“You gave her the condo,” he replies. “Last I checked, that counted as something and is definitely not nothing.”
A wry grin touches my lips. “Yeah, well, she would have been out on the streets if I hadn't given her at least the condo,” I say. “I'm not a complete asshole.”
“Like I said, a soft touch,” Brayden laughs. “If I were in your shoes, I would have sent her evil, conniving ass to prison. At least there, you know she'd have a roof over her head and three squares a day, brother.”
Brayden likes to talk tough, but if push actually came to shove, he probably would have done the same thing I did. Probably even tossed in a bit of cash just to make the transition easier. He likes to say I'm the soft touch in the family, but of the four brothers, I'd have to say that he's got the kindest heart.
In other words, he's mostly bark with little bite.
“Well, it's done,” I say. “If she comes back at me though, I'll be sure to unleash hell on her.”
“Oh, I have a feeling she's going to come back at you, brother,” Brayden says. “You just need to be careful. My biggest concern is that you're not going to see it coming, so watch your back.”
“I will, Bray,” I say. “Thanks.”
“So, how is your new hometown?”
I look out the window and a small smile touches my lips. The town of Port Safira is charming. It has a real small-town feel and a slower pace of life that I find incredibly appealing. Honestly, I'm slightly appalled to see the gentrification going on as it seems to be stripping some of that charm away. It's unfortunate, as I much prefer seeing the small, homegrown businesses as opposed to the high-end, generic retail chains.
“It's nice,” I say. “Quiet. Peaceful. I think this is exactly what I need right now.”
“That's good to hear, brother,” Brayden says. “You definitely need some time to clear your head and get your brain back into the game.”
“That I do.”
In the distance are the port and the larger-than-life cruise ships that are docked near the sleek, modern terminal. Hotels have sprouted up all around the area and I can see construction going on down that way. I can't say for sure what they are yet, but I have a feeling there are some high-dollar condos being built near the water. Even near a major cruise line hub, condos on the water are going to fetch a pretty penny. It’s the same everywhere.
“Any business opportunities there?” Brayden asks. “Where is it again?”
“Port Safira,” I say. “A little up-and-coming town on the Olympic Peninsula. And yeah, it looks like there is a lot of business going on here. Looks like a new cruise line hub and some condos are going up. The main artery through town looks like it's going through some major changes.”
“Are you planning on doing business there?”
I shrug. “I don't know,” I say. “Something about all of the gentrification I see happening here just feels wrong. This place is actually really charming. It's a nice town. But, somebody looks like they're trying to turn it into a mirror image of Seattle or something. The character of the place is getting stripped away. It's unfortunate.”
“Like I said, you're a soft touch,” Brayden laughs.
I laugh and shake my head. “Yeah, that's me,” I say. “Anyway, I should get going. I need to take Hemingway out.”
“Sounds good. Give me a call in a couple of days,” I say. “I want to hear more about your new town.”
“I'll do that,” I say. “Love you, brother.”
“Love you too.”
I disconnect the call and lean back in my seat for a moment, just staring out at the town of Port Safira. Being up on the hill I am, I have an excellent vantage point and can see it all spread out down below me. Yeah, I can't say I'm a fan of the character of this place being stripped away.
I'm so lost in thought, I don't even realize my Golden Retriever, Hemingway, is in the room until he lays his big head on my leg, his big, soulful eyes looking up at me. I reach down and scratch behind his ears and smile.
“Ready for a walk?” I ask.
As if he understands my every word, he backs up, a big, doggy smile on his face, his tail beating the air behind him. He turns in a circle and gives me a quick yip to encourage me to get moving.
It's hard to stay in a foul mood with this guy around.
Chapter Seven
Liam
I take Hemingway up through the trails behind my house. I've seen people up here running every now and then, but for the most part, we have the trails to ourselves. Which is how I like it. In the month and a half I've been in Port Safira, I don't think I've really left my home.
At least, not to go into town. I have a private helicopter and a pilot who is always on call that I use to travel back and forth between here and the Seattle office – the home base of my slice of the ADE kingdom. I don't have to be there too often, and frankly, I prefer staying out of Seattle as much as I can these days. I'm thankful that I can do pretty much everything I need to do from my home office.
It's just one of the many perks of being in my position. Of course, as I've learned, being in my position also comes with plenty of drawbacks. Such as having a woman in my life who saw me as nothing more than an ATM. A body to pay for the upscale, lavish lifestyle she wanted to lead. That she felt like she deserved to lead.
With that whole mess six weeks behind me now, I've had plenty of time to reflect on things and I still can't help but kick myself again and again for not noticing the signs sooner. I should have known, all the way back in college, that Brittany wasn't who she said she was. Who I thought she was.
As I look back on it now, there were a million red flags that I chose to ignore because I was so caught up in her. So, head over heels in love with her. Everything from how she treated people she considered to be “less than,” to her insistence on only the finest things in life – I should have known. Should have seen it.
Hemingway runs up to me with a tennis ball in his mouth and a smile on his face. He wags as I take the ball and scratch behind his ears.
“Maybe I am a soft touch, huh?” I say. “Maybe Uncle Brayden is right about that.”
He dances in place, excitedly waiting for me to throw the ball – though, I'm pretty sure he agrees with the notion that I'm a soft touch and approves of it. I hurl it into a wide-open field with tall grass and wildflowers, watching him bound off in search of his toy.
As I watch him go, I smile. This is one thing that makes me glad to have moved to a place like Port Safira – the wide openness of it all. Seattle, although I love the city, doesn't have many wide open green spaces like this. And for a dog like Hemingway, being able to romp and play in an open field is a good thing. Sure, there are plenty of dog parks in Seattle and the like – it is known as a very pet-friendly city – but it's not anywhere near the same as having a field full of real grass for him to zip around in.
It's one of the many features of this town that I've really come to appreciate. And I know Hemingway does too. This is also a place I know Brittany would have never agreed to come to. She'd call it too rural. Too backwoods with not enough nightlife. Port Safira doesn’t have enough of the finer things and trappings of wealth she has become accustomed to.
Those are things I don't particularly need or care for. I'm a simple guy. It's something that surprises a lot of people – people who assume just because I'm wealthy, I'll have gold-plated toilets and fixtures throughout my house. That's just not my style. I'm a low-key guy who doesn't need all the trappings of wealth.