I heard the front door open. “Don’t worry, everyone! The party has arrived. And I come bearing gifts of bagels and cream cheese.”
Bryce licked his lips. “If we’re going to have those, I’ll need to fry up some bacon.”
I snapped my fingers. “Do you have any more tomatoes from the garden?”
Bryce pointed. “Slice up a few while I fry this bacon up.”
Will dropped the bag of food onto the counter. “Should I whip up some eggs for the kids when they get up?”
I smiled. “Might as well whip up a whole dozen in case anyone else wants some.”
Bryce turned on the stove. “So, what’s this good news you have for us?”
Will interjected. “Willow not up with the kids yet?”
I shot him a look. “Really, dude?”
Will shrugged. “Just a question. They’re usually up by now.”
Bryce chuckled. “It’s okay. They’re actually all piled in bed right now. Willow had to get up in the middle of the night to chase some nightmares away, so they’re all tangled up in my comforter, trying to catch up on some rest.”
My heart leaped at the mental image that was painted in my head. I wanted to have a life like that one day. One where a beautiful woman bore my children and helped me create a home where we could all thrive and love one another unconditionally. In some respects, I was incredibly jealous of what my brothers had.
Maybe Luna feels the same way.
Will nudged me. “The hell you smiling about over here?”
I chuckled. “The fact that I got the call from the contractor this morning.”
Bryce’s head whipped toward me. “And?”
I snickered. “Demo begins within the hour.”
“Holy shit!” Will exclaimed.
Bryce clapped his hands. “Hot damn, it’s actually happening.”
Will wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “You know what this means, right?”
I nodded. “Yep. We can put that stupid building in Houston up for sale in order to foot the down payment for the refinery.”
Bryce nodded. “That’s as big of a ‘bingo’ as we’ve ever had.”
Will patted my back. “A celebratory mug of coffee sound good to everyone?”
I started slicing tomatoes. “Sounds perfect to me. But, make it quick. I’m liable to cut off my fingers if I don’t get some caffeine in me.”
Will fixed up our coffee while Bryce and I whipped up a quick breakfast. Then, after everything was cooked and ready, we sat down at the kitchen table. We started drawing schematics and rough sketches on paper napkins and jotted down ideas of interior decorations to run by a designer. And after we outlined what jobs we needed to hire for immediately, Bryce placed the phone call we’d all been waiting to place for months.
Bryce put our Houston realtor on speaker. “Let me guess. This is the phone call.”
Bryce nodded. “This is the phone call, Hamilton.”
I heard him clapping on the other end of the line. “It’s about damn time. I’ve got people crawling all over me about that building!”
I blinked. “Wait, really?”
Will chuckled. “Oh, we’re gonna have this place sold in no time.”
The realtor started shuffling around. “Actually, I’ve got three offers already pending. We might be able to get this place sold before it even hits the market.”
Bryce shook his head. “You’re a fucking miracle worker, Hamilton.”
Will leaned toward the phone. “Shoot Bryce the three offers in his email, and we’ll get back to you on how we feel about them.”
I nodded. “Yeah, let’s make this happen.”
We heard the realtor typing away. “Already on it. Try to get back to me before lunch, though. There’s one offer in here I think you guys are gonna really like, but the clients have been hounding me over getting back an answer. Sooner is always better, in this case.”
Bryce nodded. “You got it.”
We hung up with the realtor, and I took a long pull from my coffee mug. I closed my eyes and relished the great accomplishments that had already taken place during the first hour of my day. I felt more relaxed than I’d felt in nearly a year. Moving our headquarters and opening this refinery had become a hefty process, and I’d lost sleep more than anything else over it.
But, when I opened my eyes, I saw my brothers staring me down. “What?” I asked.
Will snickered. “What do you mean, ‘what?’”
Bryce scooted his chair closer to me. “You know what we’re about to ask.”
I blinked. “I’m half a mug of coffee in. Help a brother out.”
Will chuckled. “You moving back?”
Bryce nodded. “Since this headquarters thing is panning out?”
I clicked my tongue. “Just because the headquarters is panning out doesn’t mean the refinery will.”
Will rolled his eyes. “Still making up excuses, I see.”
Bryce reached for a piece of bacon. “Look, we all know you wanted to get out of Conroe for a while and see the world, or some shit, but it’s time to come home.”
Will nodded. “Yeah, our entire business is here.”
Bryce chomped on his bacon. “And your family is here.”
“Not to mention your nieces and nephews.”
I smiled at Will. “And the ones on the way.”
Bryce drew in a deep breath. “How is Sadie anyway?”
I plucked a bagel from the bag. “Yeah, has her nausea finally dissipated?”
Will leaned back. “Unfortunately, no. But, she’s only a few weeks out from her due date at this point, so it won’t matter then.”
Bryce shook his head. “What a miserable feeling.”
Will chuckled. “You wouldn’t know it by the smile she wakes up with, though.”
I pointed at him. “That’s a good woman right there. Don’t ruin shit with her.”
Will held up his hands in mock surrender. “Trust me; I’m doing everything in my power to make sure she and our twins are going to be happy for the rest of their lives.”
Bryce patted his back. “Good man.”
And for a split second, I felt my jealousy ebb to the surface. But, I stuffed it down quickly.
We had too much to accomplish now that things were finally rolling along.
“Well, if you need help finding a place, let me know,” Will said.
Bryce threw back the rest of his coffee. “Same here. And you know you can always have that patch of land right here on Rocking R Ranch if you just want to build a place of your own.”
Will nodded. “And I really suggest that you do. That way, you can create whatever you want.”
I snickered. “I appreciate it, but one step at a time. Okay?”
The longer we talked about my moving back, the more I thought about Luna. Maybe if I moved back, Luna would be more than willing to stick around as my assistant permanently instead of only temporarily. Maybe that was the issue from day one: the fact that she believed my presence in Conroe was only temporary.
You still have work back in Houston, though.
I shook those nagging thoughts away from my head and focused on the enjoyment of the present. I mean, Luna and I hadn’t even talked about what went down between the two of us in my truck, much less about anything else. I knew the conversation would come eventually, though. While I knew she’d be content with acting as if it didn’t happen, I couldn't live my life like that. Eventually, I’d have to talk about it. And then, I’d get all of my answers at once.