Chapter 30

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."

"It is," he said. "Just take your time and let me know when you're ready."

My heart skipped. Could I really do it? Buy into a business. I'd be risking my savings, but I wouldn't be alone in that risk.

I really liked the idea of leading water-sport tours. It had been circling my brain for days. But I didn't want to bankrupt myself like my parents had.

To launch it alone was out of the question. The business would require a lot of upfront costs. The right kind of boat. The right kind of gear. To do it right, I'd want to get an automated wakesurf system onboard. We'd need a selection of wakeboards, surfboards, and water skis for use. Maybe we could rent them out too.

My mind whirled with ideas. It was thrilling—but also daunting. It wouldn't be a small undertaking, and I doubted I could come up with all the financing to go it alone. But with Hudson and Skylar behind me…it was within reach.

It would never be without risk, though, and it was a risk I'd promised myself I'd never take. So, what to do? Go out on a limb and hope for the best, or stay in the job that was safe and give up on what could be a really exciting venture?

Ding-ding-ding. The service bell cut through my spinning thoughts.

"Sawyer!" Ash called. "You in there? I'm coming in!"

I hopped up and leaned out of the office doorway as Ash came through the front entrance. "Hey, what's up?"

His face was set in tense lines. His posture rigid as he came toward me, rather than the relaxed stroll that I'd admired dozens of times.

"It's Rick." He handed me his phone and pointed to the screen. "He just review bombed the food boat."

I looked down at the flurry of new 1-star reviews. "That son of a bitch."

Hudson came up behind me. "What's going on?"

I handed the phone over for him to see. His eyes narrowed as he skimmed over the ugly comments.

Hudson was familiar with the owner of DreamBoats. "Why do you think Rick did this?"

"He wanted me to get Sawyer to change his witness statement about the accident. He wants to cover it up."

"Jesus. That's low even for him."

Ash shifted his gaze to me. "I thought you should know."

"Of course." I rubbed his arm. "I'm so sorry, Ash. I wish he wasn't putting you in the middle. I just…I can't do that."

He shook his head. "That's not why I'm telling you, Saw. I would never ask you to do the wrong thing. But if he's review bombing me because I wouldn't cooperate, Swallow Adventures might be next. I checked on the way over, and everything looks fine now, but…"

"Don't worry about us, Ash," Hudson said. "Swallow Adventures has been around a long while. A few bad reviews won't put us in the ground."

My heart clenched hard. Hudson was probably right. Swallow Adventures had been around long enough to build a credible reputation. But Master Bites was only a few weeks old. It was still building trust. And these reviews weren't just saying it had bad service. They were casting doubt on the safety of eating there.

This could ruin Ash's business. He could lose everything. Just like my mom.

Ash gave a shaky smile. "Okay, good. I think you all run a real good operation over here. I'd hate to see Rick ruin that."

"You're not responsible for his actions," Hudson said. "And you've got your own business to worry about. We'll be fine, Ash. Don't you worry about us."

Ash nodded and backed toward the door. "Well, I should head out. I've got to get out there and see if I've got any customers."

I followed him outside. "Ash, hold up."

He turned toward me, seeming less tense now. But I hated the slump of his shoulders. Rick's bullshit weighed him down. Probably always had. I just never knew it.

I cupped his face and gently kissed him. "I'm sorry you're caught in my mess."

He blinked. "What?"

"Rick's trying to manipulate me, and he's doing shitty things to you to achieve it." My chest tightened. "If he hurts your business, if your business—" I couldn't say it. Couldn't speak the worst. But the thought was there, playing through my mind on repeat. If your business fails. " It'll be my fault."

"No way." Ash's eyes narrowed. "This is not your fault. No matter what happens. Rick is a shithead, and he's wanted to punish me for going out on my own. This is just the excuse he needed. And he wouldn't even be pulling shit like this if I hadn't told him we were dating. If I hadn't called him. It's my fucking fault?—"

I kissed him until he relaxed against me.

His lips quirked as we parted. "Still kissing me silent, huh?"

"Only when you need it."

He smiled a little. "Thank you."

"I don't want this to ruin what we have. We started this day really happy."

He swallowed hard. "We did. I'm really glad to have you in my corner. Whatever happens with him, I don't want that to change."

"It won't," I said firmly. "So go out there today and charm the hell out of every customer. And tonight, I'll give you my version of a deluxe care package."

He raised his eyebrows. "You're gonna fuck me?"

"No. I'm gonna cuddle the shit out of you."

He laughed, eyes lighting up for the first time since he'd arrived at the office. "I'm looking forward to it."

When I returned to the office, Hudson was just getting off the phone. "Who was that?"

"Heath. He just called to tell me he needs to miss a tour later this week to go to an AA meeting."

"I'm glad he's getting help. I was going to tell you about all that, but the boating accident seemed more pressing."

Hudson nodded. "He told me you were firm but fair. He really appreciated that you didn't fire him, and so do I. It was the right call. He's been with us a long time."

"He's got to stay sober and run his tours safely," I said. "I made it clear that we wouldn't accept anything else. I hope that's okay."

"Of course it is," Hudson said. "Seems like you're already handling this business like an owner."

I ignored that comment. I couldn't consider Hudson's offer right now. Maybe not ever.

The situation with Ash was so precarious. Bad enough one of us had a business that could go belly-up at any moment. But both of us? That was a recipe for disaster.

I changed the subject. "We should probably go over the schedule."

Hudson seemed a little disappointed but nodded. "Sure. Everything you set up looks good, although I'm going to take your tours today. You've earned some time off."

"I'm fine. I had a couple slow days in the middle of the week."

He shook his head. "You're not an owner yet. You had a hell of a night with that accident, and that's after holding down the fort all week. Go relax. Recover. We've got a lot more bookings next week. I need you at your best."

Hudson didn't look like he'd take no for an answer, so I went home and crashed for a couple hours. Around midday, Shua came knocking at my door with puppy dog eyes.

It was a little late for wakesurfing—the heat would be brutal—but I caved and agreed to giving Shua a short session.

Before we left, I called Ash to see how the day was going.

"Hey, Sawyer," Ash answered. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Hudson gave me the day off. I'm going to take Shua out for a while."

"Aw, good. That kid loves hanging out with you."

"Yeah. How are you, though? How's business?"

I crossed my fingers and toes that he would have good news. There was a pause before Ash answered. That didn't bode well, did it?

"I'm not sure," he finally said. "It's a Saturday, so there's a fair amount of drive-by traffic. A lot of those boaters aren't checking their phones. But the few who use the app…"

"They saw?"

"Yeah. We had a couple of people turn away."

"Damn."

"Those who let me explain were pretty cool though. I told them I was being review bombed, and once they saw all the reviews were anonymous and posted around the same time, they gave me a chance."

I exhaled. "Well, that's good."

"Yeah, I told them it was my former lover, furious that I'd moved on to someone way better. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and all that."

I laughed. "They bought that story?"

"They loved that story. The passion, the drama, the revenge!"

Ash never ceased to amaze me. His stepdad had done a truly shitty thing to him. If I was in his shoes, I'd be melting down about the consequences. Hell, I couldn't even bring myself to take up Hudson's offer to partner in a business that was already successful out of fear of the unknown.

Yet, here Ash was slogging through the shit and laughing at it.

"You're incredible," I said. "I love you."

"Love you too, handsome."

"Love you, Sawyer!" Charity called from the background.

"Get your own boyfriend," Ash said with a chuckle.

"Hang in there, okay?"

"I will. Rick will have to work a lot harder than this to take me down."

"That's the spirit."

I just hoped that Rick didn't work too much harder at that. This business meant everything to Ash.

He might not blame me for Rick's actions now. But if Rick continued to sabotage him, if he succeeded in ruining Ash's business in his campaign to manipulate me, it would break my boyfriend's heart.

And if by some miracle Ash didn't resent me for that, I would.