Marty’s death was just after I began my current job.  Yet another startup comprised of total stress, and a bunch of know it all managers, recent grads going by the latest theories, that were generally insecure bastards to work around. They were total micromanaging paranoid control freaks that nearly drove the company into the ground, almost that is.

I was the oldest in the small group and had to prove myself over and over and was resented when I did; my success probably was from not having their plodding theory driven mentality.  Luckily, just when things were about to take a power dive and some of my cash with it, the company was sold, and an old friend took over to manage the small group.

From that point on things got better fast, and one month ago the company was purchased by a tech giant, a very common thing to happen when the slow-moving lazy giants have lost their souls, and can’t or won’t develop new innovative software.

Having been there, done that before, I made sure that in my initial contract I had been given fifty thousand shares of stock if I stayed for three years, and another ten thousand for every year after, five years’ worth.  Stock in startups was nothing new for me, and this time it came together very well.

So rather than deal with yet another set of new management, I just said fuck it and eventually retired at fifty-three, but I am getting ahead of myself here.

By the time the sale eventually happened, it was after Marty died, I had sold his restaurant located in the San Mateo foothills.  About three years after that, I sold the house, his house actually inherited from his parents, and inherited by me.

It was a small place with great bay views and through the years we made changes to make it ours and expanded it quite a bit.

After Marty was gone, I was working eighty-hour weeks and finally just did not see the point of trying to maintain a house.  I was hardly ever there and paying people to keep it going was a waste.  When I sold it, I purchased a two bedroom townhouse in Foster City, located on the water with a tiny yard and tranquil water views.

The good thing about the job and the crazy eighty hours plus weeks is I didn’t have the time to wallow in my own personal sorrow.  I did not have much of a life, but I didn’t have time to wallow, a trade-off that I actually embraced, at least for a while.

On the day I finally gave my long-term notice effective upon the close of the sale a few months away, some old friends took me out to celebrate my decision.

We had a wonderful dinner at a place on the bay where we could watch the half-naked wind surfers, and I personally always felt that there was nothing wrong with a little eye candy to soothe the weary soul.

Of course, everyone was excited for me, and wanted to know where and what was next, but honestly, I didn’t have a clue.  I had not gone anywhere in several years.  I just am not motivated to travel alone, and to tell the truth, it was hard to get excited about almost anything these days without someone else to enjoy it along with me.

While at the same dinner a few months before I quit, a good and crazy funny friend Rick mentioned a place that he and his partner had vacationed in Cave Creek Arizona, at a former cattle ranch but now a very upscale dude ranch.

They had a great time in the warmer climate, incredible gourmet food, and took some cooking classes offered on the premises.  Rick also had mentioned there was a new development coming along just to the north east side of the ranch, dedicated to studying and educating the public about the Sonoran Desert environment.

Rick promised to text me the information so I could look it up and maybe even visit there.  It was because of his glowing recommendation, that I tossed it around in my mind and thought, why not?  We had been friends for a very long time, and I trusted his judgment in this kind of stuff.

It was not however until two days later that I received his text along with a link to the property.

When I finally I took the time to check it out, the ranch property looked beautiful online and the whole area had a lot of appeal.

At first, I was hesitant to leave as my niece Annie had been having relationship problems yet again and would probably need me to help her get out of her latest dilemma.

I felt I needed to be there for her, even though she was in her early thirties, she sometimes acted and made decisions like an impulsive child.  Both her parents were gone, and I’d always been her favorite, if only uncle, and had kept an eye on her.

This time however she had moved out of the country, to Canada to be with her lawyer boyfriend, who as she told the story, held great promise.  My concern started one evening when she called me crying saying they had a disagreement and he’d broken a couple of dishes in the kitchen when he didn’t like her food.

When I heard that, I knew she’d probably made yet again another bad choice and there was trouble brewing on her relationship horizon.  I figured that I would soon be getting a call for help at some future point.

However, brushing that negative thought aside, I decided to take a chance and do something selfish for myself for a change, and head out west to the place where Rick recommend, southeast from here.

When the company was sold, I had planned to work until the company’s sale was finalized after the sale was announced.  I decided to just get away and take a small vacation since I had already given my notice.

In some ways I felt guilty about leaving but hell, I had practically given them my soul over the last five years, and it was time to do something special just for me.

Chapter 2

Bobby – A few months before Brett Came Home

I was sitting on the patio going over some receipts when I noticed Jax Wyatt our neighbor walking over, and he was limping.

“What the fuck happened to you; wild night?”

“Right Bobby.  I was thinking it was a great idea to string some lights in that old California Pepper tree in the back of the house and wasn’t paying attention to where I was placing the ladder, and well, you can figure out the rest.”

I snickered and shook my head at his plight.

“You fell on your bony ass.  I guess it won’t matter so much since you don’t use it for anything other than when nature calls,” I said, laughing at the sour look on his face.

“Very funny Bobby, I do not see you out terrorizing the population lately or for that matter many years now yourself.  Are you getting too old to keep it up anymore?  Besides, you know the reason the guys I have tried to date just did not cut it for me,” he said, and suddenly my joke wasn’t very funny.

“I know, and I understand what you are saying here.  But like I have told you time and again, Brett’s whatever the hell fuckface boyfriend won’t last.  No way.  When he was here for Mom’s funeral, he acted like a real insulting dick, and finally I could not take another second of it and had to set him straight.  It was either that or Lana was getting a guy from the ranch to deal with him.”

“I have heard that old story for the last couple of years, and they seem to be still going strong.  With all that has come about, I’m just content planning and working on our new project together.  I just figure that at some point maybe we will see each other again and who knows, we might not even like each other,” he told me not convincing me or himself either.

“You’ll hate each other on sight, and then fuck each other to death, that’s a given, and you know it,” I laughed at the look on his face.

“I have no one to blame but myself for screwing things up so much and then not talking to him.  It’s just too bad he ended up with such a jerk.”

“True but he had been out most of his life, and you were trying to please everyone else and not listen to your heart by staying in the closet.  You know Jax that you really had a major cluster fuck going by the time you woke up and smelled the coffee.  Even Lana was amazed at how you could screw things up so effortlessly,” I told him.

“Thanks Bobby always the encouraging one.”

“Jax, you don’t have to listen to this tasteless ass.  He’s just been frustrated lately by staying home alone so much and being a celibate for so long.  He has to vent on someone else,” Lana said, walking over to give Jax a squeeze.

“I don’t want to encourage him, but you know he’s right.  If only I’d had my act together earlier things could have worked out so differently.”

“We all have our regrets in life you know, and you can’t change the past.  So just take the bad experience as a lesson, and move on to better times,” she said, giving me the eye to keep it shut for a change.

“I have to run into town and pick some supplies, so do you mind hanging around the front while I’m gone Bobby?  I looked at the reservations, and the guy that called last week, Jimmy I think his name was, should be arriving before too long.  He sounded like a nice guy when I talked to him and took his reservation.  He is coming here on a recommendation from his friend Rick that was here a while back with his partner,” Lana explained.

“A reservation for two?” I asked, surprised that I had missed that one.

“Just one you horny old degenerate, and he said he was coming here to unwind, not get all wound up by the likes of you sniffing around,” she snapped.

“Rick and his partner Robert were a kick to have here, very friendly and a great sense of humor.”

“And drank you under the table one night if I remember right.  I’m glad to hear they liked staying here and remind me to send them a thank you note for the referral.  I’ll include the referral incentive package with free nights,” Lana said, turning to go back inside.

“Sounds good,” I said, and then looked back over at Jax.

“Don’t even say it Jax, Lana is enough.  You both know it has been many, many years since I messed around, it just wasn’t worth it for me anymore.”

“Who me?  Never,” he said, but I could tell from the smirk on his handsome face that he was thinking otherwise.

“So, since you brought it up, have you heard from Brett lately?” he asked, and I could tell he was embarrassed to ask.

“No, we’ve only kept it to short texts since our blowout when he was here with that thing, he’s with.  We did make up a bit before he left, but I just told him to not ever bring that Peter thing back here again, as he was not welcome.  I knew at the time; he felt the same way I did but was too proud to agree with me.  However, I did hear them arguing later, and they left the next morning and things seemed to be pretty frigid.  As I said, we mainly text now and I really miss him, he is still my little brother, just like you are,” I told him, meaning it.

“I know you do, and I appreciate it Bobby, I really do.”

“You could text him yourself you know, stir the pot a bit, get the bitch jealous and make him walk out,” I offered but saw him shake his head.

“That would just be being more like the coward I have been Bobby, when I talk to him it has to be face to face,” he said, looking sad.

“It was too bad you weren’t here for Mom’s funeral when he was here with that jackass.  We could have worked together and helped him dump that prick,” I told him, and he sort of smiled back.

“Look, I have to get back and see what’s going on at the site, and you’ve got a new victim about to arrive, so call me later if you want to come over for a drink,” he told me before he got back in his truck and drove off down the new road to his house.

I stared after him for a few moments, still wondering how the hell the two of them managed to get it so screwed up when they were crazy about each other, but then again, look who is talking.