“About that,” Tommy replied, ignoring my brother. He threw out a number that made me wince. “But, since the yard is a fuckin’ mess, I was thinkin’ if you took care of it, we could knock rent down twenty-five percent.”
“You serious?” Twenty-five percent less would bring it a hell of a lot closer to what I’d thought I’d be paying for a much smaller place.
“It’s a big fucking mess,” he replied with a shrug. “Either I take it out of your rent and have you do it, or I pay my guys to do it. Needs to be done.”
“I can do it,” I said, nodding. It would take me a while, but the price was right, and I’d never minded yard work. Blackberry bushes had completely taken over the back fence, and there was something large, yellow, and plastic that was half buried in the overgrown grass. Large branches from an old cedar tree littered the yard, and the cement patio had some kind of moss in placesthat was an inch thick. The front yard was marginally better, but it wasn’t exactly appealing. It was going to take a while.
“You get it cleaned up, and I’ll owe you,” Tommy replied. “Don’t care what you do with it, as long as it looks good. Yeah?”
“Sure.”
“Guess that’s it, then,” he said, tossing me the keys. “Welcome to your new place.”
“Thanks, Tommy,” I called as he walked away.
“Don’t mention it.” He waved over his shoulder.
As soon as he was gone, I went to find my brother. He was still in the kitchen, and his head popped out from behind a door.
“Walk-in pantry,” he said seriously.
“Christ, brother,” I muttered, leaning against the massive island in the middle of the kitchen. “Does Kara carry your balls around in her purse?”
“Man,” he said, carefully closing the pantry again. “You got no idea how much clutter two kids and a wife can make. You’ll be glad for the storage space.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“How many kids does the woman have? Just the one?”
“No clue. They mentioned that she’d had a kid with Mike Granger—”
“Bet she regretted that,” he scoffed.
“But they also mentioned kids, plural. So she’s got more than one.”
“Hopefully, she doesn’t have five or something. You’ve only got four bedrooms.”
“Don’t fuckin’ remind me.”
“So here’s what I’m thinkin’,” Draco said, leaning over the counter across from me. “Tomorrow mornin’, I’ll head to your storage unit, grab your shit, and shut down the account so you can stop payin’. I’ll grab some of the boys and get you moved in.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“No problem.” He brushed me off. “Dyl can tell us where everything goes, and I’ll let him unload the boxes and shit.”
I was already tired thinking about getting up at three and spending the day on a bus, only to spend the night driving all the way back home. I couldn’t deny that having our shit moved in already would be a massive help when I got back.
“Owe you one,” I conceded.
“Fuck that,” Draco said, shaking his head. “I figure the club’s sendin’ you down there, I’ll just make the prospects do the heavy lifting. Club business and all that.”
I parked my bike in the garage and locked up as we left. That night was like every other night since I’d been back. I ate dinner with Draco’s wife and little girls, spent some time playing with them in the backyard, and watched as the family disappeared upstairs for bath and bedtime rituals. I didn’t think that Draco and Kara were going to sleep at the same time as their ten- and seven-year-olds, but they usually didn’t come back downstairs after the girls were in bed. I would’ve felt bad about chasing them out of their living room every night so I could crash on the couch, but when I’d mentioned it to Draco, he’d smiled huge. He definitely didn’t mind that they were in bed so early.
Dylan’s check-in happened around eleven, and he let me know that he was going to sleep for a few hours before he hit the road again. I was disappointed because I’d hoped that he would get there before I had to leave, but glad he’d had the maturity to realize that he needed rest before he kept going. The fact that he didn’t seem fired up to give me the third degree about the mysterious woman helped with the disappointment that I wouldn’t see him.
I lay on the couch for a long time, unsure if I’d be able to sleep, but when my alarm went off a couple of hours later, I woke up to Kara puttering around quietly in the kitchen.
“What are you doin’ up?” I asked, shuffling into the room after I’d cleaned up my blanket and pillow.
