“It looks solid to me,” Reid said, taking a long swallow of the ale Bash had poured for him. “The only thing you might want to consider is the space out back. You could open a terrace area for the summer and serve outside as well.” He put a piece of white paper over the existing blueprint and drew it out in such a hurry Bash had a hard time keeping up. “It might cost a little on the front end, but it gives you room for expansion.”
Bash studied the blueprints. “I do own the land next to and behind the bar.”
Reid nodded. “Exactly. And you might not want to do anything with it right away, but something to consider in stages.”
“One of my ideas … for down the road, anyway, is to open a restaurant.”
Reid grabbed his beer and leaned back in the chair. “Attached to the bar or somewhere else?”
“Somewhere else. Still in Hope, but yeah, someplace new.”
Reid’s brows rose. “Expanding your empire. I like it. Do you have blueprints for that?”
“Not yet.”
“Hmm.” He sipped his ale, then grabbed his sketchbook from his bag. “Do you have ideas?”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s get to work.”
An hour later, he and Reid had roughed out a sketch of Bash’s restaurant idea, which up to this point had mostly been in his head. To see it on paper was very cool, and he was glad to have Reid there to sketch out his vision. He could already picture the tables, the booths, the way the kitchen would look, and how many people the restaurant would seat.
“I think if you start by expanding here at the bar and serving meals—and it’s a success—”
“Which it will be.”
Reid grinned. “Of course it will be, because you’re getting a great chef. Anyway, once you’ve planted the seed that you serve food as well as drinks, it’s a natural progression to opening a restaurant.”
“I’ve already talked to Jason about that. It’s the reason he’s willing to come aboard and cook for me at the bar.”
Reid smiled and nodded. “My man. You’ve got a business plan.”
“I do. Hard to believe when I was cutting high school classes with your brother all those years ago that I’d end up employed, let alone maybe a little successful.”
Reid grinned. “Yeah. Hard to believe. I thought I was the only one who’d end up without a jail record.”
Bash laughed. “You were always the smart one. Stayed in school, head down and focused. Look at you now.”
“Look at all of us now. We’re doing okay.”
“We are.” He poured another ale for Reid and grabbed a bottle for himself, since he had plenty of time before the bar opened this afternoon.
“One of the things I’m thinking about when all this starts is to open for lunch.”
Reid propped his feet up on a nearby chair. “Don’t you already work enough hours?”
“I’d have someone else work the lunch shift and I’d come in later in the day, like I do now.”
“Must make it hard on your dating life to work late at night.”
Bash took a sip of his beer. “I do all right.”
“I don’t know, man. You’re getting up there in years, like Logan, and I don’t see a wedding ring on your finger yet.”
“Hey, I’ve been down that road before and don’t intend to do it again. The single life is fine for me, and believe me, I’m not hurting for dates.”
“Yeah? Who’ve you been dating?”
“Uh … the last one was a girl named Gerri. She dumped her Chihuahua on me.” Bash looked down at Lou. “That’s how I ended up with Lou.”
Reid arched a brow. “Lou was her dog?”
Bash recounted the story of how he’d ended up with Lou, and Reid shook his head. “I don’t understand women. It’s all good in the beginning, and then after three dates they’re planning your wedding. That’s some scary shit.”
“Sounds like you’ve had some experience.”
“Let’s just say I don’t know how to pick ’em and leave it at that.” Reid took a long swallow of his beer.
“Well, join the club.”
Reid laughed. “So how’s it working out with Lou so far?”
“Actually, I like her. She chewed my shoe, but otherwise, we’re getting along fine.”
“At least you got a great dog out of the deal. Women-wise, anyone else on the horizon?”
Bash’s thoughts immediately strayed to Chelsea, but that was obviously going nowhere. “Not right now.”
“You’ve got your hands full with the bar, anyway.”
“True. And what about you?”
“I see plenty of women. After a couple relationships I can only classify as disasters, I’m content to keep things low-key. I have a heavy travel schedule anyway, and a lot of women don’t have patience for that. So I tend to get dumped a lot.”
“Too bad.”
Reid shrugged. “I’m okay with that. I like my work.”
“Speaking of work, what do you think about the mercantile?”
“It’s … intriguing.”
“Just intriguing?”
“Yeah. Under all those layers of dust, old walls, and shit ceilings, she’s a beauty just waiting to be rediscovered. I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t like to dig in and make her shine again.” Reid studied his glass of ale, as if he might be considering the idea. “I don’t know. I’ve kind of gotten used to living in Boston.”