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We spent the next half an hour walking around taking pictures and jotting down notes. When we were finished, Tom walked up to Vera with his hand extended.
“This looks fantastic,” he said. “I’ll have to talk it over with my brothers.”
“Absolutely. And if they would like to see it, give me a call and we’ll meet up here again,” she said.
“That would be great. Thank you.”
We left the location and made our way back to Mason’s house. Tom spent most of the drive calling his brothers, so it was only a short time before they started streaming into the house. Ava came in with snacks.
We all sat down, and Tom brought up pictures of the new location.
“I think it’s time to start discussing rebuilding,” he said.
Jordan immediately tensed. His eyes went dark, and his arms crossed over his chest. “I want to take Danny down first. Before we do anything to put things back together, I want to hold him accountable for what he destroyed.”
Tom nodded with understanding. “I get that. I felt the same way.” He turned to me with a soft smile on his lips. “But then Amanda helped me see we need to focus on the positive and start rebuilding.”
The way he looked at me brought a wave of butterflies to my stomach and made my heart tremble in my chest. It must have been the look everybody was talking about. Now that I knew that I thought back to all the times he gave me that look and wondered how I possibly could have missed it.21TomThe Realtor was showing us around the new location, and the more he showed us the more excited we grew. Tyler in particular was envisioning expansion, and he and Mason were discussing where specific areas would be when I called a family conference. As they made their way over, the Realtor stood by the door of the empty husk of a building, a satisfied smirk on her face. She might as well have deserved it.
“Which one of you told her we were going to take it?” I asked as the guys got close.
“Wasn’t me,” Mason said.
“Us either,” Matt said, pointing to himself and Jordan. They had been around on the other side of the street, checking the foot traffic in the area and nowhere near the relator. That left me and Tyler.
“I didn’t say we’d take it, per se,” Tyler said.
“Ah, man,” Mason said.
“What?” Tyler asked.
“You gave up our negotiation position, you dimwit,” I said, sighing. “It’s fine. I likely couldn’t have gotten her down much further from the listing price. It’s already pretty damn cheap.”
“So, we’re going to do it, right?” Tyler asked. I looked in the eyes of each of my brothers in turn before nodding.
“It looks that way. All the different requirements come together here. Jordan, Matt, how was the foot traffic?” I asked.
“Insane,” Jordan said. “I knew this area was hopping, but not like this. All the little shops and restaurants in the area have kind of made this corner a destination for people coming into or going out of town. A first and last stop, if you will.”
“I saw they’re building new apartments just across the street, too,” Mason said, pointing. I looked over to a rising set of steel girders and a construction crew.
“Is that what’s going there?” Tyler asked.
“Yeah, there’s a sign on the other side of the street,” Matt said. “It’s going to be pretty large, too, with a bunch of shopping and stuff on the ground floor. Give it a year or two, and this will be prime real estate.”
“This is all pretty much what Amanda and I found out,” I said, waving the stack of papers I had been carrying around all day. “I just wanted to confirm it with our own eyes first. With the proximity to the nearby towns going both north and west, I think this is the perfect spot for us. What do you say?”
My brothers all glanced at one another and one by one nodded.
“Then it’s settled,” Mason said. “Tom, let’s go talk to the Realtor.”
As we walked over to the agent, I could see her grin stretch further. She knew what she had in her hands, and she knew that we were going to buy it. She was undoubtedly seeing zeros added to her paycheck as she stood there.
“After consideration, I think we’re in,” I said.
“Fantastic,” she said. “Just let me—”
“But before we do all that,” I interrupted, “I need to check with our insurance agent.”
The Realtor looked like she had suddenly gotten a whiff of a particularly noxious odor and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Do you need me to step away for you to make the call?”
“No, it’s fine,” I muttered, dialing the number. “Hello?”
“Mr. Anderson,” said the jovial voice on the other line. “I was just about to call you. The auditors have approved the final number, and we can have a check for you in roughly a week or so. Two at the top.”
