Page 15 of You, Me, and Forever

“Sounds good. I’ll jump in the shower and pick you up when you get here.”

“See you soon.”

Jackson and I had grown up together, and we were like family. He’d worked on the majority of our commercial projects, and the dude was a brilliant architect.

I made my way to the bathroom, hoping for a quick shower, but considering I had a wicked case of blue balls this morning, I spent alittle time giving myself some relief from the thoughts of the woman I couldn’t quite get out of my mind just yet.

I got dressed, made a cup of coffee, and shook it off.

I swung by the airport to pick up Jackson after he’d landed. Thankfully this island had a private airport for those who wanted to get on and off by something other than a boat.

He whistled when we pulled up in front of the Seaside Inn. “You’re right. It’s even better in person. Look at that fucking view.”

“Yep. It’s something. And with all the tourists flocking to this place, they can’t accommodate half of them. So a lot of people stay in Anchorage and just come hang out here because it’s the place to be right now, apparently.” I parked in the small parking lot beside the inn.

“So we need to get this going sooner rather than later.”

“Definitely. We can’t do anything for a month because apparently they committed to hosting another wedding here in a few weeks, and there wouldn’t be enough time to get that one rescheduled. They wanted us to wait six months, but thankfully I was able to negotiate it way down. It’s going to take nine to twelve months to get this project up and going, and if we can time it to happen by next season at this time, we’ll make a killing.”

“You do have a good vision when it comes to this shit,” Jackson said.

“Says the dude who draws everything we build. You’re the talent here. I’m just the one who takes that plan and puts it into action.” I pulled the door open and stepped inside.

“Myles, it’s nice to see you again,” Howard said as he walked over to greet us. “I was hoping you’d come by this morning. I want to introduce you to the couple getting married here, seeing as you technically own the place now.”

I didn’t feel a need to mention that I already owned the place, and he was just renting it back from me.

Nor did I feel the need to meet locals, though that didn’t stop him from trying each time I saw him.

I had a business plan that had been very successful to me thus far, and chatting with the locals was not part of it. Sure, we’d be hiring employees from Blushing to work on the construction, as well as employees to run the place once it opened.

But Howard wanted to introduce me to the people getting married here this month, and the caterer and the party planners and all that shit that I didn’t have any interest in. This was going to be a luxury resort, not a wedding venue. Sure, they could rent a banquet hall if they wanted to, but that would be a very small portion of the business we were building. We’d have a five-star restaurant on site, and we’d hire the best if they were here, or we’d find them and move them here.

That’s how the St. James Corp. does business.

“Sure.” I gave him a curt nod and held out my hand to the man beside me. “This is Jackson, the architect on the project. Jackson, this is the man we purchased Seaside from, Howard.”

They shook hands and made small talk as I told the older man that I was going to take Jackson outside to walk the property.

“This is small-town living, brother. You’re not used to having locals in your business, because you’ve never taken on a project like this in a town of this size.” Jackson chuckled as we stepped outside and he took in the property.

“Yep. I’m learning that quickly. I’m going to spend a few weeks here and meet with the contractor and figure out how we’re going to get supplies brought in and come up with a game plan. We’ll probably need to bring a lot of things over by boat.”

“Damn. You sure you’re up for this? This isn’t New York, Myles, or even Los Angeles or Vegas, or other areas we’ve taken on projects like this. It’s a small town, more remote—things are going to be more challenging.”

“Yes. I’m more than aware. There’s apparently a moose in town who you just sort of ignore, and Howard and his wife Lydia appear to know everyone in town, so I get the feeling they think I’ll be the same way.” I scratched the back of my neck.

He chuckled and clapped me on the shoulder. “It’s good for you. You’ve always been in the city, and maybe it’s time you spend a little time in nature. You could try smiling every now and then. People like that.”

I flipped him the bird, and we spent the next hour talking through our ideas. He was going to make a few tweaks to the plans, and I glanced at my phone to check the time.

“All right, we’ve got that meeting with Charlie from Huxley Construction. Let’s go see if he’s here. Howard said we can meet in the dining room and go over everything there.”

We made our way inside, and Charlie Huxley was standing there talking to Howard. Well, Howard was talking, and Charlie appeared to be trying to get the conversation to come to an end after he’d looked up to see us walking his way.

We made the brief introductions and pulled him away so we could go chat on our own.

“Are you from here?” Jackson asked him as we sat down at the large table, and I pulled my laptop from my briefcase.

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