Gillian laughed.“God, I love her.Is she still pushing for Da’von and Brianna to stay down here?”
Beck rolled his eyes.“More like I’ll have to peel her off them when they’re ready to move.She’s never lived more than an hour—if traffic’s bad—from any of them.”
“Maybe you should think about a house in Idaho?”
“No,” he said.“I’m fine with staying in one of the cabins with y’all when we visit, as long as you all don’t mind us dropping in.If we have a whole-ass house there, shewillwant to move.”
“I’m looking forward to coming down here and having a small place of our own to stay instead of being right on top of everyone else,” she said.“Now that we all have growing families, I think we need the privacy.”
“You know Dewil will try to convince y’all to movehere, right?”
“I know.”She looked up at Beck.“What about your parents?”she asked.
“They want a small guest cabin out in back of our house, not a full mother-in-law apartment attached to it.Like the large cabins at your place.My sisters can use it, too.”
“I’m thinking each large house for our core group, and the Enforcers, will get at least one cabin or tiny home out back for relatives.”
“Or for getting away from each other so we don’t get on each other’s nerves?”he joked.
Gillian laughed.“There is that.But also, as the kids get older, they may want to move into them instead of moving ‘away’ from the property.Gives them flexibility, too.”
“Hadn’t thought about it like that,” he admitted.He looked up at the ongoing construction.“Things are about to change here in a big way.Funny, I always thought it’d be Idaho growing fast, not here.Never imagined anything like this here.”
“Do you miss Idaho?”she asked.
He shrugged.“I mean, sometimes.Especially when it’s hot-as-balls in the summer.But not in the winter.And it’s a different kind of peaceful here.Plus now, with the way my family’s grown so fast, it feels like home in a way it didn’t used to.”
“Why, Dawson Beckett, I do believe you’ve put down roots,” she teased.
“Crazy, right?”He refocused on the tablet and swiped into something else.“Are you sure about these specs for the community center?”
“Yep.Peyton drew them up himself.He wants it big enough that everyone living here can evac into it in case of a Cat 5 hurricane, and bring in other relatives, if needed, with plenty of room to spare.”
“This is more like a bunker, though.”
“He’s thinking about the Seguras finding us in Idaho,” she said.“He’s still kicking himself in the ass that he couldn’t just order everyone to the community center there to hide and be safe.We never thought it’d be necessary.He said once he’s back, he’ll get a construction crew started on hardening and expanding the building.”
“Okay.It’s the pack’s money.”
“Yep!”She bumped him with her hip.“Enjoy the largesse, Beck.In less than a year, nearly everyone in this area will be living here on this property instead of being spread out all over Tampa.I mean, our core group and the Enforcers.Some of the packmates we offered the opportunity to politely declined due to friends, work, and their kids’ schools.So far, only four pack families have opted to move here.And you and Dewi canfinallyhave a clear-cut separation between your work and personal lives, with offices.”
“Yeah, thatwillbe nice,” he said.“Hey, I have a question, and either give me an honest answer or a ‘Pack Alpha business,’ but don’t lie to me about this.”
She studied him.“Oookay?”
“Peyton isn’t planning to retire soon, is he?”
She scoffed.“No.Why?”
“I just want to make sure all this doesn’t get dropped on Dewi’s head any sooner than necessary.”
“Ah.”She hip-bumped him again.“No, my husband has no plans to retire.He has promised to try for a more balanced work-home life, however.Something we all need to learn.Even me.Dewi won’t be able to do that unless she sees all of us doing it.”
He nodded.“Okay.Thanks.”
“You’re worried about her?”Gillian asked.
He shrugged.“I’m always worried about her.”This smile looked forced.“Have ever since she was a baby, right?Kinda the gig.It just feels like she’s finally getting the hang of being a ‘normal’ person.As normal as any of us can be, that is.And I really don’t want her to lose that progress.”
