Flipping the Switch by Brigham Vaughn

EIGHTEEN

“If you have a few minutes, I want to talk to you about something,” Tony said quietly. “I brought lunch.”

He held up a bag from Greene’s Grill on Main.

Keira looked up from her computer screen. “Sure. What’s up, cuz?”

“Can I …?” He gestured vaguely toward the door and she nodded. He closed it behind him and took a seat in one of the chairs across from her desk.

She eyeballed him. “What’s so bad that you had to bribe me with lunch? Are you firing me?”

“God no,” he said. It came out so forcefully she raised an eyebrow in alarm. “No, I am definitely not firing you,” he said more softly. “It’s kind of the opposite. I want to make some changes around here because … well, I’m not very happy here,” he admitted.

Her eyes widened. He winced, knowing he hadn’t eased into this conversation the right way. He just wasn’t sure how to broach the subject.

“No, it’s fine,” she assured him. “I just … I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were unhappy.”

He shrugged. “I mean, running this place isn’t really how I saw my life going, you know?”

“I know.” She unwrapped the tuna melt sandwich he’d placed in front of her. “So, what are you planning to change?”

“First of all, I want to check and see if you want to buy this place,” he said.

Her eyes widened. “God, I’d love to, but I don’t have that kind of money. Even if you cut me a deal, there’s no way.”

Tony nodded. He’d suspected as much. Keira’s husband had gone back to school recently, and they were just too young to have saved up much.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “You know I’d prefer to just hand it over to you. I wouldn’t even care if I lost money. But Dad will never go along with it.”

“Uh, yeah.” She grimaced at her sandwich, but he didn’t think it was because she was unhappy with his choice. The tuna melts were her favorite. “Uncle Mike is …”

“Stubborn as hell?” Tony said with a sigh.

“Well, I wasn’t going to say it.” She laughed, her brown eyes twinkling.

“You didn’t have to.” His tone came out gloomier than he’d intended.

“Hey, you okay, Tony?”

“Not really.” He set down his sandwich as well. He liked the turkey, bacon, and cheddar sandwiches at Greene’s, but he’d lost his appetite too. “Okay, so here’s the deal. You know the woodworking guy, Joseph Lynch?” She nodded and he continued on, telling her all about how he’d ended up secretly working under that name.

“Oh man, how did I not realize that about you?” Keira said. “I feel like you have this whole other life I know nothing about!”

Oh, if you only knew.He wondered how she’d take the idea of him playing with Logan and Jude.

“So the short version is, I’m sick as hell of working here. Dad’s going to pitch a shitfit but I’m trying to come up with ideas for how to sell it. I think if we can get enough for it, he’ll go along with it.” I hope.

Keira froze, a dill pickle in her hand. “So, either I buy it, or I lose my job? That’s …”

“No! Oh, no, that’s not what I meant at all,” Tony assured her. “God I’m making a mess of this. My hope was that we could sell it to someone in town who wants to invest but doesn’t want the work of managing it. You’d be the one running it on a day-to-day basis. The new owner would just be an investor, essentially. I want your approval on who we sell it to since you’re the one who will have to answer to them.”

“Oh.” She seemed to consider the idea. “That’s … well, yeah, I’d be okay with that. Isn’t it going to be hard to find someone like that though?”

“Awesome.” He beamed at her. “I actually have an idea of who we might be able to sell it to.”

“Who?”

“Jarod Keener. He’s the—”

“The fuckhot guy who owns the auto body shop. Yeah, I know who he is.”

Tony snorted. “Um, yeah. We uh … actually hooked up a few times a while ago,” he mumbled, staring down at his sandwich.

“Well, go you!” Keira said with a grin. “Seriously. He is super sexy.”

“He’s dating the town’s accountant now.”

“Well yeah, I know. I see them around town sometimes. They’re actually really sweet together even though Jarod always looks like he’s up to something devious.”

Oh, you have no idea.Tony swallowed hard. “Anyway, I talked to him briefly when I was at winter fest the other night,” he said.

“You went to winter fest?” Keira looked surprised. Since he rarely left the house that probably made sense.

“Uh, yeah. I went with a friend.”

“You have friends?” she teased. She crunched into the pickle, merriment dancing in her eyes.

“One or two,” he said, resisting the urge to stick his tongue out at her like he’d done when they were kids. “Anyway, yeah, I talked to Jarod for a bit. He’s open to the idea of buying this place.”

“Oh cool. Yeah, I don’t know him well, but if you vouch for him …”

“He’s a good guy,” Tony said. He’d never been the right guy for Tony personally, but Tony knew he ran his business with integrity. Which mattered a lot to him. It wasn’t like he just wanted to junk the place. He was proud of what he’d built here, and he wanted it to live on. He just didn’t want to feel like he was being crushed underneath the weight of it.

“Maybe you two can meet and get to know each other?” Tony suggested. “See if you think he’s someone you’d like to work for.”

“Sure. That sounds good.”

“I’m going to need you to help me pull together a business plan and all that stuff. You okay with that?”

Keira perked up. “Oh, yeah, I can do that. I love that sort of thing.”

“Awesome.” A little of the weight slipped from Tony’s shoulders. Maybe this wasn’t so impossible. Maybe he could get out from under the weight of this business. Convincing Jarod to buy the place was one step forward. But convincing Tony’s father to go along with the plan would be a lot tougher.

You’re trying though. He could almost hear the words in his head, somehow simultaneously sounding like Logan and Jude, assuring him that taking a step forward and trying was the most important part. He hadn’t known how much he’d wanted that. Wanted the reassurance that he could change his life.

“So, what made you choose to make a big life-changing decision?” she asked.

“I think the time was just right,” he said softly.

Kiera nodded and went back to eating her lunch while Tony’s thoughts wandered to the night before.

Logan had seemed different when he came back from Chicago. In a good way. He’d spent a long time just kissing Tony, holding him. The sex had been as hot as ever, but there was something else running through it. Something softer and more needy.

And Jude calling Logan ‘Sir’ …

Logan hadn’t brought it up since then and neither had Jude, but there was something about it that made Tony want to do the same. He wanted to call them both that. But he didn’t know how either of them would feel about it, so he kept his mouth shut.

He’d wait for them to lead.

* * *

“I did it!” Later that evening, Tony burst through the door of Jude’s future restaurant. Logan and Jude both looked up, clearly startled, but Tony hadn’t been able to contain his exciting news any longer.

“Did what?” Jude asked. He stalked toward Tony and gave him a searing kiss before Tony could even get a word out.

“I talked to Keira about selling the place,” he said breathlessly when he finally disentangled himself from Jude’s enthusiastic grip.

“Oh. Wow. And she wants to buy it?”

“No,” Tony admitted, deflating a little. “She can’t afford it. I knew that was a long shot. But she’s totally on board with the idea of selling it to Jarod. She’s going to help me pull together a business plan and all that.”

“Hey, that’s still fantastic.” Logan wrapped his arms around Tony and hugged him tight. “I am so proud of you.”

Tony burrowed close, so pleased he felt like he was glowing. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”

“Of course.” Logan’s smile was warm. “You deserve to have people in your corner. I’m only sorry you haven’t had nearly enough of that until now.”

“If you ask me, what you did today is cause for celebration,” Jude said.

“By celebration, I assume you mean getting naked,” Logan said drily. He smelled of sawdust and warm cologne and it made Tony feel all floaty and happy.

“I might.” Jude’s grin was wide. “What do you say we head out to my place and do all sorts of dirty, kinky things in celebration?”

“I can’t.” Tony grimaced. “I’ve got all this stuff I need to do for my dad and …”

Jude sighed and brushed Tony’s hair off his forehead. “It’s okay. I understand. I wish I could go with you and help or something.”

Jude really meant that. Tony shouldn’t have been surprised, but for some reason he was. He was continually surprised by Jude’s unending generosity. His willingness to help.

“Thank you,” he said sincerely. “I wish you could too.”

“You know I would help too,” Logan said. He hugged Tony a little tighter.

“I do know that.” Tony squeezed Logan’s side in appreciation, every part of him feeling lighter and freer than it had in years.

This, whatever this was with Jude and Logan, didn’t really feel very much like what they’d originally talked about. It didn’t feel like a quick fun hookup or anything of the sort. What Tony knew about relationships he could hold in the palm of his hand. But if he had a relationship, he knew he’d want it to be like this. Feeling supported and cared for and appreciated.

And maybe someday he’d get that. He just had to get this shit with the rest of his life figured out first. There was no way he could be in a real relationship with the business and stuff with his father hanging over his head.

Tony felt a renewed sense of determination to get rid of everything that was weighing him down. He wanted a life for himself, and the pieces were finally starting to fall into place as to what it would look like.

The only thing left was for him to go out and grab it.

* * *

“So I don’t know how to say this, but I want to strike off on my own,” Tony said. He licked his lips.

Joseph Lynch blinked, staring across his workshop at him. He was about forty years Tony’s senior and good-looking, with hair that was mostly white now and an angular face crisscrossed with wrinkles.

“You want to dissolve our business arrangement.” Tony couldn’t read either his face or his voice. Both were completely neutral.

He swallowed hard. “Yes.”

“Oh wow. I didn’t see this coming.”

“I know.” Tony sighed. “I honestly didn’t either. It’s pretty recent. I just … I need to make some changes.”

“What are you proposing, exactly?” He crossed his arms over his chest.

“Me buying you out.” It would probably cost a fuck ton of money. It was Joseph’s livelihood at this point, and he had a wife. His kids were grown, but he still had bills to pay. “Enough to live on. Retire if you want or find another position.”

Joseph seemed to consider the idea. “I’d have to talk to Sue about it, of course.”

“Of course.” Tony swallowed. “If you don’t want to do this, we’ll figure out a way to keep working together or something. I … I would like to start doing my own work under my own name though.”

Joseph sighed. “I always knew this day would come eventually. You’re too good, kid.”

Kid. Boy. He was almost thirty years old and people still thought of him that way. He didn’t mind it with Jude and Logan. They called him boy, but it was affectionate.

His heart warmed at the memory of Logan calling him his boy. He’d liked that a lot. He just didn’t know what to do to get everyone else to stop thinking of him as a kid and start thinking of him as a successful businessman.

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate everything you’ve done,” Tony said weakly. “I do. I just …”

“It’s time for you to move on. I get it.”

“I don’t want to leave you in the lurch,” Tony said. “Are you at least willing to talk about this?”

“Yeah, of course. I don’t want to hold you back. Sue and I’ll be all right. We’ll figure out somethin’. Truthfully, she has talked about moving out to Arizona. She hates these cold winters. If you bought me out and we sold this place … might be able to manage that.”

“I’d give you a fair price,” Tony said.

Joseph smiled faintly. “I know you would. You’re a good kid. Always have been. I wish I’d had half your talent.”

“You have a talent for sales,” Tony pointed out. “Maybe if you move to Arizona you could set up a shop or like a cooperative with other woodworks or something.”

“Hmm, there’s a thought. I hadn’t considered that.”

“I just want to figure out a solution that works for both of us. I love doing this work and I want to be able to do it full- time, but I don’t want to do it at your expense. You taught me so much and …”

Joseph nodded. “You come up with a plan for me to look over and I’ll talk to Sue. I’m sure we’ll be able to figure out something.”

“Thank you.” Tony held out his hand and shook heartily. “I appreciate that. You’ve done so much for me and I feel lucky we’ve been able to work together all these years.”

“Me too.” Joseph’s grip was firm and his smile was warm. “I wish you luck, whatever you decide to do, Tony.”

“Thanks. That means a lot to me.”

Tony walked out of Joseph’s shop feeling lighter than he had in years. The pieces were coming together now. It was going to take time and effort to get them all to fit, but Tony was good at that. He knew how to shave off a sliver of wood at a time, working in millimeters, slowly, painstakingly testing the pieces until they laid together like they’d always been meant to.

His life was the same. He only had to keep shaving away at the ill-fitting edges until it laid flush and smooth. Shining and bright.