Page 6 of Waiting for Forever
Hudson had never met Beck Reed, who was fairly new to Maris, but he’d heard the man’s name enough. Now, as always, Granddad growled at the mention of his name.
“Yeah, well, Ryan Construction is more than just back in the game. Because Hudson’s not only a talented builder and contractor,” Granddad said, squeezing his shoulder. “My grandson put his years in Dallas to good use. He’s also a licensed plumber.”
Hudson realized that probably sounded impressive, but all it really signified was that he’d done nothing but work his ass off for well over a decade. He’d become a broken record—work, home, sleep, repeat. Day after day, month after month, year after year, until he looked up and thirteen years had passed.
“You don’t say,” TJ replied, clearly impressed. “We’ve had a terrible time getting plumbers ever since Jack Brody moved away. Have to call all the way to Douglas these days. Takes forever to get someone here.”
Hudson was aware of that. It was one of the most compelling arguments his granddad had made when asking him to return to Maris to take over the company. Not that it had been a terribly hard sell. Hudson had been working for someone else and apprenticing long enough that he’d formed his opinions on how projects should be done. He looked forward to the opportunity to be his own boss.
In an ideal world, Hudson would have returned to Maris a few years ago when his grandfather’s health began to decline. Granddad had been forced to take fewer and fewer jobs as rheumatoid arthritis made it difficult for him to get out of bed a lot of days. While Granddad had a decent-size crew that worked for him, projects tended to suffer whenever he wasn’t onsite. And, well, because of his age and the pain he was in, Granddad had also dropped the ball on several occasions, making some small—and a few costly—mistakes.
Because of that, Beck Reed had swooped in and taken advantage of the situation.
Granddad warned him that business had been slow, but Hudson didn’t realize until returning this week that slow meant practically nonexistent. He’d expected to come home and step in to take over at least a few projects from Granddad, but apparently Ryan Construction had lost too many bids to Beck’s company lately. As such, they were currently in the final stages of their last two jobs, relatively small ones, with no more waiting in the wings.
He should have moved back sooner. But three years earlier, when Hudson had originally made plans to take over Ryan Construction, his father was diagnosed with cirrhosis, and he and Granddad agreed he’d receive better medical care in the city.
Aware of Granddad’s health issues, Hudson had told the old guy to go ahead, close down the company and retire, resigning himself to the idea of working “for the man” for the rest of his life. However, Granddad was as stubborn as the day was long, so he kept holding on, even as things at the company took a turn for the worse.
Shortly after Dad’s funeral a month ago, Granddad told Hudson it was time for him to come back, and while he’d had some lingering reservations, given the less-than-stellar reputation he’d built for himself the last time he lived here, he decided there was nothing holding him in Dallas anymore.
“Your regular booth is open, Carl,” Macie said to Granddad. “If you guys want to grab it, I’ll bring the menus and water over.”
Hudson grinned. “Regular booth, huh?”
Granddad waved off his teasing. “Cooking for one person is miserable. Besides, I can’t make anything even half as good as the food here.”
“Probably doesn’t hurt that this is the hub of all the Maris gossip, too.”
Granddad winked. “I’d hate to miss anything.”
TJ Sparks had a tendency to gather old men like a shepherd gathered sheep. Granddad had long been a part of TJ’s group of followers, one of at least a dozen men who hung out at the restaurant, gossiping like a bunch of old hens.
“It’s Maris, Granddad. I can’t imagine there would be much to miss. It’s not like this is some booming metropolis.”
“You’d be surprised. We’ve had lots of scandalous happenings in the time you’ve been away.”
Hudson was relieved to hear that, given the fact he’d probably been one of the primary sources of scandals back in high school. “Do tell.”
Before Granddad could share the goods, Macie came over to the table, giving them each a glass of water before telling them the lunch special. Neither he nor Granddad bothered to take the menus, both agreeing the pulled pork sandwiches, homemade potato chips, coleslaw, and country green beans platter sounded damn fine.
Granddad was right. Eating here beat the hell out of cooking.
Macie promised to be right back with their beers, then headed to the kitchen to put their orders in.
“So hit me with it. What’s the juiciest thing to happen in Maris since I left?” Hudson asked, expecting nothing more interesting than some couple getting a divorce or someone having an affair. What he wasn’t expecting was…
“Well, what would you say if I told you Maris now has not one, buttwofull-fledged ménage a trois thingies going on.”
“You’re kidding!”
Granddad shook his head, clearly delighted by Hudson’s shock. “Nope,” Granddad said, popping the p.
“Who?”
“We got a couple full-time firefighters in Maris these days, Diego and Luc. Good guys. Hard workers. They raised money for a rescue squad and got certified as EMTs.”
Hudson nodded as he listened, accustomed to Granddad’s habit of adding way too many unnecessary details to his stories.
