What did he mean?
“What’s up?”
“You know I told you that Denise thinks I should scale the business back?”
“Yeah.”
“There’s no point in kidding myself. It’s gone past that now.”
The tension in Bruce’s voice scared Danny.
“Go on,” Danny said.
“I’m selling up, son. There’s no other way.”
The news hit him like a ten-ton truck. Bruce loved that shop.
“Bruce…”
“Don’t be giving me any fuss. Either way. You’ll have to get your new man to help you deal with that.”
Danny swallowed down the sob that had lodged in his chest.
“Are you sure?” he managed. “Truly sure?”
“I am. There comes a time when you’ve got to make brave decisions. This is one of them. The refurb orders have been getting out of my control. I can’t do it anymore.”
“Fuck. Bruce, I’m so sorry.”
No one would buy a second-hand furniture business. The lease would more likely go to a chain or even be converted into a flat. The little street was off the beaten track. People only came to New Lives because of the reputation Bruce had built up over the years. He was the business.
“No need to be sorry, son. There’s a seven-year lease on it. We haven’t had it valued officially. An estate agent friend of Denise’s said it would go for a quarter of a million. It’s more than enough to pay our mortgage off.”
It was a lot of money. Still, it didn’t seem like much for a lifetime of work.
“Are you dead set on this?”
“I am. There’s something else I want to happen. Before we put it on the market.”
“What’s that?”
“I want to give you first refusal.”
The park was busy. The warm Sunday afternoon appeared to have lured most of Brighton out. Kids were playing ball while adults lay in the sunshine.
“You could get a loan,” Tyler said.
“I don’t like the idea of debt,” Danny replied.
Tyler stopped. “You can’t get into business without it. Not in this day and age.”
Danny had told Tyler about the phone call as soon as he’d come in the bedroom from the shower. Ever since, Tyler had gone into planning overdrive. Danny kicked a stone into the flower bed.
“Maybe you’re right,” he said. “I would rather live my life without worrying endlessly about money though.”
They walked past some rose bushes. Danny’s mind seemed to be absolutely full. They’d started the day in a bubble of simplicity. That hadn’t lasted.
“Do you have any savings?” Tyler continued.
