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When I returned, Bridges stared at me before he turned to Uncle Ed. “I need to think about it. It’s a lot for me to worry about with everything else I have going on with Easton Cycles.”

Without waiting for Uncle Ed or me to say anything, Bridges walked out. Unfortunately, it felt as if he took a part of my heart with him.

Chapter Two

Bridges Eaton

Boardroom meeting

When Weston went to check on May, Edmond cleared his throat. “There’s one more thing. You can turn down the executor position if you really don’t want to do it, but I know how close you and Claude were. No pressure, but my brother’s depending on you to see that the right thing is done.

“In addition to being the executor, when the time comes for the vote regarding whether Weston will take over running Aames Investments, you’ll vote in Claude’s place to break any possible tie that might occur. Claude Junior and Claudia will find any reason they can to keep Weston from succeeding. I don’t think either of us want to see that happen.”

The whole damn thing had me floored, and I needed to leave to process it. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why Claude Aames, the man who took me under his wing when I was seventeen during a time when my father and I couldn’t seem to find a way to get along, had named me as the executor of his estate.

Why didn’t he choose Edmond for such a daunting task? Claude and his brother were close. Why not name him as the executor? Hell, why not appoint my father, the CFO of Aames Investments and his best friend?

Claude and I became good friends over the years. Close enough that it broke my heart that I couldn’t come back to New York for his memorial service. I’d sent a peace lily to May and Weston for the memorial service. I wasn’t sure what else to do.

We’d had many discussions regarding the important things that happened in a life. My realization of my sexuality. My father’s rejection of my sexuality. The issues Claude had with his children. We discussed it all.

To this day, my dad still wasn’t pleased that I was gay. When I’d came out in high school, he’d lost his fucking mind. Claude talked him down more than once, even threatening my father’s job at Aames Investments until my dad was willing to sit down and talk with me.

My sexuality wasn’t a phase, and I hadn’t chosen to be gay, which was what my father accused more than once. It was as natural as breathing to me, just like my father’s sexuality was natural to him. Claude was the only person to make him see it, and forever, I’d be grateful.

I knew in my heart that my father still didn’t understand me, but I’d made peace with it a while ago. Or had I? Maybe I was fooling myself and still resented my dad? That was something to think about another day.

Never had I brought home a guy I’d been dating for my parents to meet. But then again, my longest-term relationship was during college, and it only lasted two years. That was mostly because we were sharing an apartment near campus and both of us were too lazy to move out when the spark fizzled.

The idea of looking for anything permanent wasn’t in my line of sight because I had a business I wanted to continue to build. Eaton Cycles fulfilled me, and I was happy with the man I’d become. A lot of that had to do with Claude’s support.

I often wondered if maybe Claude was living a double life. Was he closeted? Did he have a lover somewhere that his family didn’t know about? Some of the advice he gave me was profound regarding living my life as a gay man.

Claude taught me not to let people intimidate me or make me feel lesser because I was unique. I was just as worthwhile as the next person, and Claude made sure I understood it.

Of course, when Claude introduced me to May, his girlfriend at the time, I could easily see that he loved her with everything inside him. When Weston came along, Claude was proud of everything the kid did. Often, during our weekly phone calls while I was in college, he’d catch me up on Weston’s life, and I could hear how proud he was of the boy.

Claude beamed with pride when he spelled out Weston’s educational accomplishments, and often he told me he knew Aames Investments would carry on just as successfully with Weston at the helm when he retired.

Unfortunately, Claude didn’t get to retire. Fate had other plans for him. It felt as though Claude wanted me to take Weston under my wing in the same way Claude had taken me under his.

When Claude invested in Eaton Cycles because he believed in me, I appreciated it more than I could ever articulate. He did something my own father wouldn’t do, and I’d be forever in his debt—just like I was at the moment.

Two days later, Edmond Aames showed up at Eaton Cycles. Alexis walked into the workshop and said, “You’ve got a visitor. Edmond Aames?”

I sighed. I knew what it was about, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to have that conversation.

“Show him back, please.”

Alexis nodded and a minute later, Edmond strolled into the workshop. “Damn kid! You’ve really grown the business!” He stared at the frames of the protypes hanging from the walls as I worked to fabricate a custom bike for a client in Spain.

I turned to Edmond. “Claude had faith in me. Did you think it was ill-placed?”

Edmond chuckled. “Not at all. Claude had an uncanny sense of judging someone’s character. He knew your father would be a good steward of Aames Investments from the start. Me, personally? I don’t give a rat’s ass about your father. He’s a dick, in my opinion, but Claude was right about him.

“Claude picked you to look out for Weston because he trusted you, bragging on you as much as he bragged on West. Are you going to live up to be the man he believed you to be, or are you going to walk away because it’s too damn hard to help Weston gain faith and confidence in himself? I won’t bullshit you, Bridges. West is headstrong and impetuous. This undertaking isn’t for the faint of heart.”

I chuckled as I sanded the frame of the commissioned bike I’d been working on since I returned from the Middle East. I had eight bikes in the works, and the money was less important to me than the accolades I knew the bikes would bring for Eaton Cycles.