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“Sure,” I said, thinking I could always take another project to pay my credit card off next month. “That sounds great. Thank you.”
The waiter asked us about wine pairings, and we settled on a nice white. He came back a moment later to fill our glasses. I was beginning to realize that Beau had a reputation in this town, and not only did people like him, but they also wanted him to be pleased with them.
Lifting his glass, Beau extended it across the table. “To your first full day in Sitka. Hopefully, you’ve had some fun.”
I tapped his glass and added, “And to Mr. Fish. May he live forever in the ocean deep along with his swimmy family.”
Beau clanked my glass, and the two of us drank, though I could tell he was trying not to laugh at my silly toast. My sense of humor was a bit different than most people’s, and he still hadn’t quite figured out when he should laugh and when he should assume I was being serious.
The two of us nibbled on some bread the waiter had dropped off as we waited for our food. Something told me it wouldn’t be too long, the way the staff was doing everything they could to make sure Beau had a nice experience.
“So, do you go fishing every day?” I asked, breaking a roll in half and putting butter on one of the pieces.
Beau finished chewing what was in his mouth. “I go most days but it’s not like I’m a professional fisherman.” He gave me a look that let me know he realized I’d thought that was exactly what it was when I met him.
Grinning at him, I said, “Well, in fairness, you were dressed like a fisherman when I met you.” Shrugging, I added, “Besides, would it be a stretch to assume a lot of guys who live here are professional fishermen?”
“No, that’s a fair assessment,” he admitted. “I was just giving you shit.”
I smiled and took another bite of my bread, wondering if he’d noticed I’d purposely avoided saying the name of the town since I kept saying it wrong. Sit-ka. Sit-ka. Not Stick-a. “I don’t mind it when people give me shit as long as they’re nice about it.”
I thought back to his friend Ryan and how he’d been trying to talk Beau up when it was clear Beau was upset that he hadn’t met him at the bar the night before. While I understood no one wanted to be stood up, if Ryan had come, Beau and I might not have ever met. Maybe I owed Ryan a thank you for flaking.
“On a normal day, I fish for a few hours in the morning and then go home and get some work done at the home office,” Beau continued. “But I don’t have too much going on right now.”
I wondered if he added the last part so that I wouldn’t feel bad that I’d be occupying most of his day again tomorrow since he’d be driving me to Juneau. I felt a little guilty. He was obviously an important businessman, and I was taking up too much of his time.
“Do you have a staff of people that work for you?” I asked.
Nodding, Beau said, “Sort of. I have a manager who takes care of each property and makes sure they are all well maintained and all of those sorts of things. I have an accountant and a lawyer on retainer, but I basically handle everything else myself.”
“What all does that entail?” I took another sip of my wine, wondering if I’d even understand what he was talking about.
“Um, a lot of paperwork,” he said with a sigh. “Most of that I could probably hand off to someone else. I’ve been asking Ryan for a while if he wants to work for me, but he likes the live bait business better. He’s just more of a nature kind of a guy. The fun part for me is scouting out new properties and researching whether or not they are a good buy,” he explained.
“That does sound fun,” I agreed. “It also sounds like you need a virtual assistant.” I laughed so that he couldn’t tell if I was serious or not. In no way did I want to pressure him into thinking that he needed to hire me, but he really did sound like he needed some help with the boring parts of the job.
Before he could respond, the waiter came back with the lobster and set it before us, and all other thoughts left my mind. My mouth began to water as the smell of the succulent meal hit my lungs. Both of us dug in like we hadn’t eaten all day. While we’d eaten a quick lunch on the boat from what Beau had stored in the refrigerator, my stomach had been growling for a few hours now, and this lobster was the perfect cuisine to make it stop.
We ate in silence for several minutes, both of us savoring each bite. A few minutes in, Beau asked, “It’s delicious, huh?”
“I love it,” I managed between bites. “Thank you for suggesting it.”
“Of course. Everything on the menu here is great, but this is my favorite.”
I took another sip of my wine and realized I was on my third or fourth glass. I should probably slow down, but it paired so nicely with the lobster, it was hard to do so.
The waiter came back when we were almost done. “Any room for dessert?” he asked, clapping his hands together and rubbing them.
“No,” I said quickly. “I couldn’t eat anything else to save my life.”
“Very good,” he said as Beau also declined. “I’ll just put it on your tab, Mr. Ramsey.”
“Thank you,” Beau said, and the waiter headed off.
I stared at Beau for a long moment. “So I guess I’m not paying for dinner either?”
A crooked grin took over his handsome face. “Um, I guess not.”
