Luke’s gaze lifts to mine. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Yeah,” I answer again, there’s no point dancing around it.
A beat of silence settles, heavier this time, more focused.
Brooks exhales slowly. “Alright,” he says. “Then we need to figure out why it’s on our land.”
“We will,” I agree, then glance back out toward Miller land, the decision already locked in place before I even say it out loud. “But first, I’m building out there.”
That pulls all three of them back to me.
“Now?” Wade asks, not arguing yet, but close.
“As soon as we can break ground,” I say, meeting his gaze head on. “I’m not leaving that stretch open anymore, not with this going on, and not with everything else that just walked into my life today.”
Luke studies me, his expression thoughtful, weighing it the way he always does. “You’re tying this to the land,” he says.
“I’m tying it to everything,” I answer, because that’s the truth whether they like it or not. “That land’s been sitting there waiting long enough, and I’m done waiting.”
Brooks crosses his arms, not shutting it down, but not handing it to me easy either. “You’re talking about a full build, not just a quick fix,” he points out.
“Yeah,” I say, steady. “I am.”
Another pause settles, the kind that always comes before a decision gets made between us, and I hold it without backing off. For once I’m not second-guessing where I stand.
This isn’t about proving something.
It’s about stepping into it.
Wade lets out a breath and shakes his head slightly. “Hell of a day to decide to get serious,” he mutters.
“Maybe,” I say, not budging. “Or maybe it’s the right one.”
Luke glances between all of us, then gives a small nod. “We’ll talk numbers, timeline, what it takes,” he says. “But if we’re doing it, we do it right.”
Brooks follows that with a slow nod of his own. “No cutting corners.”
“Wouldn’t plan on it,” I answer.
Wade huffs out something that sounds a lot like reluctant acceptance. “Guess I better start clearing space for you then.”
That’s as close to agreement as I’m getting out of him today, and it’s enough.
Because the decision’s already made.
And this time, I’m not just thinking about it.
I’m digging in.
“That’s not the only thing we need to talk about,” Brooks says after a second, his voice shifting back into that steady, measured tone that usually means he’s already three steps ahead of the rest of us, and I know exactly where he’s going before he even says it out loud.
The will.
The rule that’s been sitting over everything since Dad signed it, the one that says nothing big changes without all four of us agreeing to it, not land, not money, not expansion, and definitely not something like building a house out on Miller that shifts how everything’s run.
Wade exhales slow and heavy, dragging a hand over the back of his neck. “You know what this means,” he says, not looking at me at first, like he’s giving me a second to rethink it before he pushes. “This isn’t just you deciding to build something. This pulls all of us in.”
“I know exactly what it does,” I answer, keeping my voice level, even though there’s a tight edge under it now. I’m not backing off this just because it’s inconvenient. “And I’m not throwing it on you without thinking it through. I’m telling you it needs to happen.”
