ravage responded, walking around the pool table. “But I didn’t want her to feel like I was dragging her around while I was working.”
“That’s a good point,” Abe responded. “Though it may have kept the realtor from flirting with you,” he tacked on with a chuckle.
Ravage snorted. The realtor had been professional enough during the first showing. But sometime during the second showing it was stated that he was not one of the buyers, just their consultant, and it seemed after that he was fair game.
By the third showing, her subtle remarks, and whatever the hell she had been doing with her leg while she stood, had become pitiful.
So, Ravage had simply stated to Abe in passing that his wife wanted him to remind Abe that she hadn’t forgotten what he owed her.
Which wasn’t a complete lie. Abe did owe Karter money after he bet her she wouldn’t beat him at the cookout.
That had seemed to put an end to whatever the realtor was attempting.
Ravage had paid her so little attention that he didn’t even know her name.
The three played for the next hour, the loser of each game giving up his stick to the person on the sideline.
When Ravage looked at his phone, he saw it was seven in the evening. He’d been in town since a little before two that afternoon.
“Time to get home to the wifey?” Clint teased, and Abe nudged him.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we got an invitation soon,” Abe added.
Ravage chuckled. “Keep an eye on the mail.”
The three men exited the bar and said their goodbyes, going their separate ways. Ravage climbed into his truck and texted Karter that he was on his way back before pulling out of the parking lot and heading towards the interstate.
Karter stretched on the couch as the episode she’d been watching went off.
She had made no plans for the day, and she honestly didn’t feel like making any or going out, so she decided to stay home and binge-watch a new Netflix release.
She’d gotten a text a little over an hour ago from Creed telling her he was on his way back to town, and knew she would receive a text from him at some point telling her he’d made it home.
There was a knock on her door, and she got up, stretching yet again. She looked through the peephole before unlocking the door and pulling it open.
“Hey, baby,” she greeted, stepping aside to allow Creed in. He was carrying a bag from her favorite Thai restaurant, and Karter smiled at him, realizing she was starving.
“Hey, Kaere,” he responded, leaning down to kiss her as he walked past.
“It’s like you read my mind,” she told him, gesturing to the bag after closing and locking the door.
“I didn’t read your mind. I just know that when you say you’ll find something to do, you end up binge-watching something and forget to eat.”
Karter couldn’t even argue with him because he wasn’t wrong. So, instead, she went to the kitchen and grabbed them both a drink from the refrigerator and two forks.