When I was ready, I put everything in the back seat of my car and headed for the airport.
Just as Tom said it would be, the company jet was fueled up and awaiting my arrival. I had to admit, it felt pretty special to be whisked out of the building and out onto the tarmac so I could walk up the long flight of steps onto the plane rather than waiting in line at one of the gates.
The pilot greeted me and said we would be leaving in just a few minutes. That gave me the opportunity to settle in, then call Emily before I had to turn my phone off.
“Hey,” I said. “What are you doing right now?”
“I’m taking a coffee break before what will inevitably be a long and boring business meeting. What are you doing?” she asked.
“I am sitting in the company jet sent to me by one Tom Anderson to fly me to Astoria, Oregon,” I said.
“Astoria?” she asked. “Isn’t that his hometown?”
“It is,” I said.
“He’s flying you to his hometown?” she asked, her voice dropping down just slightly. “He’s missing you that much? I told you. I told you that man has a thing for you.”
“Don’t get so excited,” I told her. “It’s not a romantic interlude—he forgot his laptop at the office, and he says he really needs it. He couldn’t wait for it to be shipped, so he asked me to bring it out there.”
“Oh,” she said, sounding a little disappointed. “That’s a hell of a day. Flying all the way out to Oregon just a drop off a laptop, then turning around and flying back.”
“Well, that’s not exactly how it’s going. He asked me to bring my things with me so I could stay for a couple of days,” I said.
She let out a gasp, and I knew she had gone right back to the fairy tale unfolding in her head. “He wants you to stay? The man invited you to come to his hometown and stay with him for a little while?”
“It isn’t like that,” I said. “He’s still trying to deal with everything that’s going on because of the fire, and he wanted something to keep his mind on so he doesn’t always have to think about that. And before you let your own imagination run wild, I mean he wants to work while he’s there. He specifically told me to bring my computer so that we can get some work done.”
“He has something for you,” she said. “And this will be really nice. It’ll be like a little vacation for the two of you.”
I laughed. “Yes, one of those extremely restful working vacations,” I said. “I figure it’ll be pretty much like being in the office, just in Oregon.”
“Well, keep me updated. Remember, anything can happen,” she said.
I laughed again, thinking she was being ridiculous, and ended the call. Just as I was tucking my phone away, the captain came back and let me know it was time for takeoff. I suddenly felt nervous. I didn’t know why. I wasn’t a huge traveler, but it wasn’t like this was the first time I’d ever flown. And the company jet was much nicer and better equipped than a lot of the commercial planes out there.
The nervous feeling stayed with me as we took off and soared into the sky. I stared out the window and tried to talk myself into calming down.
7
Tom
After I got off the phone with Amanda, I began to search for more suitable accommodations for the two of us.
I was also thinking about Amanda. Asking her to fly all the way out here to bring my laptop was possibly on the extreme end of the secretary duty spectrum. She had sounded perfectly willing to do it, though, and I wanted to make sure she would be comfortable while she was here. This was a great opportunity for us to buckle down and get some work done without the distractions of the office.
The work itself would be an ideal distraction for me. I could focus on getting projects done rather than dwelling completely on Danny and my desire to take him down.
As my brothers pointed out, we still weren’t completely positive he was behind the arson. There wasn’t any direct evidence linking him to it, no witnesses or security camera footage. That reminded me. I needed to make sure to add a robust security system to the details I planned to add to the bar when we rebuilt.
Because we were absolutely rebuilding. There wasn’t even a question in that. At least there wasn’t in my mind. Pulling this shit might have been an attempt to scare us off or frustrate us to the point of getting us out of business, but that wasn’t happening.
The bar had gained massive popularity in the little over a year since Ava came and took over as manager. Her ideas for revamping it transformed The Hollow from a basic neighborhood bar to a destination that people from all over came to.
They were especially impressed by the special theme nights and other events Ava planned. They brought huge crowds, and some of them even required us to sell tickets to control how many people tried to get in. As exciting as that was for all of us brothers and our mother, it also put a target on our backs.
This wasn’t something I had wanted to put too much thought into before. Most of the neighborhood had been very welcoming of us and excited for our success. After all, the more people who came to The Hollow, the more who were exposed to their businesses as well. It was especially true when we had the block parties and bar crawls.
Somebody clearly wasn’t happy for us. And I was very confident I knew exactly who that somebody was. We just needed to prove it.
I went to work calling around to all the hotels around the Astoria area trying to find rooms. As I packed up my luggage and stuffed it into the trunk of my rental car, I was losing hope. My options were getting thin, and I was starting to worry she and I were going to end up in the deadbeat motel after all.
By the time I got to the airport to pick her up, things were looking up a bit. I smiled at her as she walked toward me. I met her a few steps later and took the bags from her hands.
“Thank you so much for doing this for me,” I said. “I really appreciate it.”
“It’s not a problem,” she replied. “I’m happy to do it.”
“Well, again, I really appreciate it. Let’s go get settled, and I’ll show you around a bit if you’d like,” I said.
Amanda smiled brightly and nodded. “I would like that.”
“I have to warn you about something,” I said as I put her bags in the back of the car and we climbed into our seats.
“What?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s just about where we’re staying. The only hotel I was able to find in Astoria was a complete mess. Nothing’s been done there since like the dawn of time and it hasn’t been having its best years for the last couple of decades. I couldn’t stand to stay there anymore, and I definitely didn’t want you to stay there. So, we’re going to go and stay a little bit outside of town. It’s not far, just not within the city limits,” I said.
“Oh,” she said. “That’s not that big of a deal.”
“Well, that isn’t the whole thing,” I said. “I called every hotel within a thirty-mile radius. Apparently, there is some sort of convention going on and the only one I found with any vacancies at all only had one room left.”