“Let's move forward with the sale,” I say.
My office window overlooks the mountains beyond. They're majestic and covered in snow for as far as the eye can see. No other houses can be seen from my place, which is one reason I love it out here. It's just me and the mountains. Oh, and my dog, Gunner.
As if on cue, my chocolate lab lifts his head up and looks right at me. It's technically time for me to take him out to let him do his business, but I've been on this stupid conference call for hours. I'd much rather be out in the snow with my dog, but running a business means you have to make certain sacrifices. Even if I'm in the process of selling the business and everything to do with it.
Bronson Brothers Development was my dad's thing. His brother wasn't even in on it, actually. The name just sounded better according to dad. Looking around at my beautiful, rustic house in the mountains, I can't complain too much. The business gives me everything money can buy and a solid sense of security and freedom, but, there comes a time in any man's life when you have to let go of the things no longer working for you.
Like my dad's business. It would probably devastate my dad to hear, but I honestly don't have the passion or the heart for it. It would probably devastate him even more to hear that the sale of his real estate empire is going to make it possible for me to retire. My father believed in hard work and an honest day's pay, day in and day out. Three hundred and sixty-five days a year.
At the age of thirty-three years old though, I'm going to retire to the mountains with my dog, be left alone, and be happy. Really happy.
“You sure?” my lawyer, David, asks. “Jack, I'm looking at the numbers, and you could get – ”
“I'm getting plenty,” I say. “More than I'll ever use in my lifetime.”
I've been through this with David time and time again. I want the company, my dad's legacy, to end up in good hands. Capable hands. I want somebody to buy the company who can enhance my dad's legacy and continue to build it.
I know I'm not that guy, so the price tag doesn't matter to me. I already have all I need right here, and more than enough in the bank to keep me going for the rest of my life. I'm never going to want for anything for the rest of my days.
I scratch my beard and wait for him to argue with me some more about it like he usually does. After all, a lot of the people helping me broker this deal are being paid on commission, so it makes sense that they'd try to push for every penny. I've already sold the commercial branch of the company off, and in the process, donated a nice chunk of change to the Sierra Club in the Bronson name, trying to atone for all the damage that was done to the environment as various projects were built.
This last branch is it. The final piece of the puzzle. Once it's sold off, I'll be done, and once I'm done, I can live my life on my own terms.
“Still building cabinets?” David asks me.
“You betcha, I am,” I say. “Need some custom work done? I can give you a hell of a deal.”
David laughs. “Maybe on my vacation home,” he says. “The wife wants to redo the kitchen.”
“Well, you know who to call.”
David is silent for a long time before asking the question everyone asks me – the one he hasn't gotten around to asking until now. Frankly, I'm surprised it's taken him this long.
“Why, Jack?” he asks. “Why don't you retire and just take it easy?”
“I am taking it easy,” I say, leaning back in my Italian leather chair and staring out at the beautiful landscape before me. “Woodworking is what I enjoy. It's not a job, it's a hobby for me; something I actually enjoy doing. A man's gotta do something to keep busy.”
David is like an old friend. Almost, anyway. He is still a lawyer – and my lawyer at that. He'll always put my best interests over a personal relationship. He's a good man, and the closest thing I have to a friend.
“You need to date more, Jack,” he laughs. “You need a good woman in your life.”
“Nah, I'm doing everyone a favor by staying out of the dating pool, trust me.”
“My wife has this friend – ”
“You like your wife's friend?” I interrupt. “She's a good girl? A nice girl?”
“Of course,” he says. “I wouldn't suggest making an introduction otherwise.”
“Then take it from me – keep her far away from me.”
David sighs on the other end of the line. “Don't you get lonely up there in your sanctuary?”
How can I explain that yes, it does get lonely, but, that it's for the best for everybody? Sometimes I miss the companionship that comes from having someone in your life. Finding that someone, however, when you're somebody like me, isn't easy. It's not something a lawyer like David would understand. Hell, it's not something I'm sure anybody would understand.
David's always had it easy though. He grew up with a lawyer dad and got into his first choice of Ivy League schools right off the bat. After that, he went straight into law school. He was always going to make something of himself, there was no doubt about it in anyone's eyes. He was going to be somebody and do important things.
So, when he married a beautiful blonde who came from a wealthy family as well, nobody batted an eye. It just seemed like the natural order of things and most people thought they were the perfect couple. Made for each other. Not everyone is so lucky though – something David doesn't quite grasp.
“After spending years in the desert, fearing anyone I come across might have a bomb strapped to their back, I prefer being alone, honestly,” I say.
It's a trust issue, yes. Not just from my years in the Marines, but also my experience with women. They might not come with actual explosives strapped to their backs, but every single relationship I've been in has seemed like a ticking time bomb. There is always an expiration date on any relationship I've found myself in. Usually, when that end comes, it's never clean. It's messy and it's destructive, leaving nothing but smoldering wreckage, a mound of emotional baggage, and a bunch of DVDs and shirts that don't belong to you.
“Eleanor is going to be disappointed,” David says. “She really wanted you to meet Cassie.”
“Tell Eleanor that I appreciate the gesture, but Cassie deserves better.”
“Better than a man wealthy enough to buy his own small country?” David asks with a laugh.
I cringe at the words. It's not like I wanted to make millions. I never set out to have that kind of money. I have other priorities in my life. I won't deny that my father did extremely well for himself. After years of his company struggling to make ends meet, of literally robbing Peter to pay Paul just to keep the lights on, it eventually paid off and he made his fortune. Because of that, I'm set up for the rest of my days. I just happen to be the lucky beneficiary of all my dad's blood, sweat, and tears. I'll never complain and will remain eternally grateful to my father for allowing me to live the life I want to live. I'm just a lucky schmuck though, that's all.
“I'm a grumpy, crotchety prick, David,” I say. “No amount in the money can make up for that.”
“You keep saying you're such a bad guy, but I've seen nothing to prove that claim.”
“Good. I prefer to keep it that way.”
Gunner is still looking at me with his wide puppy-dog eyes, brown and pure, begging for me to take him outside. I hurry up and end the call before David continues to pester me about meeting his wife's friend.
“Alright, send the papers my way and I'll sign them,” I say. “I'm ready to be free from my dad's legacy.”
“It's your legacy too, Jack.”
“Nah, I inherited at the right time, made a few lucky guesses, and that's all,” I say, scratching my beard. “Now it's time for me to do my own thing.”