by Ann, Natalie
***
Alec was showing Andy around the development. They’d already toured eight of the remaining nine houses. Now he was going to bring him through the first finished one. The new homeowners would be taking ownership of the property in a few days.
“You do really good work,” Andy said, admiring the open foyer with pitched ceilings twenty-five feet high.
“Thanks. I’ve got a good crew.”
“It’s more than that,” Andy argued. “You and I know that. You’ve got expectations and you want them followed.”
Alec nodded. It was true. Their reputation was on the line and that always came first. “Phil does good design work. He and I spent a lot of time designing the ten basic homes. We wanted something that each owner could customize easily enough to their own needs, but still have the same basic floor layout from the start. I really hate cookie-cutter developments. We hoped this would help clients who feel the same way.”
“I’d love to see the other floor plans. I find it funny that out of the ten houses being built, only four different layouts were chosen.”
“Brynn has them at the house. I’d love to show you. Two are one-story homes, but it seems more people want the big and grand houses. We have two smaller two-story homes. Again, neither of those has been chosen yet. The remaining two layouts are similar two-story homes, midsized, but not an open floor plan. Like I said, right now the bigger homes and open floor plans seem to be the sellers, though Brynn said last week someone was looking at one of the single-level home designs.”
“If anyone can sell a home, its Brynn,” Andy said proudly. “I was surprised she switched over to real estate.” Andy paused and watched Alec for a moment, almost as if he was waiting for him to say something. When Alec didn’t, Andy continued on. “But she seems to be a natural at it.”
“She knows what she is doing, no doubt about it.”
“Yes, she does,” Andy said, more serious than he had been for the last few hours while they had been walking the land and homes.
“Something on your mind?” Alec asked. He had a feeling Andy had been waiting for the right time to talk about his and Brynn’s relationship and suspected this was it. Like he wanted Alec to get comfortable and now he was going to drop the hammer on him. A papa bear waiting to attack.
“Should something be on my mind?” Andy asked, smiling. The type of smile that had Alec squirming like a school kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“Your daughter means a great deal to me,” Alec blurted out. That hadn’t been what he was going to say, or thought he would have said. He hadn’t even said words like that to Brynn and here he was saying them to her father. Of course for weeks they had been accusing the other of loving each other, almost like a code or game. Yet neither of them actually said yes. They always answered with “maybe.”
“That is good to know. She means a great deal to me too.”
Alec held his breath and waited for Andy to say more. When he didn’t, Alec said, “What Brynn and I have is serious, more serious than I’ve been with anyone else. I know it doesn’t seem long, but it’s there.”
Andy nodded. “I can see that, on both sides. Do you know what the greatest thing in the world would be for me?”
“No. What?” Alec answered.
“To watch my children have what I had with my wife. I think there is nothing better in the world than to know my children could find that kind of happiness. That kind of joy.”
Alec was speechless. He wasn’t sure what to say, what he should say. It was evident the bond Andy had with his children was strong. He had been talking proudly about their accomplishments throughout this whole tour, but what he said just now hit home.
What Andy wanted for Brynn and Drew was exactly what Alec wanted, what his parents had, what all his siblings and friends had. He wanted that kind of happiness and joy in his life, and he knew he could have it with Brynn.
Andy slapped him on the back and led him back through the house to look at the new kitchen. Andy seemed to like the kitchen and baths more than anything else in the homes they were working on. “Are you going to give that to my daughter?”
“Absolutely.”
***
Walking down the basement stairs of his and Brynn’s home, he was stunned to see all the wiring pulled through the framing exactly where it should be from the floor plan. He never expected to come home and find this.
Taking a few more steps in, he studied the work. He knew it was fast, but it was clean too. He turned to look at Brynn and saw her grinning at him. Then he looked at Drew, who had a mixture of apprehension and pride on his face. “Did you do this by yourself?”
“Brynn assisted,” Drew said. “Is there a problem with it?”
“No, not at all. This saves me from doing it myself. Now all I need to do is bring it back to the main panel.”
“I can do it for you. At this point it won’t take long.”
Before Alec could reply, Brynn jumped in. “Drew is an electrician. Actually, he got his license last year.”
“Really?” Alec said, turning to Drew again. “I thought you worked construction.”
“I do. I like learning new things and I thought it would be good to have. But once I started just doing electrical I realized I missed the construction. So I’m kind of in between figuring out what I want at this stage. I’m doing the electrical work on the side more than anything.”
Alec calculated in his head what it would have cost him to pay his normal electrician to come in and do this, then turned to Brynn. “I was going to run out and grab a few pizzas for dinner after I run some errands. You’ve been busy all day so there is no reason for you to cook dinner tonight. Is that all right?”
“Sounds good,” she said, smiling at him. “It will give Drew and me time to finish this up if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.”
“I’ll help,” Andy offered.
Alec nodded and went back upstairs, ordered the pizza to pick up later and made another call.
Two hours later, he was walking back in the house with pizza and wings and found Brynn in the kitchen with Andy. “Where’s Drew?”
“He’s taking a quick shower. They haven’t checked into their hotel yet, so he had his clothes in the truck.”
Alec was tempted to offer them a place to stay, but then realized he had nowhere to offer, there were no other bedrooms furnished in the house. He could have them stay at his flip, but that only had his bed and nothing else. He didn’t think they wanted to share a bed. “I wish we’d known you were coming. We would have made room for you.”
“No worries. The hotel is fine,” Andy said.
Alec set the food down on the counter and turned to Brynn. “Did you have plans for tomorrow?”
“I thought maybe I would show my father and Drew the area a little bit, maybe take them toward the lake. Drew would enjoy it, I think.
“I can call Phil and drop in there and take his boat out.” He turned to Andy. “You can meet the other owner of Harper Construction if you want. You had a bunch of questions on the home designs, and I’m sure Phil would gladly answer them for you.”
“Oh no,” Brynn said, looking pained. Alec couldn’t understand what that was about.
“I’m sorry, darling. I won’t be long, I promise,” Andy told her. Then he turned to Alec. “Brynn hates when I talk design with people. She says I always argue about floor layout and why things don’t flow properly.”
Alec thought that was odd. Andy didn’t make any of those comments to him.
“Don’t embarrass me, Dad,” Brynn pleaded.
“I won’t,” Andy said chuckling. “I want to pick Phil’s brain on why he laid a few of the houses out the way he did. I liked them, nothing more than that.”
“Do you promise?”
“I do.” Andy walked over and gave Brynn a one-armed hug and kissed her cheek. “I won’t embarrass you in front of your boss.”
Brynn snorted. “Like you are ri
ght now.”
Andy chuckled and tweaked her nose.
“I smell pizza,” Drew said, walking into the kitchen and going straight for the box.
Alec stepped forward and pulled an envelope out of his back pocket and handed it to Drew. “Here.”
“What’s that?” Drew asked, frowning and reaching his hand forward.
“Payment for the work you did today.”
Drew snatched his hand back as if he were reaching into a fire. “I don’t want payment. I was just helping Brynn with her house, the same as she has helped me when I needed it.”
Brynn walked over and took the envelope out of Alec’s hand and extended it to Drew again. “It’s not my house, Drew. It’s Harper Construction’s house.”
“A house that I will make a profit on at some point,” Alec interrupted. “Please take it. I’ll be insulted if you didn’t.”
“I’m trying not to be insulted that you want to pay me.”
“Drew,” Brynn said, shoving the envelope in his back pocket. “Don’t be an ass. Don’t insult my boyfriend or my boss.” She laughed at Drew’s face. Alec thought for sure Drew was going to argue, but he didn’t. He held back whatever was going to come out of his mouth.
Turning back to Alec, Drew said, “Thank you. You really don’t need to pay me for it. I enjoyed helping Brynn, but thank you again.”
Brynn turned back to Alec. “Now you say. ‘You did a great job, Drew. It was my pleasure to pay you for a job well done.’”
Alec threw his head back and laughed. Then looked at Andy and repeated, “Absolutely.”
Dinners
“Andy,” Isabel said, rushing forward and greeting Brynn’s father. “It’s so good to see you again. I’m so glad that you could make it for Thanksgiving.” Turning, Isabel reached forward and gave Drew a hug and kiss on the cheek too.
Brynn thought back to the day, six weeks ago, when her father and Drew had visited. They spent Sunday on the lake, riding around, Alec showing them the houses he’d pointed out to her some months prior. Then they stopped in and visited with his parents. Her father and William Harper had really hit it off.
At first she was surprised. William was so different from her father. Owning a Financial Investment Firm was as far removed from Andy as it would be for William to swing a hammer, yet you would have never known it that day. The two men got along famously.
And Isabel, boy, that woman loved to cook. It seemed like that was all she ever did. Brynn had had more Sunday dinners with Alec’s parents in the last three months than she did with her father in the last several years, and she felt bad about that. Almost guilty. She wished she had made more time for her father and Drew back then.
While Alec was showing Drew the lake, and her father and William were watching TV, Isabel made a huge meal for them.
Brynn caught Drew’s eyes several times throughout the meal. She knew what he was thinking; it was hard not to. He was thinking of their mother and her meals, and the Sunday dinners she used to cook for them as kids.
A few weeks ago, the topic of Thanksgiving had come up. She really wanted to spend the holiday with Alec, but she didn’t want to leave her father and Drew alone. She’d never missed a Thanksgiving dinner with her father and brother in her life. Any holiday dinner for that matter.
Alec just seemed to know or realize she was struggling with it. His offer for them to come visit was a relief. She wanted to suggest cooking Thanksgiving herself, but knew how much his mother prided herself on holiday dinners.
The offer, though it was a shock to her father, was readily accepted. This time, Alec and Brynn furnished more of the bedrooms for her father and Drew to stay with them. There was no way she was letting them stay in a hotel on this visit.
She thought Alec might balk at it, but he didn’t. Actually he offered to get a pull-out sofa for the finished basement. They’d already furnished the bedroom down there. In the end, her brother and father easily decided to stay in the basement.
She couldn’t blame them since it was almost like an apartment down there. They had a small galley kitchen, a full bathroom, bedroom, and family room. Everyone would be out of each other’s way.
“Thanks for the invitation,” Andy said.
“Any family of Brynn’s is a family of ours.” Warm and fuzzy tingles invaded Brynn when Isabel told her father that. She felt part of the family, and had for a while now.
All those feelings she had been missing over the years flooded her since she’d moved here, making her crave more of it. It was hard to fight back the sadness at times, knowing she was missing her mom, but slowly, Isabel seemed to be filling that gap.
Not that Brynn would ever say that to Alec. That would be too serious and too fast. They still hadn’t even said they loved each other yet. They seemed stuck where they were at the moment, not that it was a bad place to be.
“Brynn,” Isabel said, interrupting her thoughts. “Do you mind getting drinks for your father and brother?”
“Sure. Is there anything I can help you with?”
“No, no, dear, but thanks for the offer. I’ve got it under control. Ben and Presley are on their way, along with Sophia and Phil. You can relax with them. I don’t want anyone under my feet.”
“No one is allowed in my mother’s kitchen unless she asks,” Alec said. “You haven’t figured that out by now?” He had walked in the kitchen to get himself a beer when his mother finished talking.
“That means you too, Alec,” Isabel said, swatting him out.
He laughed. “I just want a beer.” Reaching forward, he took the two beers out of Brynn’s hands and leaned in to give her a kiss. “I’ll bring these to Drew and your father. You better hurry up and leave before she starts yelling at you to get lost too.”
“I wouldn’t do that,” Isabel said, but Brynn didn’t miss Isabel’s longing glance at the door, silently begging her to leave.
“I’ll just go wait for Presley and Sophia then. Is Kaitlin coming?”
“Ryan, Kaitlin and the twins will be here for dessert in a few hours. They are eating at Ryan’s parents’ with Lucas, Brooke, Mac, and Beth and their families today. Kaitlin wanted to spend time with both families.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t figured out a way to have one big Thanksgiving between Michele and yourself.”
Brynn could have bitten her tongue when she said it. Almost immediately Isabel’s eyes lit up. “I’m so glad to hear you say that. I thought of it myself but figured everyone would think I was being crazy, but I’m not. Next year I’m going to talk to Michele about it, I think we can do it easily enough.”
Brynn couldn’t get out of the kitchen fast enough after that. She’d been around Isabel before when she got in her planning moods. No one wanted to stay around. Isabel was a sweetheart, she really was, but she liked things a certain way and Brynn realized everyone just let her go; otherwise she bulldozed over you anyway. Especially with that nice sweet smile she always had, the same one Alec always had. But behind that smile was a determined woman.
Kind of like Brynn’s mom was with them, growing up.
Always at odd times, those little memories or statements filtered through her brain. Almost like Colleen was reminding Brynn she was there. Never to forget. Not that Brynn ever would, because she couldn’t.
***
Alec looked around the table at everyone eating. His mother had outdone herself once again, not that he expected any different. And he tried not to groan when she talked for ten minutes about how Brynn thought it was a good idea that they combine Thanksgiving dinner with Ryan’s parents.
Brynn’s face flushed and Alec could only laugh. He knew his mom turned it around that way; she always did. But he wouldn’t be surprised if Thanksgiving dinner was massive next year. It seemed no one wanted to give up a minute of time with their grandchildren. Kaitlin, as always, made it work, by splitting her time between both sets of parents.
Shaking his head, Alec thought about a year from now. Both Phil and
Ben would be married and he wouldn’t be surprised if there was another grandchild on the way, if not at the table.
Where would Brynn and he be a year from now? He knew where he wanted them to be, but what did she want?
It would probably help if they talked about it, or the future at all. For someone who was so organized and liked to plan as much as she did, Brynn never really talked much about the future.
“Are you all set for next week, Sophia?” Brynn asked.
“I think we are. Phil and I are heading to Manhattan on Thursday. My mother should be arriving from Italy on Wednesday. Between her and Isabel, I’m sure there won’t be one thing out of place for the wedding.”
Alec looked over at Sophia and Phil. His brother was getting married in a week. He’d expected it long before now, but he never expected the joy he would feel over it. Phil really found a gem with Sophia.
“When are you leaving?” Isabel asked Ben. Alec and Brynn would be leaving Thursday night after work. There was so much to do for the wedding still, but just as much for work. Thankfully, they were having a Bachelor party this Saturday at Ryan’s house with all their close friends, so at least that would be out of the way.
“Friday morning after Presley gets up. We’ll be there before noon, don’t worry,” Ben said, grinning like he always did at their mother.
“Make sure that you aren’t late,” she reminded him for the millionth time, like she did everyone else around the table. Alec had his duties down pat as the Best Man, and so did Ben and Ryan as the other two groomsmen.
“Presley won’t let me be late, don’t worry.”
“I’m sorry. I wish I could have gotten Thursday night off, but I just couldn’t,” Presley explained.
“Don’t be sorry,” Sophia said. “We understand. Ryan and Kaitlin aren’t leaving until Friday morning, either. They didn’t want to spend too many nights in a hotel with the babies.” Sophia turned to Isabel. “It will all be fine and work out just right, no worries. And if there are a few hiccups, I don’t care. I just can’t wait to get married.”
