“That’s something to celebrate. Why don’t y’all come over on Friday evening, and we’ll grill out. The boys can swim. After dinner, we can talk about the plan with them.”
“That sounds perfect. See you Friday.”
Chapter twenty-three
Cody – Don't Stop Me Now
6 months later
I threw the door open and ran inside. “Daddy, where are you?”
He was in the living room. He set his tablet on the coffee table as he stood to face me, and I tackled him full on. He landed back on the couch with me on top of him. “Ompf. Cody?”
“I loved it. It was perfect. I think this is the one to start with. It does need a little work, but the changes I want to make will be so-so good. But that’s the part I’m scared about. I don’t have any connections for doing work. Do you know a contractor?”
“Can you breathe?”
I shook my head. “It was perfect…” The drama was turned up to ten, but I couldn’t help it, since the house was amazing, and after looking at ten other ones, I was more than ready to get moving.
“You have to buy it before you can renovate it. Did you call Tyler?”
“Duh, he met me out there.” Tyler Landry was the real estate agent who sold Daddy Vince his house, and he also had a lot of other Afterglow members as clients. “He’s going to put in the offer this afternoon. The asking price is well within our budget, but he’ll start with something lower. Every dollar we save on the purchase price can go into the reno.”
“Sounds like you have it all planned out.”
“Will you come look at it with me tomorrow?”
“Of course.” He hugged me tight and kissed my forehead, but I wanted a better kiss than that, so I smooshed my lips against his, and he kissed me back. It wasn’t all that long, but it was just as sweet as always. I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of kissing him.
“Everything is coming together.”
“It sure looks like it. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks.” I finally felt calm enough to simply breathe and take it in. I’d quit my stupid insurance sales job, moved in with Daddy, made a business plan for my vacation rental business, and thanks to Daddy and Vince, I had the funding to get started. I sure as hell wasn’t going to screw this up. I was making every penny count. I’d even created a marketing plan, thanks to Joey, who would also help me implement it at the right time.
“How long do you think the renovations will take?”
“I don’t think it’ll be too long. Most of it’s cosmetic, but I’m going to put in one of those big serving windows that opens up to a bar top on the outside, and a built-in drink fridge.” There were a few other things to add as well, including a draft keg machine in the back room that would be decorated like a sports bar. The entire house would have a sports theme, with each room representing one of Tampa’s professional sports franchises. It was maybe a little kitschy, but Joey agreed we needed to have something fun with places for people to take selfies or videos. “Like I said, though. I need a contractor.”
“No problem. Call Braxton.”
“Right. I forgot.” He’d had the whole club remodeled a couple of years ago, and maybe I could use his contractor, or he’d at least have someone to recommend. “Great place to start.”
Daddy winked at me. “Now that you know what you’re doing tomorrow. Let’s have some champagne.”
“No. No. Not yet. I want to wait until I know I have the place.”
“Tyler will counteroffer until you get it. Don’t worry.”
He knew what he was doing, and I trusted him, but something could still go wrong. “No chickies before hatching, Daddy.”
“What?” I swear his eyes crossed. “Oh. Counting chickens.”
“’S’what I said.” I held my hands up, exasperated.
“Fine. Let’s get some dinner going while we wait. I have a couple of steaks we can grill.” Since we lived in Florida, it was still nice enough to grill out.
“Mac ‘n Cheese?”
