“Only half,” Stone said. “I do have a presentation, and I’m happy to send it to you. It shows my intentions with the land.”
“Is it gonna benefit the community?” Sawyer asked.
“It is, yes.”
“Will it help the schools?” Kaleb inquired.
“Actually, yes,” Stone said, meeting his gaze. “I made some changes yesterday. Donovan came by last week and mentioned Trey’s lettin’ the high school use some of his land for the Ag department.”
“I heard that, too,” Sawyer noted.
“Since I’m anglin’ for a farmers’ market, I thought it might benefit them if they could let some of the kids grow and sell their own produce. I’ve still gotta talk to the school, but I was gonna offer to oversee it.”
“That’s actually kinda brilliant.” Kaleb sounded pleased. “You know how Home Depot has that kids’ buildin’ thing on the weekend? You could do that for the younger set.”
Stone had no idea what Home Depot did, but he understood what Kaleb was getting at. “I’ll definitely outline a plan for it.”
Sawyer grinned. “When Pop told us what they were plannin’, I’ll admit, I was curious why they picked you.”
“You’re not the only one.” Stone was unable to hide his confusion. He still wasn’t sure why Curtis had picked him out of the lot, but what was the old saying? Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Yeah. Stone was adopting that as his new mantra.
“I don’t question Pop’s motives,” Kaleb said. “And since Mom’s on board, I figure they know what they’re doin’.”
Stone only hoped their brothers felt the same.
***
Stevie watched as Nico moved around thekitchen.
“You sure you don’t want me to do that?”
He peered at her over his shoulder. “Do what? Cook?” He grinned. “Nah. I’ve got it.”
“I can cook,” she told him.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Nico stopped and turned to face her. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were tryin’ to pick a fight.”
There was a good chance he was right, but Stevie didn’t want to admit that. She also didn’t want to admit that she was conflicted about what she wanted. More so about what she felt she deserved.
She’d spent the past two days feeling guilty about the things she said to Stone on Sunday night. The words had come from a dark, ugly place inside her. She was embarrassed to have been so cruel. It was one thing to harbor hurt feelings, another to make a blatant attempt to inflict that sort of pain on someone else.
Rather than explain it, she shrugged.
Nico came around to stand behind her, his hands sliding over her shoulders. He didn’t stop there, though. His hands flattened on her chest, urging her back until she was leaning against him. His big hand cupped her throat, his thumb grazing her jaw in a gentle caress. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“I think tonight’ll be good for you and Stone,” he said as his hands shifted, his skilled fingers massaging her shoulders.
“I don’t.”
“Why?”
“Because I feel myself caving,” she admitted.
“Do you want to cave?”
