Charlie turned around to answer but saw me first. His frustrated expression turned to happiness in a split second.
“Hiya, handsome,” he said. “I missed you this morning.”
I walked up and took him in my arms, not giving a shit who saw us or what they thought. The only inappropriate part was the coworking nature of our situation, and that was as good as over.
“I had to take care of some things. Is that your dad in the kitchen?”
“Mm, yeah. I expected Max to rage quit, but I think he’s actually too intimidated by the auld man to leave,” he said with a chuckle. “My dad can have that effect on people.”
I kissed him quickly before taking a deep breath. “Think maybe I should meet him properly?”
“You look flustered. You all right?”
I kissed him again. “Way, way better than all right, Irish.”
His eyes sparkled and his face flushed. “Well then, let’s see what we can do to bring you down a peg or two, shall we? Dad!” he yelled in the direction of the war zone. “Hudson’s here.”
The big man came rushing out of the kitchen, a black apron tied smartly over a pub golf shirt he’d acquired somehow.
“There’s the man,” he said with a big welcoming grin. It was very different from the greeting the day before. “Come give me some love.”
My eyes must have given away my shock because both Murrays started laughing at me. Sean gave me a giant bear hug and then held me out from him with big hands on my shoulders.
“Lemme get a look at ya. Charlie says you’re a good one, yeah? Gonna treat my boy right?”
“Dad, fuck,” Charlie muttered, flushing even deeper pink.
“If he’ll let me. Yes, sir. He’s the good one, not me.”
Sean looked at his son. “I reckon he’ll do.” And then he turned and went back in the kitchen yelling for Max to get his hands out of the stew.
I turned back to Charlie. “Big day. I’m here. Put me to work.”
The day went fast after that. We mostly went over everything and taste tested Max’s efforts at compliance with Sean’s stricter standards. When five o’clock rolled around, I was stuffed and Charlie was borderline manic with nerves.
“Baby, relax,” I murmured into his ear after taking him into a hug for the millionth time today. I’d used any excuse all day to touch him. “It’s going to be perfect. You’ve done an amazing job.”
“We’ve done an amazing job,” he corrected.
Bruce walked in the door, calling out a greeting and walking up to congratulate us on the arrival of the big day.
“Hudson, after we got off the phone this morning, I booked a big meeting for you on Monday in Chicago. I hope you don’t mind me tagging along to help smooth the introduction. We fly out Sunday night. I think this is going to make for an exciting future for you, Hudson. There are several investors up there excited to meet you.”
My heart skipped a beat. This could really be happening.
“Of course not. Thank you, Bruce. I can’t thank you enough for arranging that opportunity for me.”
Sometimes in life you don’t realize when you’ve uttered words that have the power to fuck everything up. This was one of those times.
I didn’t realize how the conversation had sounded to Charlie.
And by the time I figured it out, he was gone.
Hudson’s Lament:
Old habits die hard.
44
Charlie
Charlie’s Luck:
There’s no such thing as Forever Man.
The grand opening was a smash hit. Everyone loved the pub, and Dad and I identified several regulars right out of the gate, men we knew would be parking their bums on the same stool most nights for the foreseeable future. We worked hard to make the night a success, and judging by the standing-room only and the hours-long wait for a table, it succeeded.
I worked my arse off for the sake of my family’s reputation. I couldn’t help but want anything with the Fig and Bramble name to be good and right, even if the entire enterprise could be handed over to someone else in the near future.
Hudson had left to take my father home shortly after midnight. It was after two in the morning when I finally made it back to the bunkhouse and slipped into bed with him. I vaguely remembered thrusting my hips into his hot mouth and releasing down his throat, but then I was out like a light.
We were run off our feet the rest of the weekend, and when I woke up Monday morning, it was to the reminder Hudson had left the night before. The two of us had never had the chance to discuss his job options, and now he was in Chicago presumably meeting his new bosses.
The usual familiar faces were present for breakfast in the farmhouse kitchen when I walked in.