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My heart, which had leaped at the good news, plummeted at the mention of acondition.
“Will agreed to let me use the space to host a poker tournament first,” Birdie went on. “I’m the organiser of an event that was supposed to take place in Scarborough Cove, but the venue pulled out, and without an alternative, I’d have to cancel. Will agreed to take the loan and host the tournament, so this morning, I had my solicitor draw up the paperwork.”
She exchanged that loaded look with Emily again, and my glance volleyed back and forth. “This sounds like a lot of work, and he agreed to it before finding out about Seb, but I know he can do it.” I chewed on my lip for a second, sweeping my finger between my two friends. “I still don’t understand what this is about.”
Birdie sighed. “I also called the local tourism council to apply for the necessary permits.”
I groaned and dropped my head back. The tourism council was a pain in the arse at the best of times, and a big event like a poker tournament was going to drive them wild. I knew where this was going.
“They called me straightaway,” Emily hurried to add. She was employed by the council as a professional photographer and social media advisor, so contacting her made sense. “The thing is, Abs… The poker tournament is scheduled for the weekend before Valentine’s Day—”
My head jerked up in horror. Valentine’s Day in Valentine Bay was the biggest event on our community calendar. The tourism council abused the town with layers and layers of pink and red, and we welcomed thousands of people to our stores, night markets, and bonfires to celebrate. It grew bigger, brighter, and more vulgar every year, except for one lone, reliable black spot: Will and The Salty Stop. The only venue that resisted the council’s Valentine’s Day madness. Will and the council clashedabout it every year, but Will always stood his ground, to the huge relief of the humbug locals like me (and there were a lot of us) who needed a place to wait out the weekend. But if this poker tournament was happening the same time as the festival and Will had agreed to host it… They’d make his life hell from now until it was done.
“Oh, no,” I whispered.
“Oh, yes.” Emily looked uncomfortable. “The council’s already gone a little wild over the possibilities.”
“I bet.” I huffed in disbelief. “I’m stunned Will agreed to it.”
Birdie shrugged guiltily. “Will doesn’t know about the Valentine’s Day twist yet. I planned to break it to him today.”
Will was going to fucking freak, and I didn’t blame him. I patted Birdie on the shoulder and gave her a flat smile. “Good luck with that.”
“Yeah. Thanks. But it’s not all bad news. If this poker event is a success, there’s the potential for Will to make enough money to repay my loan quickly. It’ll be great publicity for The Stop, and there might even be investors interested in helping him establish the microbrewery.”
I let myself consider the opportunities this would give Will rather than the ways it’d challenge him—just as soon as he’d pushed through the freak-out phase and figured out a plan. “This could make a huge difference to Will’s business, Birdie.”
“If we can pull it off, it’llmakehis business,” she confirmed.
Emily leaned back on her hands. “We’re talking about managing more than just the one event here. There’s his bar. There’s Seb. There’s getting the warehouse ready for a poker tournament, then transforming it into a brewery and launching a new business. What if hecan’tpull it off?”
“He can,” I replied brusquely, dropping the chips I’d been nibbling on and dusting the salt from my hands. “No doubt in my mind.”
“I agree.” Birdie’s face was full of determination. “Not if—when.Whenwe pull this off, it’ll be the best thing that ever happened to Will—surprise babies aside, of course.”
I returned her nod and tried to look positive, but everything was happening so fast, and none of it was low stakes. Will discovered he had a son less than twenty-four hours after taking on more debt and the significant commitment of hosting Birdie’s poker tournament. The entire town would be watching him for the next three weeks, not only as a new father but as a business pillar of the community. He was about to go from one extreme to the other—lovable rogue to single dad and upstanding businessman—overnight and under a microscope.
If I knew Will—and I did—the first thing he’d want to do when he found out about this would be quit. He’d doubt himself. He’d think it was too hard and that he wouldn’t succeed. Well, he could do it, and I wouldn’t let him do it alone.
A plan started to come together, one that would let me stay in the loft and help take care of Seb without Will realising that’s why I was there. In fact, if I managed this right, I might even be able to convince Will thathewas the one helpingme.
12
Will
As a group, wedid more in three hours than I could have done on my own in three days. We moved every box and piece of furniture from the spare bedroom into the rarely used function room above The Stop. I helped Logan unload and build the baby furniture—a cot, a change table, a dresser, and a shelving unit—and we cleaned the room before setting it all up. Abbie plugged in the baby monitor to charge, washed Seb’s new clothes, and found places for his bottles and sterilising equipment in the kitchen. Everyone took turns with Seb—feeding him, playing little games, reading to him, and passing him over to me when he soiled his pants.
I handled it like a man, of course.
Jess, a schoolteacher with a natural knack for interior decorating, arrived just as the last of the grunt work was done, bearing bags of rugs, cushions, books, posters, and stuffed animals. Logan had filled her in on the details over the phone, thank fuck because I was too exhausted to go over it all again,and the first thing she did when she walked into the loft was wrap me in a hard hug.
“I can’t believe it, Kidd,” she murmured in my ear. “I’m happy for you.”
I folded my arms around her and held on tight. Jess was one of those friends I’d known for so long, and she was as good as a sister.
“Thanks, Frost.” She stepped back, and I smiled at the emotion in her eyes. “You want to meet him?”
“Only immediately.”
