"The one next to Buddy's store?" Nash checks.
I clear my throat. "That's the one."
"What made you stop there?" Billy asks. "I sent you to the hardware store. That's way on the other side."
I frown. "I saw Buddy at the marina last night. He told me to stop by and check the place out, so I did. I do not regret it."
The receipt is tucked in the corner of the frame, and it falls off, as it uncurls. Nash is too quick and he grabs it before I do. He looks at me with bulging eyes. "Jesus Christ, Levi. When the fuck did you come up with this kind of money? What, did you rob the bank while you were out running errands?"
Snatching the receipt out of his hand, I feel my jaws clench. "Just like you, I've got money tucked away, Nash. Remember that I'm in school, and I paid for that all on my own."
"Which is exactly why you shouldn't have two grand in cold hard cash just sitting in the bank. What's going on with you?"
"Not that it's any of your business, but I do happen to have money, and what I do with it is up to me."
Billy interjects gently. "It's none of my business, either Levi. But why on earth would you spend that kind of money on a picture?"
"Well, isn't it beautiful?"
"Sure, it is. But that's a king's ransom for a kid that's paying his own way for schooling." Billy points out. "Surely you can find many other things to pay for with that. I mean, you're going to be an architect, and I'm sure that you've got all kinds of schooling left to pay for."
I look at them like they've both just grown a second head. "For your information, I happen to have enough money saved up to buy a fucking house if I wanted to. I haven't spent a dime, other than to pay for daddy's expenses, since I started working." I point at my brother. "And you know as well as I do that we've both been working since we could fucking crawl on account of mama and daddy being so goddamn irresponsible. I figured it was high time that I spent money on something I wanted to and goddammit, I wanted to buy that picture."
Nash stands there, looking at the picture blankly. "Wait a minute. That's the store where that pretty blonde works, isn't it."
I look at Billy. He's fighting a smile.
"So what if it is." I argue meekly.
Nash turns to look at me. "I'm sure it wasn't Buddy's good looks and puppy dog eyes that compelled you to buy that picture of a bunch of fucking trees for two grand."
"She didn't give me puppy dog eyes, for your information." I argue, but it sounds like I'm saying that it's blue not dark blue. "I saw her actually taking that photograph in the woods here."
"Here?" Billy's finger points to the floor. "Like, at my ranch?"
I nod. "Yeah. I, um, found her as she was taking it. Scared the living daylights out of her. But if you look at that picture, and see how perfect it is, I don't know, I just had to have it."
"Well, you're smart to keep it here." Nash points out, but his eyes are dancing. "Because if Shelly gets wind of this, especially when y'all have a baby on the way, she'll tear you to shreds."
"You can say that again." Billy teases.
"You two aren't going to say anything, are you?"
"What, that y'all have a crush on a pretty blonde photographer, or that y'all spent two thousand dollars on a life size picture of fucking trees?" Nash can barely get out.
Billy's chest is vibrating a little and I want to punch him. In fact, I want to punch both of them, and I'm considering taking the goddamn picture and hiding it in my room at home, before anyone else sees it. "Look, I don't have a crush on her. I swear."
"Sure, Levi." Nash says unconvincingly. "Because you just go around buying art like that all the time, man."
Billy takes it down a notch. "Levi, we're not judging you. Hey, it is a nice picture, and if you want to, y'all can hang it in here all you like. Nobody's going to say a word. But be careful, my boy. That girlfriend of yours has a silver tongue, and if she finds out about this, your brother's right. She's going to eat you for lunch. Any woman would. You think about it, okay. She's pregnant with your child—"
Nash interjects. "Presumably."
Billy nods. "Whether or not she's expecting, Levi, a woman would want you to spend that sort of money on her, not on an extravagance like that. But especially when you and she are expecting a child together."
He has a point. "Fine. But I don't have a crush on her."
"Whatever you say, Levi." Nash chuckles, unconvinced. "Just make sure that Shelly doesn't find out about it if you like your balls where they are."
