It was a busy day at the office for Nick. He managed to set up a private tasting with a very big potential client and confirmed two more locations that would carry Mason’s newest batch once they had them bottled and ready to ship.
There was a knock on his door, and he looked up from the paperwork he was reviewing. For a split second, he’d hoped it was Daisy. After sharing a meal yesterday, he couldn’t seem to get her off his mind no matter how much he warned himself against it.
Tyler peeked his head in. “Got a minute?”
“For you? Eh, I guess so.”
“Funny.” Tyler walked in, slipped out of his coat and sat at the chair on the other side of the desk.
Nick crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back. “What’s going on?” He assumed it had to do with his newest idea.
Nick didn’t mind listening, but he stopped putting too much stock in whatever Tyler was trying to sell him on. Once the appeal wore off and there was actual work that needed to be done, Tyler’s enthusiasm dwindled until the idea was nothing more than a memory added to the long list of discarded projects.
“I was thinking you should sell your house to me.”
Nick fell forward in his chair. “What?” Out of all the crazy ideas he’d had over the years, and there had been many, this had to be the craziest. Why the hell would he sell his house to Tyler?
Tyler held his hands in front of him. “Hear me out. Okay?”
Nick yanked at the collar of his shirt and sat back, already unamused by this newest idea. The least he could do was hear him out; Tyler had always been there for him, especially during his dad’s illness, and while Nick might not agree with Tyler’s lifestyle, it wouldn’t kill him to keep an open mind. And listening didn’t mean he had to go along with whatever he said. He could still say no which he most definitely planned on. “Go on,” Nick said.
“I told you about what I want to do, and I don’t know why it didn’t dawn on me the other night at the bar, but it’s the perfect arrangement. You sell me the house with all the furniture you don’t want, I keep it as is, and rent it out for vacations.”
Nick went to speak, but Tyler kept going.
“People will bring their kids to the ski slopes, or to the fall festival or to the hiking trails in the summer, and your house will become a memory from their childhood. You have the opportunity to give those memories to other families.”
Tyler was working an angle, feeding on Nick’s sense of nostalgia. “I don’t know, Ty.”
“I’m not asking you to make a decision right now. Think about it. Take all the time you need. I’m in no rush. But I think it’ll be a good opportunity for you.” Tyler rested his hand on the desk and looked at Nick. “At least you know I’ll take care of the house. You can even stop by and check up on it in between tenants. Hell, you could stay a night or a month if you feel the need. Again…” Tyler stood up, hands in front of him. “Think about it.”
Nick had nothing to lose if he agreed to think about it. If he ever did decide to sell, he’d rather sell it to someone he knew and trusted and he didn’t trust anyone more than he trusted Tyler. He just needed to know that Tyler was serious about this venture before agreeing to this. He also needed to decide if selling the house was what he really wanted because he honestly wasn’t sure.
“All right, I’ll think about it,” he said.
Tyler’s face sparked with excitement. “You will?”
“Just thinking about it, but yes, I will.”
“That’s great,” Tyler said. “I’ll see you tonight at trivia then. I’ve been studying.”
Nick and Tyler’s team were the reigning champs for a couple weeks until the last trivia night when Brooke’s team beat them. Tyler was out for redemption. Nick had a feeling if it were any other team Tyler wouldn’t care so much, but he and Brooke were the equivalent to the Yankees and the Red Sox.
“You studied? You do realize it’s not Jeopardy right? There’s no cash prize at the end.” Just free beer for the night. It’s not like Tyler couldn’t afford the beer; his family was loaded. And in a year when he turned twenty-five, he would be even more wealthy, thanks to a hefty trust fund his dad had set up for him.
Tyler shrugged. “I like to win.”
Nick wasn’t buying it. “Or you just like to beat Brooke.”
Tyler dropped back in the chair, his hands landing on his knees. “She acts like she knows everything, and she’s so smug about it. Someone has to knock her off her high horse.”
Nick mentally patted himself on the back for getting the truth out of Tyler. “And you nominated yourself for the task.”
“A dose of reality has never hurt anyone before.”
Nick pinned him with a look. “As long as you don’t get crazy like last time.”
“That was not my fault. She pushed my buttons.”
“You know she does it on purpose, right?” Nick asked, knowing Tyler wasn’t that naïve. Yet he always stepped into Brooke’s traps.
“Because she’s the devil incarnate.”
Nick laughed. “Just try to keep your cool tonight.”
“I make no promises.”
“I guess that’s as good as I can expect. I’ll catch you later.”
Tyler grabbed his coat and went to walk out then paused. “Do me a favor?”
Nick nodded for him to continue.
“When you’re thinking about the house, don’t think about the past, think about the future. Close your eyes and focus on your end goal. What do you see and are you still living in the same house or starting somewhere fresh and making it your own?”
“I’ll do my best,” Nick said and Tyler laughed.
“Using my own words against me. Nice.” Tyler left, and Nick leaned back in his chair, resting his hands behind his head. He closed his eyes like Tyler suggested and tried to focus on his future and what he wanted most.
He didn’t see a house.
The only thing he saw was blonde curls, big blue eyes, and a smile that brought him to his knees.