Bill could hear his name being called, but it was far away and muffled.
"Bill? Bill?"
It suddenly started to get louder.
"Bill. Bill."
Now he could feel himself being shaken.
Bill snapped from his dream world and slowly opened his eyes.
"Hey sleepyhead."
Matty kissed his lips.
Bill slowly got to a sitting position, on the couch and looked around.
"What time is it?"
"Eleven."
Bill wiped his eyes and took a deep breath.
"You just getting back?"
Matty nodded, as she slumped down beside him, on the couch.
"Yea. It has been a fucking gruelling day. Fuck."
She let out a long sigh.
"I need a drink."
Bill stood up and stretched.
"Beer?"
Matty shook her head.
"Scotch and not the cheap shit."
Bill walked across the room, to the small bar and returned with two glasses and a bottle of 21 year old Glenlivet scotch.
"Will this do?"
Matty smiled as Bill poured her a glass.
"What a fucking day."
She drank the two ounces and passed him the glass again.
"More please. This is really good."
"So? How did it go?"
Matty shook her head.
"I need another fucking vacation, after all that."
She stared at Bill, shaking her head.
"I won't bore you with the hours and hours of explanations and questions, but I will give you the end result."
She sat forward and took some documents from the satchel.
"First things first."
She passed Bill the first document.
"Your are now the proud owner of Tucker's General Store / Garage / Gas Station and the Tuckamore Bay Inn."
"Okay, so they agreed to the conditions?"
Matty lit a cigarette.
"They were more than happy to meet your conditions, to a point."
"And that point being?"
Bill laughed.
"I have a feeling that this point is gonna cost me money."
Matty simply nodded.
"You know it is, my love.
You are building Harry and Mabel a new house. They own the land behind the General Store, or at least they do now. It is all piped in and there is even a basement poured there."
"I was wondering about that."
Bill lit a cigarette and sipped his scotch.
"So I assume, I am finishing the house?"
Matty nodded, as she passed Bill the document.
"And you are completely furnishing it. Because they are leaving most of the furniture and such for their daughter Harriette. She will stay in her parents place now.
As for Henry, he wants a new truck and to remain as Mayor."
Bill laughed.
"Why would he think differently?"
"Well, my darling. As Henry said,
Since Bill owns da town, Ise figures 'e will wants to be Mayor as well. But Ise likes to stay on as Mayor, ifin dat be okay?"
Matty laughed.
"I assured them that you had no designs on being Mayor.
They agreed to continue to run the General Store. Harriette will run the motel and once the garage is up and running, Kenny Johnstone will be the manager. You will be paying them all comparable wages and of course there will be a benefit package, that will be determined later."
Matty sipped her drink and passed Bill another document.
"This one concerns the fish plant. Clayton will stay on as manager with Wike and Jr. Tucker as his assistants. They will look after running the plant, along with the hiring and such and they realize they have no claims to the plant.
They feel that turning the plant into a welding shop slash fabrication plant would be the best direction for the plant and if you agree, they will put in their notice immediately and start the refurbishing of the plant.
They have connections to get some second hand equipment and such."
Bill shook his head.
"No. If we do this, we do it right. I don't want to start out with other people's cast offs. It will all be new."
Matty nodded.
"That is what I kinda thought you would say, although I did not tell them that. I figured you could, when you have your first staff meeting."
Bill put the second document with the first.
Matty passed him another.
"And what is this one?"
"This my darling fiancé is a document that is attached to the deeds to the six fishing boats in dry dock. You have paid $30 thousand dollars apiece for the boats and you have agreed, that if and when the boats are used for fishing, the said owners will be hired as Captains."
"So I have six useless boats?"
Matty shook her head.
"Not at all."
She passed me another contract.
"Your future tourism manager."
Bill looked confused.
"This is a contract for Tanya? I though she already signed one."
Matty nodded.
"She did, but this one is a lot more detail and includes ideas she came up wth, while we were on vacation. It is basically an add on to the first document.
Young Tanya Rideout has agreed to complete her studies and upon completion she will be your assistant and Tuckamore Bay's tourism director."
"You keep saying mine and my. I thought we were a team. Why is everything about me?"
"Hush. Don't forget that this is your money that is being spent and as such, all claims will come to you.
Now let me finish, my lover."
Matty took another sip of scotch and finished her cigarette.
"Tanya actually has an amazing idea for the six boats. Two shall be refurbished to handle tourists for tours along the coast and for the recreational fisheries and the other four shall be remodelled to be unique tourist accommodations.
She has actually devised a plan to turn each into a pretty luxurious cabin style rooms. They will be rented as individual units that can sleep up to six people each and be fitted as a self sufficient unit. Of course each will come with a special coupon that allows those who process them to special discounts at the General Store, Gas Station, Motel and Tuckamore's new Bayview Restaurant."
"So we are having a restaurant now?"
Matty nodded.
"All the plans are there and in all honesty, Bill. They are pretty amazing."
Bill nodded.
"Okay. Way to go Tanya."
"She is going to be amazing, Bill. She is so smart and so aware of everything and she has these unbelievable ideas."
Matty took a deep breath and pulled a thick folder from the satchel.
"This is the most important of all documents.
This file contains 148 contracts. One for each person who lives in Tuckamore Bay. And I mean each and every person in the Bay, including the children. I thought it would only be fitting to have them sign a contract, not only to make them feel a part of this new beginning, but it also entitles them to the $10 thousand benefit cheque."
"I forgot about those," Bill sighed, as he opened the folder.
He looked at the top document.
"This is the general agreement, I assume?"
Matty nodded.
"It is and it is quite a document. It took a lot of arguing, compromising and commitment on both parts, but I feel that it is a fair agreement and it is legal and binding for as long as you own the Bay."
Bill started reading the document. Ten minutes later he played the folder on the coffee table and lit another cigarette.
"So what do you think?"
Bill nodded, as he poured two more scotches.
"They all agreed."
Matty took Bill's hands in hers.
"Bill, they all love the Bay. And, as I found out today, they all love and respect you. They know you have to protect your investment, but they also know that they are taking a chance by agreeing to this agreement.
Many of them will be giving up good jobs. Jobs that they could easily advance in, but they want to be home. They want to be with their families and they are depending on you to deliver that to them. It is a big commitment, my love and like Henry told you earlier, you can walk away. No one would blame you."
I sat back on the couch and sipped my drink.
"So now all it needs is my signature?"
Matty passed Bill one last document.
"This is your agreement, my love.
If you sign this, you are investing, not only in Tuckamore Bay, your home, but you are investing in the people of Tuckamore Bay, your family."
Bill put the paper on the stack of documents.
"This afternoon, I set up a new account in the name of Tuckamore Bay, Limited. I have deposited sixty million into the account."
"Are you sure?"
Bill took a long drag on his cigarette.
"It is still my company and I still have over five million in my personal account. I figure with your one and a half million, even if this all goes in the shitter, we will still have more than enough money to live out our lives and be very comfortable.
And if all goes as we hope, within a couple years, I should start getting returns on my investment."
Matty nodded as she stood up, offering Bill her hand.
"Come on."
"What?"
"Your new family is waiting."
Bill stood up.
"What?"
Matty finished her drink.
"Everyone is still at the community center. I want you to sign the document there, in front of everyone and then hand these out."
Matty took a stack of envelopes from her satchel.
"The cheques?"
Matty nodded.
"They don't know about these. I think it will relieve a lot of insecurities that the villagers may have and make them feel far more confident about the decision they just made."
Bill smiled and kissed Matty.
"What about your contract?"
Matty hugged Bill tight and kissed him gently, on the lips.
"My contract will be signed the day I say, I do. For now, you can lavish me with love and rest in the assurance that I will always be by your side."
She pulled on Bill's arm gently.
"Now lets go. People are getting restless. It is late."
As they crossed the cobblestone road and started walking, hand in hand, toward the community center, Matty started laughing.
"What is so funny?"
"My darling, you are gonna shit when you see the bill for today's booze and food. They had takeout delivered from Deer Lake for everyone."
"I don't remember agreeing to that," Bill laughed.
As they walked into Dove's Pub, the place erupted in cheers and applause.
Ten minutes later, Bill signed the document that legally gave him all rights to Tuckamore Bay and in theory, the village became his business and all the people became his employees.
But Bill did not see it that way.
After the second round of cheering and toasts ended, Bill passed out 148, ten thousand dollar cheques to his family, as an assurance that no matter what, he would do everything in his power to assure that Tuckamore Bay would always exist.
This time there were hugs and tears and laughter and smiles, as the small village became even more of a family than they had ever been.
It was almost dawn when Bill and Matty left the Pub.
Instead of going straight to the house, Bill wanted to go to the top of the lighthouse. There, on the veranda facing the Bay, he put his arm around Matty's shoulder.
"I love you," he whispered, without looking at her.
Matty hugged his tight, tears flowing from her eyes.
"Your home, my love. You're finally home."