“Good point.” Brody called over to Zane, leaving Kyle and Jackson alone around the fire. They were immersed in a discussion and didn’t seem to notice.
“Let’s go in one of the private rooms,” Lance said. “We have a financial matter to discuss with you.”
“Sure.” Zane led them around the bar, down a skinny hallway, and into a private dining space.
“You two might want to sit down for this,” Lance said. God, he felt like a kid at Christmas.
They all took seats at the table. Lance couldn’t. He had to pace while he told them. “Brody, you start.”
“Okay, well you know how a few years ago Lance invested some money for us?” Brody asked.
Honor smiled. “Yes, it’s still building. My little twenty thousand has grown quite nicely.”
“Yeah, well, I thought back then that it might be good to start a little retirement account for you. In case I had to retire early, and our time together was cut shorter than we hoped.”
Honor’s eyes widened. “You’re not firing me, are you?”
“What? No,” Brody said. “Obviously we’ve still got work to do together. But anyway, I put some money in a fund for you, Honor. I did the same for Lance. We agreed at the time he’d invest it in higher risk stuff. If it ever reached four million, we’d give you the opportunity to cash out. Or not. Depending.”
“Yeah, anyway, things have gone better than I expected,” Lance said. “The initial amount has grown to four million. So, it was time to tell you.”
Honor was staring at him like he had two heads. “What are you talking about?”
Zane closed his eyes, almost like he had a headache. “He’s saying that he made four million dollars from the initial retirement fund that Brody set up for you.”
“Retirement fund? I’m not following,” Honor said.
In all the years they’d been friends, he’d never witnessed Honor not understanding a situation.
“Your fund is at four million dollars. All yours,” Lance said.
“Thanks to my little brother being some kind of savant when it comes to investing,” Brody said.
“You guys, it’s too much,” Zane said.
“Now, don’t get too excited,” Lance said. “It’s not that much, really, when you think about it. You could blow it all really fast if you do something stupid.”
“No.” Honor shook her head. “No, we’ll just keep it with you. Maybe invest a tad more conservatively. But we don’t need it now.” She looked over at her husband. “Right?”
Zane nodded. “Right.”
“I mean, I have a lot of shoes,” Honor said.
“She has a lot of shoes,” Zane said.
Honor’s face contorted as she tried not to cry. “I don’t know what to say. This is…just unbelievable.” She turned to Zane. “I wish your dad was here. He’d be so happy for us.”
Zane nodded, but didn’t say anything, evidently overcome.
Honor leapt to her feet and threw herself into Brody’s arms. “Thank you for being so generous.” She hugged Lance next. “And thank you for being so clever.”
“Listen, I don’t know what’s going to happen with me,” Brody said. “The endorsements and all that are already drying up. It might be time to consider looking for another athlete to manage.”
“Maybe,” Honor said. “I don’t know if I want to work for anyone but you.”
“If you decide you want to give up work for a while and be with the kids,” Brody said, “you can live on the dividends.”
“Not to mention this place,” Lance said. “I think it’s going to be a huge success.”
“And we still own The Oar,” Zane said.
Honor looked at each of them in turn. “I’ve never had the freedom to think like this. It might take some time for me to decide.”
“Once the baby comes, things will be different,” Lance said, stifling a yawn. “Faith’s kicking our ass.”
“You’re scaring me,” Honor said.
“Me too,” Zane said.
“Whatever you decide, I wanted you to have something to show for all the ways you grew my wealth,” Brody said. “I would never have been able to do it without you.”
“We’re not done yet,” she said. “We’ve got an announcer job to bag first.”
Brody tweaked her ear. “Always such a slave driver.”
Honor wiped under her eyes. “You guys, the best decision I ever made was walking into The Oar for the first time.” She kissed the heart locket she wore around her neck and looked heavenward. “Rest in peace, Hugh.”
After dinner, the Dogs stood in a straight line on the back patio. Each had a lit cigar. The outside heaters warmed the chilly air. A bottle of scotch and five tumblers were on the low table behind them. Brody was in the middle, with Kyle and Zane on either side of him. Lance and Jackson were bookends, like they’d always been. Cool and steady compared to the fire of the three in the middle.
The sound of Mary’s laugh from inside warmed Lance like a heater never could.
“Man, I’m the luckiest guy on earth,” he said.
“Me too,” Jackson said.
“Me three.” Zane blew out a puff of smoke.
“Me four.” Kyle zipped up his jacket with his free hand.
“Me five,” Brody said.
“For longer than I can remember, this brewery was my dream.” With his cigar between his teeth, Zane slapped Kyle and Brody’s shoulders. “Obviously, I couldn’t have done it without you two agreeing to invest.”
“Do you ever wonder what to do after everything you ever dreamed of came true?” Brody asked.
“Dream new dreams?” Jackson asked.
“Bigger ones?” Zane asked.
“Or small fat ones, like more babies,” Lance said.
“Violet’s cut me off,” Kyle said in a mournful tone. “No more babies.”
“Four is probably enough,” Zane said.
“‘A ridiculous amount’ is how she phrased it. However, it was three a.m. and Dakota was puking, so her judgment might be skewed.”
They all laughed.
“There was a time we wouldn’t have found that humorous,” Jackson said.
“It’s still not that funny,” Zane said.
“Especially at three a.m.,” Jackson said.
They smoked their cigars, the scent thick in the cool night air. A sliver of a moon appeared between the trees at the far end of the lawn.
“I thought I’d have more time,” Brody said. “More years to play. Without football, I wonder what I’m supposed to do next. I get that it’s a new season. I’m a husband and will be a father. My dad always said those were the most important roles in a man’s life, and I agree. But still, there’s this feeling inside me that there’s more to do.” He tapped the end of his cigar. “I wonder what the purpose of my career was. Like, yeah, I won the Heisman and the Super Bowl, but what does that mean? What have I done with my life that’s important, that wasn’t all about my drive and ego? God blessed me with a physical gift, so I’ve just been damn lucky my whole life. Is that it? I’m just a lucky son of a bitch.”
“The same could be said for any of us,” Lance said.
Kyle’s voice was soft and slightly gruff. “Everything I ever wished for has come true. When I trace everything back to its origin, I find one common denominator. You guys. I don’t know what my life would’ve been like without you.”
“You didn’t need us,” Brody said. “A man like you finds his way.”
“I don’t know about that,” Kyle said. “When you think of where I started, it’s hard to imagine I’d end up here. Each of you helped form the man I am today. So, when you wonder, Brody, what you’ve done with your life, what purpose your career served, look no further than the people right in front of you. You gave me my first loan with your football money. Without it, I couldn’t have started my business. Yes, my ambition and ego drove me toward success. I could think that everything I did was just to serve my own desire f
or money and prestige. I worked hard and was clever and now I’m rich and that’s the end of it. Yay for me. But you have to think of how one action leads to another. Violet taught me this. It started with your loan. Fast forward ten years and think about how many people I employ, how many families are taken care of because of my business. We can never really know how our actions affect others. But in your case, it’s pretty clear.”
“You helped me build this place,” Zane said. “And look what you did for Honor.”
“She earned every cent of that money,” Brody said. “Plus, Lance did that.”
“Without your investment, I couldn’t have,” Lance said. “Your generosity was the seed. Without it I couldn’t have grown anything.”
“I haven’t done anything for Jackson,” Brody said.
“That’s because he never needed anything,” Zane said. “He always knew exactly who he was and what he wanted.”
Jackson smiled. “All I ever wanted was to be Cliffside Bay’s doctor and to marry Maggie Keene and have little red-headed babies.” He paused. “But you’re wrong that you never gave me anything. You know that.”
“Nah,” Brody said.
“You know how low I was that first year. Without you guys, I don’t know if I’d be here,” Jackson said.
Silence stretched out as far as to the moon and back until Kyle spoke.
“I have a new dream,” Kyle said. “But I need you guys to do it. You guys know how it was for me as a kid, right?”
They all nodded. Lance could see it all in his mind. The rundown trailer and lack of hot water to wash clothes and bodies. The mean kids at school taunting him, nicknaming Kyle Pig. He wished he could go back in time and beat the crap of everyone who hurt his friend. But there were no time machines except in the sci-fi books in their shop.
“I got out but only by the grace of God via a scholarship to USC where I met you guys. But what about the kids who don’t? The poor, the bullied, the kids who don’t quite fit in? Who’s looking out for them?”
“Or the kids in foster care like Honor was,” Zane added.
“What if we look out for them?” Kyle asked. “Not all, obviously, but as many as we could? We could establish a scholarship fund for college scholarships. That’s where you come in, Lance. You could grow our initial investment. We could have a camp in the summers where they were taught leaderships skills, coping skills, how to become strong physically. Brody, that would be under your direction. Maybe we could give them jobs here at the brewery as busboys and dishwashers, so they had money of their own to build a future. We could teach them how to become the kind of men who make a difference in the world.”
“Where do we find them?” Lance asked. He knew they existed everywhere, but how would they identify them?
“I think that’s where Honor fits in,” Kyle said. “If anyone can figure out how to do that, it’s her. I’ve already talked it through with Violet and she wants to take over the fundraising portion. You know how she loves a good cause. With all your connections to wealthy people, Brody, she thinks we could easily raise money. Maggie and her actress friend Lisa can also be an attraction, not to mention the most famous quarterback of all time. We can hire staff to run the program and the camps later, but we would make up the board. It would be our vision. A combination of all our talents could make something special.”
“Where would this camp be?” Zane asked.
“This is the weird part. Do you remember where Mel took the kids? That rundown cabin? Well, that land’s for sale. It would be perfect for a summer camp. We’d hire Stone to build the cabins and dining hall, that kind of thing.”
“You’ve really given this a lot of thought,” Jackson said.
“I have,” Kyle said. “Does it sound crazy?”
“Not at all,” Brody said. “A little daunting, but not crazy.”
“So, are you guys in?” Kyle asked.
“Hell yeah,” Zane said. “I’m all the way in.”
“Me too,” Jackson said.
“Me three,” Brody said.
“You had me at growing the initial investment,” Lance said.
“Let’s toast to it.” Brody put out his cigar on the bottom of his boot and grabbed the bottle of scotch. When they all had a glass, they formed a circle.
“To our new purpose,” Brody said.
“Wait, before we toast, I have one more thing I want to run past you,” Kyle said. “How would you feel about naming it the Hugh Shaw Foundation?”
Zane bowed his head. “He’d be honored.”
“It’s a perfect tribute to a great man,” Jackson said.
“Couldn’t agree more,” Lance said.
Kyle raised his glass. “To Hugh.”
“Long live the Dogs,” Zane said.
“And God bless the Wags,” Jackson said.
“For saving us from ourselves,” Kyle said.
They all clinked glasses. Perhaps it was the moon pulling them, but they all returned to their former positions, lined up in a row at the edge of the patio.
“Why do I feel like an era’s ending and another’s starting?” Jackson asked.
“I think that train has passed,” Kyle said. “We’re already there.”
“It’s a new era, but the Dogs will always be the Dogs,” Brody said. “We’ll always have one another.”
“Through thick and thin,” Zane said.
“Do you think we’ll ever get back to our poker games?” Kyle asked.
“If you’d stop having babies,” Zane said.
“I’m cut off, remember?”
The moon rose above the sycamores and pines and shed silvery light over the lawn. In the distance, an owl hooted a long, high note in harmony with the rounded ripples of their wives’ muted laughter. A sudden gust of wind brought the scent of the briny sea. Tall yellow grasses in the decorative pots at the edge of the patio swayed like graceful dancers.
Lance smiled as he glanced at the familiar faces of the men who’d helped one another survive in this often cruel, always unpredictable, yet beautiful chaos called life. Shoulder to shoulder, they formed a line like a fortress against all foes, brothers in this life of chance and hope and faith, stronger together than apart.
Images of the college boys they once were played before him. It was Jackson’s eyes he remembered, glassy blue with grief, regret, and the certainty that something bad was about to happen as he waited up for one of them to come home from a party. Kyle, as thin as the shirt he wore, scrunched over schoolwork, fueled by ambition and hunger. Zane with that proud, clenched jaw, serving lunch from behind the counter at his job in the cafeteria. Brody, exhausted from practice, asleep on the floor with a book covering his face.
Lance lifted his face to the light of the uneven moon. The missing sliver made it imperfect, like the men that stood together now. That slice was the cost of living. Pain, regret, and loss chipped away until one became like the imperfect moon, shining and shining through the darkness until the sun once again rose in the west to set them free.
About the Author
Tess Thompson writes small-town romances and historical fiction. Her female protagonists are strong women who face challenges with courage and dignity. Her heroes are loyal, smart and funny, even if a bit misguided at times. While her stories are character driven, she weaves suspenseful plots that keep readers turning pages long into the night.
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Her desire is to inspire readers on their journey toward their best life, just as her characters are on the way to theirs. In her fiction, she celebrates friendships, community, motherhood, family, and how love can change the world. If you like happy endings that leave you with the glow of possibility, her books are for you.
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Like her characters in the River Valley Collection, Tess Thompson hails from a small town in southern Oregon, and will always feel like a small town girl, despite the fact she’s lived in Seattle for over twenty-five years. She loves music and dancing, books and bubble baths,
cooking and wine, movies and snuggling. She cries at sappy commercials and thinks kissing in the rain should be done whenever possible. Although she tries to act like a lady, there may or may not have been a few times in the last several years when she’s gotten slightly carried away watching the Seattle Seahawks play, but that could also just be a nasty rumor.
Her historical fiction novel, Duet for Three Hands won the first runner-up in the 2016 RONE awards. Miller's Secret, her second historical, was released in 2017, as were the fourth and fifth River Valley Series books: Riversnow and Riverstorm. The sixth River Valley book will (hopefully) release in the latter part of 2018.
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Traded: Brody and Kara, the first in her new contemporary, small town romance series, Cliffside Bay, released on February 15th, 2018. The second in the series, Deleted: Jackson and Maggie released May 7th. The subsequent three Cliffside Bay books will release every couple months in 2018.
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She currently lives in a suburb of Seattle, Washington with her recent groom, the hero of her own love story, and their Brady Bunch clan of two sons, two daughters and five cats, all of whom keep her too busy, often confused, but always amazed. Yes, that’s four kids, three of whom are teenagers, and five cats. Pray for her.
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Tess loves to hear from you. You can visit her website http://tesswrites.weebly.com/ or find her on social media.
Also by Tess Thompson
The Cliffside Bay Series
The River Valley Series
Tainted Page 27
