The Goodbye Guy (The Men of Lakeside)

by Natasha Moore

  He thought Rachel had understood that he was still trying to prove to everyone—himself included—that he had what it took to be the boss of a new business. And that he could show Holly that her dad was successful. That hard work and focus could make a difference. But this week he’d felt useless. Floundering, as far as his business was concerned. So yeah. It was hard.

  He cleared his throat. “So what’s your next project?”

  She could have given him shit for avoiding the question, but she didn’t. “I’ll finish up a condo in L.A. The owners had to go out of the country for a few months, so we were able to fit your project into the schedule with no problem.”

  “After that?”

  “It depends on if the show gets renewed.”

  “I hope it works out for you. You’ve got great talent and they’d be foolish to throw it away.”

  “Thanks.” Her gaze bounced around the room. “I hope The Salvage Station works out for you, too.” She glanced at her watch.

  This was getting too close to another goodbye. “Holly,” he called out. “Rachel has to go.”

  “Wait. Wait. Wait.” Holly ran into the room, her cell phone in hand. “I’m talking to Grandma. I miss her so much. She’s invited me and Emmie to spend the night there tomorrow night. Is that okay, Dad?”

  “It’s okay with me. Check with Emmie and her parents.”

  “I will.” She turned to Rachel. “Can you wait one more minute?”

  “Sure.”

  Holly ran out of the room. He glanced at Rachel. “Davis and Suz would probably appreciate a night alone.”

  “I’m sure they would.”

  “I’m worried for Davis. She’s had such an exciting life. Is she going to be happy living here?” He hadn’t meant to speak it out loud.

  “Is she giving up her job altogether?”

  “Apparently.”

  She frowned. “That’s what happens, isn’t it?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Women can’t have it all. We have choices, yes. But we still have to choose. Suz chose her career and now she’s choosing her family. We can’t have it both ways.”

  “I guess it depends. My mom worked long, hard hours, but she didn’t have to sacrifice her family.”

  “That’s different.”

  Her flippant remark angered him. “Why? Because she chose a job that didn’t take her all over the country, or all over the world? Maybe she had a different kind of dream at one point in her life. Maybe sometime along the way she chose to compromise. I don’t know. She’s never said. But she chose a path that let her have it both ways.”

  Holly’s laughter carried out to the living room. His sweet Holly. “And another thing. It’s not only women who have to make the difficult choices. Look at me. Look at Davis. He started taking any freelance writing jobs he could and wrote his fiction on the side so he could stay home with Emmie after Suz left. I went back to working in the family business so I could be here and have help with Holly.”

  “You’re right. Some jobs make it easier to have a family. And some don’t. Some dreams never will. I’m not going to apologize for the choices I’ve made.”

  “I never asked you to apologize,” he snapped. “But even though my life changed in an unexpected way when Holly was born, I wouldn’t have it any other way. You can’t plan everything, Rachel. Sometimes the unplanned things bring you the most joy.”

  Before Rachel could respond, Holly dashed into the room. “All set. Emmie will come over before dinner and Grandma’s going to make her chili, and she’s going to let us stay up and watch TV for as long as we want. She even said we could bring Mocha, too.”

  “Wow, Grandma must miss you.”

  “I know! Can Rachel stay for dinner? I’m getting hungry.”

  “Thanks but not this time,” Rachel said quickly. “I’m going out with Mia and Ginny tonight. I’ll be around Colburn and Sons tomorrow so I’ll find you and we can chat.”

  The pout almost came, but Holly resisted sticking out her lower lip. “Okay. See you tomorrow.” She gave Rachel another big hug and then she ran into her room.

  Rachel grabbed her key out of her pocket. “Well, I’m on my way.”

  It was a stupid impulse but Beck couldn’t stop the words from escaping his lips. “You know we could have one more night tomorrow.”

  She kept her voice low, but it was sad at the same time. “I don’t want to have bittersweet sex with you because we’ll know it’s for the last time.”

  Yeah, he knew it’d been stupid, but he still wanted to spend more time with her. “Then how about one more ride in the boat? I know how much you love the lake.”

  She took a deep breath. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”

  Beck held up his hand, like he was vowing to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. “I’ll have you back before dark.”

  He thought she was going to refuse, but then she nodded. “Okay.”

  “Why don’t we stop and get something to eat before we go out on the boat? Or we could pack a meal to eat out on the lake.”

  “I think we should just stick with the boat ride.”

  Yeah, they didn’t need more awkward conversations. He hoped a nice, relaxing ride on the lake would help ease the tension between them. “Okay, friend. Meet you at the marina tomorrow.”

  …

  Rachel headed straight for Bud’s and found Ginny and Mia at a booth in the back. They were already deep in conversation. Just about everyone in the dining room watched her cross the floor. She smiled and nodded to a few people she recognized, then sank gratefully onto the padded bench.

  “You look tired,” Mia said.

  “It’s been an intense couple of weeks.” She glanced around for a waitress. “I need a drink.”

  While she sipped her first chocolate martini, she listened to Ginny and Mia talk social media. Again. Still. How could there be more to talk about?

  Time to change the subject. “So Mia. What have you been doing in Lakeside in your free time? I’ve hardly had a chance to talk to you when it wasn’t work related.” Or social media related.

  “Haven’t had all that much free time. Mostly hanging with the crew. Or Ginny. You’ve mostly been hanging with Beckett Colburn, that’s why you haven’t seen me.” Mia laughed and Ginny joined in.

  Rachel felt her cheeks warm. “Stu’s orders, remember?”

  “You might fool some people, but I know better,” Mia told her. “Since you’ve been in Lakeside, you’ve become softer.” And when Rachel drew back in horror, she quickly added, “Not in a weak way. In an ‘I’m happy’ way.”

  “Anyone can see that,” Ginny agreed.

  “If Stu sees me as weak, I’ll have no bargaining power at all.” Not that she had much now, anyway.

  “Not weak. Nice,” Mia insisted. “A strong woman can be nice, too.”

  “To you and Beck.” Ginny lifted her martini glass in a toast. “I should have seen it back in school.” She took a sip and looked at Rachel over the rim of her glass. “You guys acted like you hated each other a little too much.”

  “Now you’re being ridiculous.” Yeah, she’d thought Beckett was hot back in high school, what girl didn’t? That didn’t mean anything. He was cocky and a jerk. She hadn’t been attracted to him.

  She hadn’t.

  Their meals arrived then and conversation leaned more toward “these fries are so crispy” and “wish I had room for dessert.” As they were sharing one huge slice of peanut butter pie, Mia asked Ginny, “I talked to a lot of people here in the village when I was doing interviews, and there are conflicting stories. Could you help us set it straight?”

  Rachel pushed her chair back. “I said I didn’t want to do this.”

  Mia glanced from her to Ginny. “It’s just a follow-up interview. I already asked Ginny a
nd she said it was okay.”

  “Then I probably shouldn’t be here.” She hadn’t been present for any of the other interviews.

  Ginny buried her fork in the creamy pie. “Help me with this pie. I can’t imagine I’d spill any secrets that anyone else in town hasn’t already told you.”

  Mia’s expression turned wily and reminded Rachel of Stu’s face. All she could hear was him saying “Drama. We need more drama.”

  “Mia…”

  She spewed out the question before Rachel could stop her. “Is it true that Beckett disappeared for like a decade or more?”

  Ginny ate her bite of pie in silence.

  “The villagers are already telling their versions,” Mia told her. “Did Beckett really disappear without a trace?”

  Ginny set down her fork. “Not exactly without a trace. I mean, he kept in touch with Aunt Donna and Uncle Chuck every so often. But they didn’t usually know exactly where he was staying. And, yeah, he didn’t come back to Lakeside until Holly was born.”

  Rachel caught her breath. Poor Donna, that must have been terrible. “He told me he learned to tend bar somewhere else, but I didn’t realize he was gone for so long. No one mentioned it to me.” He never mentioned it to her.

  “Well, it was a long time ago now.” Ginny shrugged. “I haven’t even thought about it in years. No one really talks about it anymore. I guess unless they have a camera and microphone in their face.”

  People loved to talk about other people. “Do you know why he left?”

  “To see the world, I guess? You’ll have to ask him, he never confided in me.”

  Why did it bother Rachel so much to discover Beckett left Lakeside for years, too? Probably because he gave her such shit about leaving and staying away, when he’d done the same damn thing. He even ghosted his family like she did her friends.

  At least she’d kept in touch with her family. They never doubted where she was or that she was alive and well. Beckett’s parents probably worried if he was even alive sometimes. The Beckett who’d do that was so different than the man she knew now. No wonder he felt he still needed to prove himself.

  Ginny looked around at the closest tables and lowered her voice. “Listen, if what I’m going to tell you next makes it into that episode, I will never forgive you guys.”

  Rachel knew she should leave. She should hear it from Beckett or not at all. But when would she ever find out that part of his past? She was leaving. She’d had no idea how strong he’d been, to go out on his own like that. For some reason, he’d felt the need to cut himself off from everything he knew.

  She thought she’d been so brave to head out on her own, but he’d been so much more courageous than she ever was. If things hadn’t worked out for her, she could have always come crawling back to her parents. And she probably would have. She didn’t like to know that about herself. Maybe she wasn’t as strong as she thought she was, after all.

  “Off the record. Promise,” Mia said. “Stu will never hear it from us.”

  “Okay, so I don’t know much about what happened while he was gone, but I’ll never forget the day he came back to town. He appeared without any warning. Aunt Donna and I were behind the counter in the showroom when he stumbled through the front door. He looked exhausted. He had a crying baby wrapped in a pink blanket.”

  Chills raced over Rachel’s skin as she pictured baby Holly cradled in his tattooed arms. “No one knew about Holly?”

  “No one. Aunt Donna started crying and she ran out to them and threw her arms around both of them. The three of them just sat in the middle of the showroom floor like that for I don’t know how long.”

  Rachel blinked the tears from her eyes. “So Holly wasn’t born in Lakeside?”

  Ginny shook her head.

  “Did he ever say where he’d been?” Mia asked.

  “Just around. It was pretty intense for a while. He was dealing with a tiny baby. And grief from his girlfriend dying. He was getting a lot of attention from…everyone in Lakeside.” Ginny looked at Rachel. “He didn’t want to talk about it then, maybe he’ll tell you now if you ask him.”

  It didn’t matter. She was leaving in two days. Her hands started to tremble and she gripped them in her lap. Oh God, she was leaving. She’d never see him again, this man she could admit—at least to herself—she’d fallen in love with. Who taught her what real strength was. Who’d shown her what family really meant.

  Mia and Ginny were watching her, waiting for her response. She had to shake off this maudlin mood.

  “Maybe I will ask him.” She picked up her fork again and forced a grin. “Does anyone else want more dessert?”

  Mia and Ginny grabbed their forks and the three of them laughed as they fought over what was left of the peanut butter pie. Rachel couldn’t remember the last time she had fun like this with friends.

  Leaving in two days didn’t make her as happy as she should have been. It didn’t make her happy at all.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “This is going to be so much fun.” Holly bounced in her chair instead of eating her breakfast. “I’ve never gone clothes shopping with a mom before.”

  A wave of sadness washed over Beck. Holly had missed out on all the experiences of having a mother. He knew he’d done a good job raising a great little girl, but apparently shopping with Dad or Grandma wasn’t the same. Suz had offered to take Holly shopping with her and Emmie that morning, and that’s all Holly could talk about.

  “Finish your waffle.”

  “I’m not hungry.” She stabbed her fork over and over into the waffle. “It’s time for you to take me over to their house.”

  “All that shopping is going to be tiring, so you need to eat so you have lots of strength.”

  “Oh, yeah.” She was quiet for a moment as she shoveled more waffle and sausage into her mouth. Mocha sat under the table, waiting for any crumbs Holly might drop.

  She was growing up so fast.

  Was he wrong to start a new business that would keep him away from home at night? Evening was the only time he was able to spend time with Holly now during the week. What made him think he could run his own business—and a bar no less? Was Rachel right? Maybe he couldn’t have it all.

  No. He’d worked it all out. Holly would have her space upstairs and his parents would help.

  “Dad? Dad?” Holly was looking expectantly at him. “It’s time to go.”

  “Brush your teeth and we’re out of here.”

  Davis met them outside his house with Emmie and Suz. “Have time for a cup of coffee?” he asked Beck as they waved goodbye to the shoppers.

  “Sure. I’m in no rush to get to the store.” He followed Davis into the house. “I still can’t even go down to the workshop because Rachel might need some last minute stuff from there.”

  Davis let him rant as he poured Beck a cup from the never-ending coffee maker on the kitchen counter. For as long as Beck had known him, his friend’s writing had been fueled by caffeine.

  “Thanks.” He cupped the mug in his hand, but he couldn’t sit. “I’m itching to get inside The Station and get to work.”

  “Soon, though, right?” Davis sat on one of the padded stools at the large kitchen island.

  “Not soon enough.”

  “What did you expect? You’ve seen enough of these shows to know the homeowners can’t see the finished project till it’s done.”

  Beck paced. “But I thought it was all for show. I didn’t think they’d keep me out of my own property this whole time.”

  “Have some coffee. It’s only a day or two now. It’s not going to make a big difference in the scheme of things.”

  Beck took a drink of coffee, then set the mug on the island. “I didn’t expect to feel this lost. This was the first project I’d had control of and then it was taken away from me. My parents just laughed. They d
on’t get it at all.”

  “They must understand you’re anxious to get it ready to open.”

  “No. It’s like they were surprised it mattered to me. I don’t think they really expected me to follow through.” It hurt that he still didn’t have their respect.

  “Sure they did.”

  “They didn’t trust me to come up with a design plan, though.”

  Davis studied him. “Is that what you think?”

  “What else can I think?”

  “I know that your father and brother didn’t go out looking for someone to design your bar. They took advantage of an opportunity when it came to them. They thought it would be a help. One less thing you’d have to worry about.”

  “There you go, being all logical again.” Could he have been wrong all this time?

  When Beck didn’t say anything, Davis went on, “I suppose you threw out accusations. Maybe whined a bit.”

  “I don’t whine.”

  Davis just lifted a brow. “Still acting like the youngest kid?”

  “I am the youngest kid.”

  “You’re an adult. You don’t want your family to treat you like a kid, how about stop acting like one.”

  “I…”

  “Finish your coffee. I have to get to work. This book won’t write itself.”

  “Good thing you’re my best friend.” Beck downed the rest of his coffee and walked away.

  “You should talk to your family. Apologize. Thank them. Like a grown-up.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I’m on my way.” Beck looked back over his shoulder when he reached the door. “Thanks.”

  But when he got to Colburn and Sons, they sent him out on a salvage after all, so that talk had to wait.

  …

  All the tables, chairs, and upholstered seats were inside the bar and arranged by noon. How was it Friday already? Rachel’s last full day in Lakeside. She should be aching to leave, but…she wasn’t. She’d made connections she hadn’t expected. Made new friends and rediscovered old ones. She’d spent more time with her family than she’d planned, and while they would never see eye to eye, she didn’t hate to be with them anymore.