I’ve seen examples of their work and if the books are to the same standard then this is prime business territory for me. I’m looking forward to meeting up with them. In the meantime, I need to be alert to other opportunities.
WE ARRIVE AT MY PROPERTY just after lunch and by three-thirty, all the boxes have been unloaded from the removal van. Luciana takes me down to our new bar and restaurant to meet the current owners, and, more importantly, to get some food and drink.
I love Avalon already; on paper it was always an attractive prospect but being here is better than I ever could have imagined. My property is set over three floors with an east facing balcony overlooking the sea, the boardwalk with direct access onto the beach is right outside my front door and I’m in awe of how much sky there is, I can finally breathe and experience the freedom that only a coastal resort brings.
IT IS NOW APRIL 2003, Josh and I are joint partners in the construction company that we bought off his father. It turns out Josh was lacking confidence, not ability on the business side, whereas I was lacking confidence, not ability on the tradesman side, between us we developed each other’s skills and an unshakable friendship. The bar and grill restaurant has been a complete success. It was closed during the winter season from October to the following April when we first arrived whilst Josh and I carried out the refurbishment, since then, apart from public holidays, not a day’s trading has been lost, not even in the winter season.
As agreed though, Luciana is slowly buying me out of the business, we’ve gone from 50:50 to 60:40 and we currently stand at 80:20. Our partnership is coming to an end, Luciana, in the meantime has found herself a new partner... but not in business. She fell for Josh on day one of meeting him and it works, they are absolutely made for each other. With me in partnership with Josh in business and Luciana his partner in life we’re fully settled into the community here, gaining a large circle of friends.
Me? I’ve finally got the life I always wanted. I wake up to the sound of the sea, I take early morning runs along a pristine beach, I’ve learned to surf, I have a work-life balance I could only have wished for, great friends, a bar “where everybody knows my name”... and Molly... yes, I finally found unconditional love, she spends as much time with me as she can, she joins me on my early morning run, comes out on jobs with me and... I don’t need to worry about all the attention she receives in the bar.
Molly is a two-year-old Golden Retriever!
A near-perfect life... except... I now see Jill most days and she is no longer just a vision, most days I have full-on conversations with her and my headaches are getting more frequent and severe.
I know what’s coming, Jill has told me, there’s no point in seeking medical help it’ll only prolong the inevitable. To be fair, I had been warned that I would never fully recover from the damage to my brain from the fall into the ravine, but I had lived in hope.
I’ve taken steps to ensure that everything has been sorted out; my will takes care of the money, businesses, property and most importantly Molly. Luciana dotes on Molly and I’ve tested the water with suggestions that I might need someone to look after her, “when I go away”, needless to say Luciana has my back, as she always has done. I know Molly will be well looked after.
THURSDAY 22ND MAY 2003
I wake just before the sun rises over the distant horizon, I climb out of bed and open the double doors that lead out onto the balcony. Sitting back down on the edge of the bed I gaze out, waiting in anticipation of the first light.
Molly wakes, jumps up and joins me at my side.
There is a gentle breeze, I tip my head back and try to inhale as much of the clean, fresh, salty air as I can, before returning my gaze back out to the horizon. Slowly but surely the sun starts to climb over the endless expanse of ocean before me. There is no sound other than the sea breeze as it enters the room and the waves rolling and crashing onto the shoreline below, nothing to spoil the moment.
Today is the day and I know it.
I put on some clothes and take Molly downstairs to feed her before starting the two block walk over to Luciana and Josh’s house. Once there I have to spend some time trying to wake them from their slumber. Once I do, they both appear at the front door and for the first time in my life I tell someone that I love them, actually, I tell two people that I love them, I ask them to take good care of Molly.
As I leave, I take one final look back to see a very confused Luciana and Josh stood at their front door with Molly sat obediently at their feet.
I return to my house and make my way upstairs to the bedroom and out onto the balcony. I sit down on a chair, watch the waves and start to feel the warmth as the early morning sun starts to cut through the chill of the previous night.
The pulsating pain inside my brain is getting worse with every passing minute. I know the tipping point as it arrives. I make my way back into the bedroom and dial 911.
Apart from my brain the rest of me is usable, I have left medical notes about my condition and clear instructions that it is my wish for as much of my body as possible be used in organ donation.
I explain to the 911 operator what I’m going through and about my brain injury and she agrees to send paramedics over immediately.
I put the phone down and take a seat on the balcony again. The front door is open, my medical notes and a letter authorising organ donation are on the table in front of me and I’m ready to go.
I watch as people start to appear on the beach, a young couple holding hands, an early morning jogger running through the sea spray on the shoreline, I wish I’d found this happiness earlier.
Then I feel arms wrap around me from behind, I tilt my head back and look up into the face of the woman holding me.
‘It’s time JJ... time to go home...’ I tip my head forward again to take a final look at the ocean, then standing up, I turn and take Jill’s outstretched hand.
As I take her hand, I feel my physical body slump to the floor, as for me, the real me, the spirit if you like, I get to go “home”, back through the golden meadows by the river and into the sunset over Wildgoose Heys.
The End
Man is immortal; therefore, he must die endlessly. For life is a creative idea; it can only find itself in changing forms.
- Rabindranath Tagore
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About the Author
Carl Richards was born and bred in the South Manchester town of Stockport. After several years away, he finally settled back in Greater Manchester, where he lives with his wife and daughter.
With a passion for travel and the outdoors, he can usually be found wandering the West Pennine Moors or somewhere in the Peak District, usually in the Goyt Valley.
The Truth We Chase Page 25