Ten

Jack

We both walked to the small office in the back, and I waited for Hudson to speak. I thought of all the things I'd need to change if this job was gone, and I fucking hated to even consider it.

"Have a seat, Jack. Don't worry, everything is okay," he said, and I forced myself into a seat, but I couldn't relax. "Really, it's okay." He smiled then and I wanted to trust what he said, but trust didn't come easy for me, and I barely knew this guy.

"What did you and your parents talk about?"

"I told them I want to buy the store," he said and waited for my reaction, but I was too stunned to react for a minute. His face fell and I could see the panic start to rise in his eyes.

"You're going to buy it?" I asked. I needed more clarity on everything involving this sale.

"Yes. We're going to see how it goes for a month. I have to confess that the reason I came here yesterday was to talk him out of selling, and the more I talked to you the more I knew that was the right thing to do. Foggy Basin needs this store, and maybe I need this store."

"I don't understand," I said.

"I haven't been happy at my job for a while, and there's nothing or no one for me in Sacramento. I want a fresh start."

"And you think you can get that here?" I asked and held my arms out. "Are you sure this is the kind of fresh start you want? I mean look at the rafters again," I said, and I was happy to see Hudson laugh.

"I think maybe I can," he said. "And you and I will both be cleaning those rafters, and the rest of the store. I'm pretty sure I saw a box of stuff that hasn't been touched since I worked here." Hudson looked around at the messy office, and I could see the wheels turning with ideas he had for the place.

"Oh yeah, that box has been here forever," I said and remembered how many times I wanted to throw it away, but Jonas always stopped me. "I tried to toss it, but Jonas always wanted to keep it. I'm not sure what is in it that he thought was so valuable."

"Who knows, he tends to hold onto things for sentimental reasons. He probably has every shirt he ever wore here somewhere, and he had a stack of these," Hudson said and pinched the shirt he had on before he shook his head fondly.

"So, we'll be cleaning more, is that all that will change?" I asked because I'd give him a chance, but I wasn't going to be the only one doing all the work.

"Well, I want to see what's actually selling and what's sitting there. I also think you need a raise because you've basically been the manager since Dad decided to not work so much. Then you and I will need to decide if we can run it with just the two of us or if we need another employee."

"A raise?" I didn't know how to react to that. Jonas paid me a fair wage, but it had been a while since I'd had a raise, and I was paying my own bills now so it would definitely come in handy.

"Yeah, you deserve it," Hudson said.

"Are you going to change the hours or days?" I asked.

"Not if I don't have to. It's always been the same, Monday to Saturday nine to five."

"Six," I said.

"That must be a recent change, and probably because you were here."

"So, my hours will be the same, I need to clean more, and you're going to give me a raise. Does that sound about right?" I asked and forced myself to not sound like the total asshole I normally was.

"That's about it. What do you think? Want to work with a clueless city boy?" He grinned at me, and fuck if I couldn't stop myself from smiling right back at him.

"I'll think about it," I said and folded my arms over my chest. And watched as his face fell.

"What can I do to make you stay? You know everything about the business, where I know nothing. Just tell me what it would take—"

"Nah," I said and held my hand up to stop him. "I'm just fucking with you, dude. I'm totally ready to work with you. But I was serious about you dealing with Mr. Atkins. That guy can talk for hours about nothing," I said, and his smile was back in place.

"So, we're going to do this?" he asked.

"Oh, we're going to do this. I have no clue how long it'll take us to clean this place up but I'm willing to put in the time." I glanced around the office one more time. It was packed full mostly with paperwork, but the storage room and the store really were packed with things we didn't need. And if I was being honest, I would have told him I thought it would be fun to go through it all and put it back in order, but that wasn't me, and he only knew the part of me that didn't like to be too accommodating.

"Think we can start on it today?" Hudson asked, and his excitement was once again bright in his eyes.

"Sure, I mean you did buy me a coffee and bring me yummy treats," I said and leaned back in the chair.

"Alright then," he said and clapped his hands together as he stood.

I followed him out of the office and toward the front of the store. "Ready to open?" I asked.

"Yes, and I need to remember to get a key from Dad," he said, making me laugh.

"Don't worry, I'm always here early. If I'm not here, then something is definitely wrong." After unlocking the door, I walked over to the counter and my coffee. "Thanks again for this."

"No problem, now where do you think we should start?" he asked and glanced around the space with an excited look that made it near impossible for me to look away.

"Not the rafters," I said, making him laugh.

"I think that might be a job for a day we're closed."

"Yeah, it's going to be a huge mess." Looking up at the webs and dust I knew it was going to cause as much of a mess down below as it was causing now. And it sounded like he wanted me to work on my day off to get it done. "We can do that, just let me know when," I said and wanted to kick my own ass because, fuck, the last thing I wanted to do on a day off was to come back to work and do more work. Yet here I was smiling like a loon and volunteering for it. Isaac would never let me live this down.