Page 141 of Knockin' Boats
“Not yet,” I said grimly, “but Rick is about to fuck around and find out.”
CHAPTER 30
Sawyer
Hudson sat behind the metal desk in the Swallow Adventures office. It was strange seeing him there after I’d spent a week in that seat.
“So you’ve been busy while I was gone,” he said mildly as I entered the room. “Been reading through your notes. Heath missed a few days, huh?”
I hovered in the doorway. “Refused to come to work. Claimed he was sick. But, uh, we have bigger fish to fry.”
Hudson raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“We were at the site of a hit-and-run accident last night. I’m a witness.”
Hudson waved to the chair. “Maybe you’d better sit down and tell me everything.”
I took a seat and gave him the highlights of the accident, including that DreamBoats was at fault.
“That’s goddamn awful,” he said. “They’ve always been a little reckless, but this is out of hand.”
“Alcohol was involved.Of course.I really think we should eliminate the booze cruises from the business, Hudson. It’s getting too damn crazy out there.”
“I wish.” He shook his head. “We just couldn’t replace the revenue. The Ozarks is a party lake, and it’s an unfortunate reality we have to deal with if we want to work it.”
“But there are other revenue streams. Like water sports.”
“Water sports?”
I quickly recapped the story of the tourist who wanted a waterskiing or wakesurfing tour. “If we incorporated that, we’d be the only business in town, Hud. We wouldn’t need these booze cruises.”
“You may not be wrong, but I don’t know the first thing about water sports, much less what kind of liability is involved.”
“I’ve been doing them all my life. I could lead all the cruises. I could do all the research. I already know the best equipment.”
“You’ve put a lot of thought into this,” Hudson said. “Have you considered starting your own business?”
I blinked. “What? No. I don’t have start-up capital.”
“You may need less than you think. If you get a loan or an investor?—”
I was already shaking my head no. “I can’t take that kind of risk. What if it doesn’t work out?”
Hudson drummed his fingers on his desk. “It would be a risk to me too. New equipment, new liability.” He tilted his head. “What would you think of buying into Swallow Adventures?”
“Uh…”
“I partnered with the resort because I wanted to scale back. Have more time for Fisher. If you bought into the business, we could transition to you being the sole owner.”
“I don’t know, Hud. I mean, this is your business, not mine.”
“You did a great job handling this week, and it sounds like it wasn’t the easiest week.”
“Yeah, I mean, I don’t mind managing things. I was going to bring that up with you. I think I could do more.”
“So do I,” he said. “If you invest, it would finance these water-sport tours you want to lead. When the time is right, you could phase out booze cruises. You’ve got so much potential, Sawyer. You should consider what you want for your future.”
“Right.” I swallowed. “It’s a lot to think about.”
