Page 39 of Yours, Forever

"Well, I had something exciting waiting for me here in the West coast. Rather,someoneexciting." He gazed at me, but talked to his friend. "Have you met my wife?"

"I tried to introduce myself, but she wouldn't have it." Javier smiled my way full of humor.

"I thought he was your father's spy." I cringed. "I'm sorry, I got a little protective."

"We're good." Javier offered me his hand and we shook our peace. "I appreciate the loyalty to my friend."

"Nice to meet someone from Max's life," I said.

It was good, but it put me out of sorts. I wasn't sure why, yet.

Max didn't seem to notice.

He patted his friend on the shoulder again. "Come, let's go for a walk. I'll show you around. The beach and the smell of trees on the back road are the best. I promise you it beats the smells of your beloved New York."

Max left his laptop in the backroom; he dropped another kiss on my cheek and left with his friend, to look at my hometown like a curious oddity.

Two rich, big city guys, getting a kick out of the town. I better get used to it, if I wanted Laguna Island to be a tourist destination. We wanted people like them to feel that way about us. We wanted to capitalize on that.

It didn't matter if it made me feel off, this is what I wanted.

Thanks to my new hire Lily’s evening shift at the café, I was able to join Javier and Max at the pub for dinner. In Isla Negra, we introduced Javier to people we knew, including Lucas, the owner. Luke got us one of the best tables, but we didn't get to it right away. People around us kept us entertained with hellos and chatter.

Everyone knew Max, and Max knew everyone by name. He made the introductions, showing off his friend to my community. Even though I got a hello from everyone, it was Max who held everyone's attention. Not a bad thing at all, I supposed; I was comfortable not being the center of attention. My husband, on the other hand? He seemed to thrive in the spotlight.

When we finally had a drink in front of us and sat down to chat, the conversation turned quickly into Javier's first impressions.

"It is really a pretty place," he said. "It needs some TLC, but that's something you're helping with, isn't it?"

Max shrugged. "I'm just the checkbook— an investor seeing the potential."

"I wouldn't be opposed to looking at some social initiatives in the area," Javier added.

"I'll call Daniel and Ale to join us." I grabbed my phone to text them.

"You'll like them." Max sipped from his gin and soda, eyes on Javier. "They're our kind of people. I've spent a lot of time with Daniel, as he's the town's Public Works Director, and I'm coordinating investments and donations with him. Ale is cool too, as is her sister Ren— and Pri, though I haven't chatted much with them yet."

Luke popped by with three glasses of a clear liquid. "On the house— My brother Julián is distilling some new stuff."

"Oh, no, let me pay—" Max tried.

"Nonsense. You'll pay for the next round, but this is on us." He leaned closer to us. "It's not completely legal at this point, so no paper trail this way."

I happened to know the paperwork was stuck in red tape. None of us made mention that we were basically being given moonshine, as far as we knew.

"Then if we like it, I'll invest." Max took a whiff from the small glass. "After the paperwork goes through, of course."

"And if you don't like it," Luke said, "I'm sure you'll enjoy the next iterations."

"Well, let's see about this one." He sipped. "Oh, wow. Juniper is there, of course, maybe the alcohol content is a bit too high, but what spices did you add? There's something different here."

"Some local herbals we're trying."

"Are you going to try some whisky, too?" Javier asked.

"For sure. We have some aging right now."

"Smart to give me a taste before we close on any deals," Max said. "I saw that Julián sent me the business plan. I'll get back to you soon."