Maddy knew this one. "Ronan wasn't very closewith anyone, he was always in his own world. He probably didn'teven care what a phony Dylan was. They were in academic clubstogether, the same baseball team since little league; they werefriends by default." Maddy looked back to Chase, "I still don't seehow I'm the reason he's back. I haven't seen him in years and madeit pretty clear I will flatten him if he comes near me again."
The tavern was briefly silent, as the musicskipped to the next song. Metallica cried out, blasting from theenormous speakers, shaking the walls. Aiden spoke loudly, "Maddy,the guy had a thing for you for years. Good chance he feels thatyou ruined his future and wants a little revenge. However, he had athing for you for years. He was… oddly attentive to you. Evenbefore you started dating; you just didn't see it. Whatever hismotive in coming back to Seaview, I suspect it involves you. Hispresence in town is not safe for you. Please, stay far away fromhim."
Now that, Maddy could easily agree with.Thankfully, their food arrived in a welcome interruption. If Sheilanoticed the tension that had built at the table, she didn’tcomment, “Get you folks another round?” Aiden and Payson took herup on the offer, Chase declined as he was the designated driver.Maddy suddenly needed a clear head and declined as well.
8
After hours of reading through profit and lossstatements, fish stock trends and regulations, inventory reports...Chase's brain had turned to mush. He'd had the weekend off to shiftgears. From here on out, he was down to only a few days per monthon the fishing boats, but the rest was dedicated to office time, asFrank would be leaving soon for Italy and wanted Chase to be incharge.
Thankfully, the rest of the office staff werewell trained and supportive of Chase. They had converted the dustyold meeting room into a nice corner office for Chase, with a viewof town and the ocean. Most meetings took place in the breakroomanyway, so no one missed the loss of space.
Laura had taken the liberty of decorating hisoffice. She'd chosen an espresso-finished wooden desk withcoordinating furniture, including a round table in the corner forsmaller meetings. There was a large painting of an old schoolfishing boat in a storm hanging over the table. On the bookshelf,Laura had added a collection of framed photos.
She had been thoughtful in the photos she hadframed for him. The largest was one of he and his dad in a rarehappy moment when he was about 8 years old; he didn’t reflect backon the good days often enough. Of course, she would have known howmuch that would mean to him. Henry had been a decent dad beforeChase’s mom had left. Hadn’t been a stranger to liquor, but hehadn’t started drinking away his worries.
There was another photo of he, Steve, andFrank smiling together with frozen beards on board an icy fishingboat the winter before he'd left. There was, of course, one of heand Aiden covered in mud with shit-eating grins, no more than 14years old.
One of Maddy threw him off, a photo he hadn’tseen before and wondered as to Laura's motives. It was a few daysbefore he skipped town. Aiden's grandparents had thrown agraduation party for he and Aiden. The photo showed him grabbingMaddy from behind, his arms wrapped around her bare waist, liftingher and about to toss her into the coming wave. He remembered howshe'd managed to twist around and dragged him into the wave withher. They tumbled into the ocean and had come up laughinghysterically, both soaking wet.
After the long day of research in his newoffice, Chase finally felt he'd gathered the overall feel of thepast, present, and future of McAllister Fisheries. He rubbed hiseyes to clear his head and looked up to see Frank watching him withbated breath. He was awfully sneaky coming into Chase's office, orChase had been that involved in his research. "Frank, you've builtan incredible business. You've managed to create a successfulbusiness with satisfied employees in a highly volatile market."
The older man nodded his head proudly."Thanks, Chase. But, I don't know that it's going to survive thenext century. Fish stocks are up and down – mostly down lately, andregulations are increasing. Overfishing, global warming, oceanacidification, toxins. It's a lot to keep up with. This town countson the fishing industry. I'm not leaving this business yet. Fornow, I need a partner to help me modernize this place, then I wantyou to take over, when I’m ready to leave and you're ready to bootme out. Let's see if we can build something the town can count onto provide for upcoming generations. Don't hesitate to let me knowif you decide this isn't for you. Plenty of time and my feelingswon’t be hurt too much."
Chase admired Frank's dedication. Frank hadstarted with a single fishing boat, following in his father's andgrandfather's footsteps. When the processing plant had started tofall apart, more to due to poor management than lack of work, Franksaw the investment opportunity and bought out the processing plant.He moved into a new, clean structure at the end of BeachsideAvenue. He'd upgraded the docks and expanded their fishingcontracts over the years, diversifying to operate in every seasonand harvest every profitable species.
McAllister Fisheries was a successfulbusiness. Stable, but only if they continued to plan for thefuture. Chase could see Frank's concern. The fish stocks weredeclining and regulations understandably tightening. Chase wasterrified of letting him down, and the town. He'd made a greatincome on the oil rig and had invested well, so he had some of hisown money to invest into the business. He wanted to be a part ofstrengthening this community. It was a good chance to provehimself.
"Frank, I think we can do this. I've beendoing some brainstorming. Have you ever thought about incorporatingtourism into your business? I'd like to check out the potential forfishing charters and eco-tours. Seaview has been a growing touristhub; I heard about that special on TV last summer. This town is alot busier than it was when I left. We could tap into that, addingtourist fishing. Whale watching. Add a little historical tour withsome of the old lighthouses and shipwrecks. Hell, we could even adda high-end seafood market storefront. Tourists could take hometheir own catch, or they could purchase and ship seafood straightfrom our storefront. We could do some marketing, for our options oreven join up with other local businesses to advertise the town as ayear-round destination."
"See why you're here? Let's get started onit. Adding the charter fishing line first makes the most sense.With some of the fish quotas going down, we could repurpose asmaller vessel as a charter fishing boat. May cost a bit tore-outfit it properly.” Chase's chest figuratively puffed up withpride as Frank filled him with compliments.
"I made some good investments with myearnings and would like to start investing in the business togradually buy my way in, if that works for you."
Frank leaned back and let out a boisterouslaugh, his leathered fisherman's skintight in the big smile."Chase, you've got a head for business. Glad to have you on board,"they shook hands to seal the deal. "Write up some formal plans, andlet's make it happen."
Frank stood from his chair across the deskand admired the homey touches his wife had contributed. She hadeven added a vase with fresh flowers on the small round meetingtable to welcome Chase. Frank leaned forward to admire the photos."I like this one of you, Steve, and me. We should blow that up andhang it in the storefront you're planning. Add a few neat pictureslike that from the history of the business."
Frank's gaze landed on the photo of Chase andMaddy. The older man glanced over at Chase, an unreadable smilecrossed over his face so quickly, Chase would have missed it if hehadn't been looking for a reaction. Frank chuckled and headed forthe door. "See you Tuesday?"
Chase was puzzled. Today was Thursday."Tuesday? What about Friday and Monday? I've never really workedthis banker's hours nonsense, but I thought Monday through Fridayincluded Monday and Friday."
Frank chuckled, as if Chase were a completemoron. "Chase, when one owns his own business, he sets his ownhours. I put in a good day's work, usually here about 10 hours, soI made myself a 4-10's schedule. I refuse to work Mondays. As I amstill your boss, I am assigning Friday as your day off. Fridaymorning is my Frank-time. I quite intentionally don't get muchdone, and you don't need to witness that."
Chase was still smiling as he left theoffice. It was a good day. Off work with plenty of daylight,perfect evening for a swim. He’d grab his gear and dive straightinto the Atlantic, swim until his muscles ached.
His smile, however, wavered as he ran into atall, lanky blond guy in a pressed khaki suit as soon as he steppedout the front door. It took him a minute to recognize him.Dylan.
Chase's hands immediately balled into fistsat his sides and his lips pressed tightly together. "Mayberry.Excuse me." Chase went to push past him. Dylan stepped to the sideto block his path.
"Anderson, I had heard you were back. Sogreat to see you. I'm here to talk with Frank. I have a buy-outproposal for him. He's going to love it. I am negotiating a greatdeal to put Seaview on the map." Dylan smiled a bit like Wile ECoyote opening his box of ACME explosives. Chase had never imaginedanyone could have the same ridiculous look; it was uncanny.
"Seaview is on the map. And Frank's notinterested. Get lost." Shallow, he knew, but Chase clipped Dylan'sshoulder with his own on the way by and kept walking. The collisionangered his sore shoulder that still hadn’t quite fully recoveredfrom his injury on the rig, but it had been worth it. He wouldnever know what Dylan's expression may have been, but Chase justkept walking, refusing to give the other man the satisfaction.
He thought again about Dylan's ridiculousappearance. Maybe too much cockiness for Wile E Coyote. Maybe thatrooster character… or a peacock. Somewhere between Wile E Coyoteand a peacock.
Damn he hated that bastard. He felt a suddenneed to know exactly what had happened between Dylan and Maddy.Maddy was so gentle and funny and had a sexy rebellious streak.He'd never know what she saw in Dylan – but maybe that was thepoint. He was Chase's polar opposite. He thought back to that dayon the beach. Maddy would never have laughed and played on thebeach with Dylan that way.
"Son of a bitch." Chase berated himselfaloud, hating himself more than a little at that moment. Needingthat swim now more than ever, he hopped in the truck and tore outof the parking area.
