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Zach nodded. “I took our money down to the courthouse and paid them yesterday morning. Another reason I’m eager to get this sold so I can have the funds for Chelsea’s house. My savings account is nearly dry.”
“There’s no other way?” Braxton asked. “What if Liam was one hundred percent on board with the project? He hoards nearly all of his money.”
Shaking his head, Zach replied, “I still don’t see that we could do it the way it needs to be done. Though having him participate financially would be a definite plus.”
“When are you going to tell him about selling?”
Zach eyed his brother.
“Oh hell, no.” Braxton shook his head and laughed. “I’m not telling him. I’m not always going to be the buffer, and you’re not a child.”
“Then I’ll call him. I’m not waiting on him to breeze back into town, because I never know when that will be.”
Zach eased forward in his chair, a slight weight taken off his shoulders. One brother down, one to go.
“You took that better than I thought,” Zach stated.
Finally taking a seat on the couch, Braxton picked up the remote and clicked the television on. “I wasn’t delusional. I never thought you’d live here forever. Hell, you lasted longer in Haven than I ever thought you would.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Flipping through the channels, Braxton propped his feet up on the coffee table. “I’m just saying you never acted like you wanted to be here. Then when Dad gave the business to you, I figured you’d work long enough to save money and go.”
Zach hated how dead-on Braxton was with the original plan. Zach had been a restless teen, a reckless teen, but he’d stuck around because of his parents, because of this family they’d brought together.
Even when Zach had gotten out of prison, he’d been dead set on getting the hell out of Haven, but he was good at construction, and his father’s impeccable reputation had helped Zach land job after job, and now he was in demand.
“Where will you live?” Braxton asked, turning his attention from the television.
Yeah, that was the tricky part. There was going to be some maneuvering, and the timing on certain things had to be perfect.
“I figure I’m going to have to stay at Sunset Lake.”
Braxton busted out laughing, then sobered when he realized Zach wasn’t smiling. “Stay at the house that doesn’t even have electric right now?”
Zach didn’t want to tell his brother he’d slept in worse places. He’d lived in worse places.
“I can throw down a sleeping bag. I’ll be fine, and we’ll all save money. Besides, who says this house will sell fast?”
“I just think you need to fully think this through,” Braxton told him. “You need to have a backup plan. I assume that will be my place. You might as well just stay with me anyway, instead of practically camping.”
Zach wanted to laugh now. Backup plans weren’t part of his life. He had one plan and he fully executed it.
“I’m going to stay in the house if this one sells fast,” he repeated. “There’s no reason I can’t. Right now I can at least work on one bathroom and get it done fairly soon. I already had the water turned back on, but I may need to redo some of the pipes to the kitchen.”
Braxton opened his mouth just as the doorbell rang.
“Go ahead and pay for that, would ya?” Zach asked as he settled deeper into his seat and laced his hands behind his head. “I’m practically a poor, homeless man.”
Braxton flipped him the bird. Zach laughed until the puppies started yipping again.
Muttering a curse, Zach closed his eyes. “No, no, no. I should’ve thought of the doorbell.”
Braxton went to open the door. “Go care for your babies, honey. I’ll make dinner.”
* * *
Nerves rolled through Sophie’s stomach, but prolonging the inevitable would only make her anxiety skyrocket. She needed to get this over with.
