Nuff Rope

Chapter 8





“Good afternoon, Danny,” Riley said as he walked into the bookstore.

“Ah, a face from the recent past,” Danny said with a quizzical look on his face. “Let me see. I should be able to put a name to it. Ronald? Reginald? No, none of those. I do believe it’s Riley.”

Riley laughed and shook his head. “I’m sorry I’ve been MIA,” he said. “The symphony was playing in Cleveland on the weekend, and I went with them to make sure the pianos were tuned.”

“A likely story,” Danny said batting his eyelashes at Riley. They lost something in the translation from the long false ones that he wore as Divina Devore.

“Are you mad at me?” Riley asked with a frown.

“No, I’m teasing,” Danny chuckled. “There is a difference, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

“I know you have a wicked sense of humor, and that’s just one of the many things I like about you. But I don’t always know when you are employing that sense of humor. You keep such a straight face…”

“Whoa, go back to the part about that being one of many things you like about me. I won’t even comment on the straight crack. It’s irrelevant in light of the other comment.”

Riley shook his head. “Are you kidding now?’

“But of course, mon cheri.”

“It will take me years to figure you out.”

“No, it’s not possible to figure me out,” Danny corrected. “I can’t even figure myself out.”

“Then get me a coffee and today’s newspaper before my head explodes,” Riley ordered.

“I’d be happy to,” Danny said coyly. “We are here to serve.”

“And then you’re coming to dinner with me,” Riley added.

“I am?”

“Yes.”

“It’s a date,” Danny replied cheerfully. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Riley slumped down into a chair and wondered what the hell he had got himself into with Danny Devore.



*****



“Todd!” Brian called as he walked into the garden center. Justin was close behind him.

“He’s in his office,” Jasmine said as Brian walked decisively past her and entered the office at the back.

“What the fuck is going on, Todd?” Brian demanded as he saw his target sitting at his desk.

“I knew you were going to blow a gasket,” Todd said dejectedly. “I can’t do this. I’m totally out of my depth. I want out.”

“When did you become a quitter?” Brian said through gritted teeth. There was only one thing Brian hated more than a quitter, and that was a whiner. Todd was verging on both.

“I … I really thought this business could succeed. It seemed like it was everything I wanted,” Todd said sadly.

“It can succeed,” Brian ranted. “But success doesn’t just happen. You have to work at it … and work at it hard!”

“I’ve been working sixteen hour days, for fuck sake!” Todd retorted. “Don’t talk to me about working hard. That’s exactly what I’ve been doing, while you’ve been sitting at home on your fucking ass.” Todd regretted those words as soon as they were out of his mouth, but it was too late to take them back. He’d fucking stand by his words.

Brian smiled slightly. “I see you do have some spunk. I was beginning to doubt that you did.”

“What does spunk have to do with anything? I just told you that I can’t run this business.”

“Spunk has everything to do with being a success. Giving up has nothing to do with success. It’s one or the other. And I think you can be a success … if you have the spunk to take this on and master it.”

“But…” Todd began.

“It’s easy to quit. It’s not so easy to face the problem and fix it,” Justin said. He was very interested to watch Brian at work in a situation like this. This must be what he was like every day at Kinnetik. The power that oozed out of him was formidable.

“How can I fix this?” Todd asked after a pause to think about Justin’s words. “I’m so tired.”

“Did I not tell you to get Ted to help you with the paperwork?” Brian asked. Todd nodded. “Did you?”

“No,” Todd admitted.

“Why not?”

“I, um, thought I could do it myself. I wanted to prove to you…”

“That you don’t know when to ask for help? Well, it’s working really well for you so far, isn’t it?”

“A man should know when to ask for help,” Justin said with a smile, “to quote a famous American.”

Brian gave him a look, but didn’t comment. “Justin’s right. If you had asked Ted, he can supply you with software that will track what you order and what you’ve used of your inventory. He has other software for accounts receivable. And! He’ll show you how to use it. You don’t have to learn it all by yourself.”

“I … I didn’t want to bother him,” Todd said meekly.

“You aren’t bothering him. I hired Ted to look after my finances, and this business is part of my finances. It’s his job.”

“Okay, but even if I do that, I don’t have enough manpower for all the jobs that have come in from the Mayor’s garden project.”

“Hire someone,” Brian ordered.

“I think I need to hire about three people,” Todd replied.

Brian could see that Todd was beginning to think about solutions, not just problems. That was a good sign. “Have you advertised the jobs?’

“Yes, and I have ten applications, but I haven’t had time to…”

“You need to prioritize, Todd. Choose the most likely candidates,” Brian advised.

“But what if they’re no good? I know you want everything to be the best.”

“Start them off as helpers. Then they can advance as they prove themselves.”

“But I need three.”

Brian heaved a sigh. “Let’s start with two,” Brian said. “You take one to a job tomorrow and I’ll take the other to a different job.”

“Y…You?” Todd asked.

“I’m not above a little manual labor,” Brian said smugly. “And I happen to have some free time on my hands right at the moment.” He glanced over at Justin.

“Not too much free time,” Justin said with a wink.

Brian smiled and shook his head. “Which jobs should we tackle first?” Brian asked.

“These two,” Todd said holding out two papers towards Brian.

“Okay, pick the one you want, and I’ll take the other.”

Todd looked the pages over, and selected one.

“What about calling Ted?” Justin asked.

“Good idea,” Brian agreed. He opened his cell phone and hit the number for Ted.

“Yes, Boss,” Ted came on the line. “What can I do for you?”

“Can you leave Kinnetik and get over to the garden center?”

“Yeah, but it’ll take me a couple of hours,” Ted said. “What’s up?”

“Bring your simplest and best accounts receivable software, and we need something to track inventory at the garden center,” Brian advised.

“I’ll see what I can find. I may be able to download something from the internet.”

“Make it happen,” Brian ordered.

“I’m on it, Boss.”

Brian cut the connection. “Ted will be here soon to help you get your bookkeeping in order. You can have him for a couple of days,” Brian said. “I’ll see you in the morning. Call the two best applicants for the jobs you want to fill, and tell them to be here bright and early tomorrow morning.”

“I will,” Todd said.

“You can make this work, Todd. We can make this work. Do you still want to go back to Chicago?” Todd shook his head. “Good.” Brian turned to leave.

“Brian … thanks,” Todd said.

“Don’t thank me, just fix this mess. And next time let me know before things get so out of hand.”

“I will,” Todd called as Brian left the office.

“You were … magnificent in there,” Justin said as he took hold of Brian’s arm. “So masterful.”

“That’s me, masterful,” Brian joked.

“I mean it. You really turned me on with that display in there. Is that how you run things at Kinnetik?”

“Pretty much.”

“Take me home, you sexy devil,” Justin cooed as he got in the car.

“Happy to,” Brian said with a chuckle as he started the car.



*****



Justin masterfully distracted Brian for the next few hours until it was time to make dinner. Being a typical hot August day, the boys decided to grill outside and take advantage of the shaded areas of their garden. Since he was used to cooking ‘large’ to accommodate their family, Brian felt awkward scaling down for just the two of them. Beau received an extra treat as the result.

After dinner, Brian sequestered himself in his attic office. Ted had arrived at the garden center and was in the midst of installing the new accounting software onto Todd’s main computer. Ted and Todd discovered that Jasmine had a head for numbers and since she had been with the garden center for many years, she was quite familiar with its needs. Brian urged Todd to take advantage of the experts already at hand to assist him. For some reason Todd had gotten into his head that Brian wanted him to do it all. Both Brian and Ted assured Todd that wasn’t the case. Using Brian as an example, Todd now realized how much Brian delegated once he knew who his most trustworthy minions were. Todd began to breathe a little easier.

While his majesty was up in the office ruling his empire, Justin finished up the dinner dishes. He was experiencing a strange empty feeling inside that was making him restless. With his paintings and sketches all done for his Then and Now show, Justin found himself with nothing to do. Something he found a bit unsettling and that he had no explanation for.

Justin wandered the cottage, trying to focus and give a reason to his feelings. He walked through the sun porch. All was as it should be. Beau looked up from his pillow in the corner, watching his blond master. He sniffed the air as if sensing Justin’s uneasiness. Beau stood then walked over to give Justin a sniff and a lick as if to confirm his assessment. He stood on his hind paws placing his front paws on Justin’s shoulders. The weight of the great dog nearly toppled Justin over but he found his footing as Beau studied Justin’s face.

“I’m fine, Beau. Really. I think I miss Bree,” Justin said as the realization came to him. Beau gave him a slobber then quickly trotted off into their side of the cottage. While Justin washed off the doggy spit at the small sink in his corner of the porch, Beau came trotting back out with something in his mouth. He gently placed the ‘something’ on the floor then waited until Justin dried off his face and hands.

“Hey, Beau, what’s this?” Justin asked. Beau nudged the thing closer. Justin picked it up then smiled. It was Bree’s grey bunny. “Thank you, Beau,” Justin said, giving Beau’s head a pat and a scratch behind the ears. Beau wagged his tail, happy to be able to put a smile on this master’s face. Somehow the world always looked brighter to Beau when his blond master smiled.

Beau gave a little bark in acknowledgment then took off through the doorway on the Anderson-Morrison side of the porch. Moments later, Justin saw Beau out in the yard ready to begin his patrol.

Even though Beau had everything under control, Justin felt compelled to inspect the rest of the cottage. He went through the door, stepping into John and Bobby’s kitchen. Justin checked the stove and pulled the plug on any appliance that didn’t need to be plugged in. John and Bobby had left him very little to do, but Justin decided to check through their cottage anyway.

Justin stopped at the fireplace to admire all the framed photos that the men had placed in honor on the mantle. There were dozens of pictures of their ever growing family. Many of which brought smiles and a few laughs to Justin as he was reminded of the circumstances surrounding the picture. One picture brought a sad smile; it was of the four of them with Edna Galloway. The elegant woman who had befriended them in South America when they were on the trail of Kinney and Patrick. The lady for whom their cottage was named. Justin said some silent words of thanks to her as he replaced the picture on the mantle. With his inspection complete, Justin went back toward his side of the cottage. Hearing Brian still on the phone, deep into his conference, Justin settled onto a chaise in the porch with a sketch pad and began to draw his memories of Edna.

A few hours later, Brian sauntered down the stairs. He had a satisfied gleam in his eyes. His conference with Todd and Ted went well. Ted enjoyed his feeling of superiority when it came to his prowess with the new program and in his accounting abilities at large. Brian silently indulged him as thanks and acknowledgment of a job well done. Brian offered him a bed for the night instead of driving all the way to the Pitts. Ted tactfully declined stating he had the key to Emmett’s cottage. But he’d be by in the morning to go back to the garden center with Brian.

Todd came away with a new sense of purpose and confidence. When observed by more objective eyes, Todd wasn’t in as much trouble as he had imagined. Brian read the email he received from the Mayor and husband of Todd’s number one client. The Mayor had sent his comments to Brian rather than Todd, as a postscript to his email regarding the new schools that the Anderson Construction company was completing. The Mayor was grateful to Brian for introducing his wife to Todd and the All Things Happy Garden Center. While initially the mayor’s wife had some misgivings regarding the color scheme for her “seaside” garden, once the blooms opened in earnest, the full effect was achieved. His wife and longtime mate was completely thrilled which made the Mayor a very happy camper. Todd thanked Brian and was ready to get back to work. Brian recommended a good night’s sleep and ordered the man NOT to get to the center before eight the next morning. Todd agreed and they concluded their call.

“Hey Sunshine,” Brian called out softly as he saw Justin on the chaise. He stopped when he realized that Justin had fallen asleep, his sketch askew in his hand and Bree’s grey bunny on his lap. Brian smiled at the picture of beauty and innocence before him. Brian stood watching, reveling in his number one guilty pleasure. Justin stirred, stretching out the kinks as he woke up.

“Hey,” Justin said with his special smile he gave to only Brian.

“Hey,” Brian replied as he sat on the side of the lounger. “Whatcha drawing?” Justin handed Brian his pad. “Edna,” Brian stated. “I miss that old broad.”

“You miss trying to drink her under the table,” Justin smirked.

“I never could win a drinking contest with her. What made you decide to draw her now?”

“Not sure. I was checking on the guys’ cottage and saw a few of her pictures on their mantle. I just got it in my head to draw her. She was so important to us and she helped us keep Kinney’s legacy alive.”

“That she did. She also helped us find some of your long lost family. I think it’s time we invite John Patrick and his family up here for a visit. Maybe for the holidays.”

“Really? I’m not sure if they could afford to send the whole family.”

“Then we can help. It’s been a hell of a long time since Katerina has seen her brother and parents. I think it’s time, don’t you?” Justin nodded. “Speaking about long lost relatives, have you decided what you’re going to do about Candy?”

“Yeah. It’s wrong to condemn her for what her father is. I’m going to try to sponsor her if I can. She shows a lot of promise.”

“And if she turns out to have inherited her father’s attitudes…?” Brian said with an arch of his brow.

“If I can’t bring her back from the dark side then I’ll cut my losses and move on. There are other promising artists I can help along.”

“Yes, there are. I’m proud of you, Sunshine.”

“Yeah?” Justin looked into Brian’s face with love and admiration. For a moment Brian saw that seventeen year old who had the worst case of hero worship the planet had ever seen.

“Yeah,” Brian replied as he swept a lock of golden hair from Justin’s eyes. Brian fell in love all over again. He leaned over to give Justin a kiss. Beau came into the porch, finished with his appointed rounds. “All good out there, Beau?” Brian asked the large wolf-like dog when he released Justin's lips.

Beau barked in affirmation then went to take a good long drink from his bowl.

“Well, now that all is right in the world, let’s say we hit the hay. I have a funny feeling I’m going to need all my strength tomorrow,” Brian said with a smirk, taking Justin’s hand. He hoisted Justin up to his feet with a mighty grunt. “I have a feeling I’m going to be doing a lot of that tomorrow too.”

“More of what?” Justin asked with curiosity.

“Grunting,” Brian deadpanned, making Justin laugh.

“How about I give you something else to grunt at,” Justin crooned with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Brian grabbed Justin’s wrist and quickly hustled his mate to their bedroom. Justin laughed loudly all the way.



*****



They were standing by the koi pond in Danny’s secret garden.

“This was hidden back here all the time?” Riley asked the man at his side.

“Yes. The former owners never knew it was here. They were having financial problems so gardening was the last thing on their minds. I gave them a good price for the house and land which allowed them to do what they needed to do. But I think I got the better of the bargain. Jennifer Taylor was the realtor. Jennifer Harris I should say.”

“Justin’s mother?”

“The very same. She got into real estate when her first marriage broke up. The woman needed to earn a living.” Danny shrugged. “She’s helped many in the family find their dream home, including the land that Edna’s Treasures is sitting on.”

“Maybe I should consult her. I think I’ve been in my apartment too long.” Danny gave Riley a poignant look. “No, it’s not the same one I shared with Tony. The lease was in his name; after he died I was forced to move. But I wasn’t very choosey. I didn’t care where I was as long as it had running water, four walls and a roof.”

Danny was tempted to put his foot in his mouth and invite Riley to live with him, but Danny knew it was way too early for that. Instead, Danny took Riley’s hand to give him the guided tour of the secret garden in full bloom. Danny had John and his crew install solar lampposts along the path, high enough to light their way but nestled under the trees so that the light wouldn’t disturb neighbors.

“It’s so peaceful; I love it out here,” Danny commented as he inhaled the fragrant flowers and herbs. “Beautiful,” Danny sighed as he bent to smell a patch of lavender.

“I agree,” Riley murmured as he took Danny’s hand then tugged him upright and into his arms, planting a deep kiss onto Danny’s lips.



*****



A quiet sniffle woke the other girl in the bunk. A shuffle of feet then the little girl patted the arm of the crying child.

“You miss your mommy and daddy?” Bree asked Meghan.

“Yeah,” Meghan said with a few more sniffles.

“They’re coming to our games, right?” Meghan nodded in the dim light of their cabin. All the bunkhouses had small nightlights near each set of bunks. “Our first game is in two days; you’ll see them soon,” Bree said logically. Meghan seemed to stop sniffling. “Do you want me to sleep with you? Cause I don’t mind. I always sleep with my grey bunny but I had to leave him at home. My Gamma Joan gave me my grey bunny and he always makes me happy.”

As Meghan contemplated about the girl with two daddies, a gamma and a grey bunny, she moved over to make room for Bree. Bree joined Meghan under the covers, patted her hand then settled down for the night. Soon the two little girls were fast asleep.