Page 26 of Bear Haven
Chapter Seven
The light of day was nearly gone when Gus drove into the worn and beaten down waterfront piece of real estate. The padlock on the gate out front had been left open by the realtor upon his request. He’d been holding off showing Bex until he’d been able to get the financing in order and a rendering down of what he wanted it to ultimately look like.
“This is kind of off the beaten path, isn’t it?” she asked after he parked the bike and they’d taken their helmets off.
“A bit.” He turned her slightly to the right and pointed. “But I think you’ll find the view worth it.”
Out across the lake, the shadowed roofline of her house could be seen. Trees, boat docks, and the calm, blue water were all that separated the old boat house from their home.
Home. He loved that word now. She was his home. Wherever she was, that was where he belonged. Even more so than the place he’d grown up in. Martin and Meryl tried to make him feel welcome and that he belonged with them as much as Michael did. But he wasn’t theirs. He knew it and they knew it and it always left him feeling like a friend of the family and an outsider.
That was how he’d manufactured his adult life to, as well. That of being an outsider.
Until Bex.
She was the home and the love he’d never imagined he could have for himself. She’d taken to him almost as quickly as he’d taken to her and neither of them had looked back.
He just… God, he fuckin’ loved her. Period. There was no more and no less than that.
“And you’re thinking of turning this place into what?” She pulled him back to the conversation at hand with her voice, her question. “A tattoo parlor? A garage for motorcycles?”
“Both. Granted, it needs a lot of work.
“That’s an understatement.”
He understood the doubt in her voice. At first glance, yes, it was highly speculative that anyone could handle the job of renovating and restoring it. The dusty and partially torn up floors, the broken windows along the back wall, the missing windows along the back wall, the half there half gone garage bay door for boats to be brought in was barely hanging on. Rusted chains littered one side of the building. And that was just the inside. The outside needed even more work.
“It’ll be a challenge. We’re working on your house now and when that’s finished, I’ll get started on this place. I’m guessing it’ll take a good six to nine months to bring it up to snuff, but, it’s not far from you and that’s what I want. Plus, it’s big enough to be divided in two.”
“Say you do get all the work done on it and are able to set up shop. Will it work? I mean, are you going to be able to survive out here? Will there be business?”
“That’s the thing with tattoos and motorcycles. People will travel as far as they have to if the reputation is as good as mine.”
She laughed and the sound warmed him as nothing else could. “Nothin’ wrong with your ego, is there?”
“You’re confident in your ability to run an inn, yes?” She nodded without a bit of hesitation. “Well, there are three things in this world I’m certain of… My art, my knowledge of bikes, and you. I can make a living anywhere. And I’ll follow you wherever you go.”
“I don’t deserve you”, she said softly.
“Oh, pretty girl… I don’t buy that shit for a second. You deserve everything I am.” Gus took her face in his hands and pressed a tender kiss to her lips. “From the moment I met you… I’d die for you.”
“I’ll be so pissed at you if you do and you’ll be able to feel it from beyond the grave.” Gus chuckled at the serious expression on her face.
“I’m not going anywhere. Was just a…” The words stuck in his throat, only to be replaced by another one. “Fuck.”
“What? What’s wrong.”
“We’ve gotta go. Now,” he barked.
“What? Why?”
“Because your house is on fire.”
Bex spun to look out the large, grime covered windows overlooking the lake. “Oh my God, Gus… Oh…”
“Shit.” Gus grabbed Bex by the hand and pulled her from the warehouse. They’d be lucky if the house wasn’t engulfed in flames by the time they crossed the bridge.
And shifting was out of the question.
