“Will you look at this place,” Natasha said as soon as Cedric closed the door, spreading her arms. “I haven’t taken a vacation in years, and I’m looking forward to this weekend.” She jogged up the stairs, stopped halfway, and said, “Are you coming?”
Seeing her so excited made Antonio want to book a mini vacation every weekend for the next six months. “Yeah, I’m coming.” He grabbed their bags and followed her enticing hips up to the second level.
“Do you consider Lorenzo and Cedric good friends?”
Antonio set the bags down and leaned against the doorframe with his arms folded. “Yes, why?”
She sauntered over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “You think they’d let us come back again soon?”
He threw his head back and roared with laughter. Lifting her off her feet, he swung her around and kissed her soundly. “I can ask. Let’s head over.” After retrieving his laptop, he and Natasha headed across the street. Cedric’s place was slightly larger and similarly designed.
Randi looped her arm through Natasha’s. “Natasha, while the guys are talking, you can hang out with us, so we can get to know you. And you can tell us how you two met. Don’t worry, Antonio. I’ll bring her back,” she added with a grin.
Natasha smiled and gave him a little wave over her shoulder.
Lorenzo chuckled. “Man, you’re as bad as we were.” He gestured Antonio to the table, where Cedric already had his laptop open.
“What are you talking about?”
“Can’t take your eyes off your woman—who is gorgeous, by the way,” Cedric answered.
“I’m that obvious?” They were right. He hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her since the day they met. Even when he saw her for the first time again and was still angry, he hadn’t been able to dismiss her beauty.
Cedric slanted him a look. “That’s a rhetorical question, I assume. So, tell us a little about what you’re looking for.”
Antonio powered up the laptop. “I initially mentioned wanting something like a small nursing-home-type facility, but while I was doing some research, I ran across something I think would fit much better.” He told them about a facility that had been designed like a small community, with apartment-style rooms, paved streets, a grocery store, and a restaurant. “The medical personnel run the store and restaurant and dress in street clothes instead of uniforms.” He showed them some photos of the original facility and his design for Firefly Lake.
“I’ve never even heard of this,” Lorenzo mumbled as he scrolled through them. “Only one way in and out, twenty-four-hour surveillance, completely gated in… I know Desiree would love to have her mom in a place like this.”
“We wouldn’t need anything on this scale at home. I’m thinking eight to ten rooms, max. The restaurant could hold twenty-five to thirty, so families can dine with them.”
“What about the grocery store?” Cedric asked, his fingers flying across the keyboard as he typed notes. “I can’t imagine needing a full-on grocery store.” He angled his head thoughtfully. “Maybe a place with toiletries, snacks, and basic stuff.”
Antonio nodded and made his own notes. “I like that. I’d also like to include a park-like area.” He thought about his grandparents taking the short stroll earlier. The three men went back and forth for another hour; then he moved the laptop aside. “The biggest hurdle will be financing it.” He had a very nice portfolio and would use some of it to back the project, but there was no way he could finance the entire thing without wiping out his life savings. “We don’t have the capital big cities enjoy.”
Cedric and Lorenzo shared a look.
“What?”
“Let us make a call. Our family loves to get behind things like this.”
He lifted a brow. “Zo, even if your family can contribute, we’re talking somewhere in the ballpark of four to six million dollars, including start-up costs for equipment and salaries. Granted, that number is much smaller because the size of the facility is nowhere near what it would be in another place, and I plan to put some of mine behind it, but that’s still a lot to ask.”
“You didn’t ask,” Cedric pointed out. “We offered. Zo and I talked about it, and we’ll be donating at least half the materials, so that brings the number down. Zo, call Brandon. He’ll pass the word to the rest of the LA family.”
Antonio’s head was spinning. He lifted a hand. “Hold up. I—”
“Have you heard of Malcolm Gray?”
“The running back for the LA Cobras football team. Who hasn’t? And didn’t he recently announce his retirement? That still doesn’t tell me anything.”
“He’s our cousin, just like Brandon Gray, who heads up Gray Home Safety.”
He’d heard that the company was one of the largest of its kind in the country and doing exceptionally well. “Another cousin?”
“Malcolm’s older brother,” Lorenzo said with a wide grin.
Antonio’s heart was so full, he couldn’t speak. He listened while Lorenzo talked to his cousins. Other than his brother and Jeff—his college buddy in New York—none of his other friends had his back the way Lorenzo and Cedric were doing.
