His Horizon - Con Riley Page 0,111
to book at the Anchor, these days. Surely that means there’s capacity in the village for a boutique hotel as well?”
“A boutique hotel….” Rob pondered before sounding stricken. “But what about your parents?” He turned, so clearly worried that Jude’s heart tried to crawl out of his chest ready to throw itself at this man whose first thought was for other people. “How will they manage the Anchor?”
“With Louise. And with me, and you, and Trevor. With all of us, when it’s busy.” And it would be busy, Jude was almost certain, now his parents were home. And when their fifteen minutes of fame faded, the rotation of regular markets would attract locals to the village, just like Guy Parsons’ write-up would lure year-round tourists. “Helping out won’t be a problem. It took all of four minutes to walk here.”
“Can we afford it?” Rob asked as if he didn’t always manage to magic a way to make deals, and then, just a second later, he answered his own question. “We’re going to afford it.”
They would, Jude knew in the same way he knew Rob was the only person on the planet he wanted to follow, as he did now, from room to room, listening as he made plans.
“How many bedrooms are there?”
“Six. And there’s a studio in the back garden.”
“A studio,” Rob mused as he flicked on another light switch, this room full of cliff-top vistas. “We could use it for treatments.”
“A spa?” Jude asked.
“A spa,” Rob said, decided as he went downstairs. “And what’s through here?” He opened a door into a room that had staves painted on the walls dotted with musical notation. “Oh!” His eyes gleamed. “We can have music evenings.”
“No sea shanties,” Jude said, but it was too late, Rob already humming before bursting into song as he explored the last room, breaking off after noticing a gift-wrapped present on a window seat.
“What’s this?”
“Open it and see.” Jude watched closely as Rob unwrapped a bottle of top-quality Cognac. “Pricy,” Rob said as he examined the label. “This isn’t our usual swill. You’re spoiling me.”
“It’s not from me.”
“Dad?” Rob asked, his expression shifting through a spectrum from exasperation to fondness. “I told him he didn’t need to buy me anything.”
“He sent it for me,” Jude admitted. Rob met his eye, enquiring, so Jude took a deep breath. “I… I asked him how he proposed to your mum.” Jude took the bottle from Rob’s suddenly slack hands. “He told me that he did it after visiting an empty building with her that they decided to turn into a hotel.”
Rob looked up, his eyes bright for a whole new reason. “They didn’t even have glasses to toast with,” he said, damp-eyed. “They drank straight out of the bottle. Mum told me that so long ago that I’d forgotten.”
“Your dad didn’t forget. He said it was the start of their best tradition.” One that Rob had continued to make each of their guests feel welcome. “So?” Jude uncorked the bottle and took a swig before passing it over. “Will you?”
He watched Rob cradle the bottle as if it was precious. If he said yes, this winter would be full of days spent at auction houses seeking furniture to fill these rooms, and evenings spent crunching numbers with no guarantee that they’d ever break even. Jude couldn’t wait to spend every moment of that future with Rob, if he wanted.
“Will I?” Rob studied Jude’s face as if searching for something. “With you?” He lifted the bottle only for Jude’s heart to stutter. Rob lowered it instead of taking a sip.
God help him. This was what Jude’s future would be full of as well. Months of teasing followed by years of nonsense lay ahead if he was very, very lucky.
Rob lifted the bottle again, stopping this time to ask a pointed question. “What kind of proposal are you making, exactly?”
Jude searched for all of the right words and hoped he found enough. “I’m proposing whatever you’ll say yes to for just as long as you’ll be with me, wherever you want, just as long as we’re together. Friends and business partners. Marriage, if you’ll have me.”
“Romantic,” Rob said, breathless before his eyes narrowed. “You sure you don’t want to sail off into the sunset on the Aphrodite with Tom?” Rob lifted the bottle to his mouth before lowering it again. “I mean, I’ve seen some of the photos your mum took. He’s quite the silver sea-fox, and I heard that your replacement didn’t last long.”
“Tom’s the one who told me that if I found someone who knows what I need before I do, and who’s easy to look at as well, I’d be a damn fool to let them walk away without trying hard to keep them.”
“You think I’m easy to look at.” Rob’s chest puffed up.
“You’re not terrible,” Jude said, hedging. “In the dark, from behind, I guess.” Giving back as good as he got was the only way Jude would survive a lifetime with Rob. He couldn’t wait to get started.
“And yet, you still love me.”
“I do. So much.”
Behind Rob, the sun rose with a gold flash between pink streaks of sea mist that Jude barely noticed. How could he look away from this man?
He wouldn’t ever have to, Jude finally knew that for sure.
Rob raised the bottle for real and drank to their future.
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The End
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About the Author
Con Riley lives on the wild and rugged Devonshire coast, with her head in the clouds, and her feet in the Atlantic Ocean.
Injury curtailed her enjoyment of outdoor pursuits, so writing fiction now fills her free time instead. Love, loss, and redemption shape her romance stories, and her characters are flawed in ways that makes them live and breathe.
When not people watching, or wrangling her own boy band of teen sons, she spends time staring at the sea from her kitchen window. If you see her, don't disturb her—she's probably thinking up new plots.