I smile so hard my cheeks hurt.
I drift to sleep over an hour later, my phone still clutched tightly in my hand.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Deacon
“Where are you going?” Sebastian growls as I pass him on my way to the front door.
“I’m grabbing lunch. It’s Saturday and I’m all caught up on work, so you don’t get to police my time today.”
“Don’t forget we’ve got a meeting with the realtor this afternoon.”
I bite back a growl of frustration and give my brother a tight smile. “Yeah, I’m not so senile yet that I don’t remember you telling me that this morning.”
He runs a hand through his hair and grunts, his attention returning to the blueprints he’s got spread out on the dining room table.
“You know, Seb, you can admit you’re nervous about building this house for Mom and Dad.”
“I’m not.” He doesn’t look up. “Only people who are bad at what they do get nervous about that kind of shit.”
I roll my eyes. “That’s not true. Mom and Dad calling last week and announcing they want to move here and they want us to build their house is exactly what we don’t need right now.”
Sebastian glares at me. “You saying you don’t want them to move here? You got some problem with our parents?”
“He’s saying we’re already overworked and struggling to get organized here, and we don’t really have time for a side project that’s going to eat up resources and time,” Cash says as he walks over to join me. “Lunch?”
I nod. “The Deli.”
“Sounds good.”
“It doesn’t matter how busy we are,” Sebastian says. “This is what we do for family. Mom and Dad aren’t getting any younger, and I don’t want to hear you complaining about them paying cost for the build or about giving up your free time for them.”
I look at Cash, but he shakes his head. He’s right. It’s not worth the argument. “We get it, Seb. Want us to bring you anything from The Deli?”
“Ham,” he says. “Sweet potato salad.”
“You got it,” I say.
“He’s going to give himself an ulcer,” Cash says as soon as we’re outside and headed to my truck.
“He’s going to look up one day and realize he’s an old man with nothing to show for it but a bunch of houses he built for other people.”
Cash slaps my back. “Which is why you’re helping him find love.”
He walks around to the passenger side of my truck and, thankfully, isn’t looking at my face when his words land. Which is good, because after I stayed up talking to DogPerson last night, I had a vivid, intense dream about her.
She looked like Amelia, but she talked like DogPerson, and she stripped naked and rode me into one of the best dreams I’ve ever had. What I should do is hand DogPerson over to Sebastian now, or end things with her altogether.
Just the thought of doing either of those things makes my chest tighten.
Instead of dwelling, I start the engine and back out of the driveway.
“You’ve been pretty quiet on the subject of Mom and Dad moving to town,” Cash says as we head toward Main Street. “You happy about it?”
“Of course.” I mean it. As far as parents go, ours are pretty damn near perfect. In Aspen Cove, they lived right next door tome and were really good about giving me my own space. I don’t expect that to change here. Not really. “I am worried they’re going to miss their friends. They’ve built a whole community in Aspen Cove.”
“They have friends here too,” Cash says. “And it’s not like they’re shy. They’ve never had a problem making new friends.”
