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“Your brothers?” I asked.
He nodded with a laugh. “Yeah, I have two of them, Jason and James. After three years of working construction while we put ourselves through college, and learning everything they would teach us, we decided to try our hand at flipping properties. We were only twenty-one, but we pooled all of our meager resources and bought a trashed foreclosure in a better part of our hometown in Wisconsin. We bought it outright, then took a business plan to the bank and managed to secure a construction loan—although the amount required us to get creative with the budget. We did most of the work ourselves, only hiring out what we weren’t licensed to do. Two months later, we sold the property for almost double what we’d paid for it.”
I let out a low whistle. “Dang, you guys must be really good at what you do.”
“We’re not too bad.” He winked at me, sending butterflies swirling in my belly. “That got the ball rolling, and we parlayed that success into others as we built our business.”
I was in awe of all he had accomplished. And more than a little envious of how close he seemed to be with his brothers. Although I’d never wish my crappy parents on anyone else, I had often wished for a sibling growing up. “Wow, that’s really impressive.”
He shrugged off my compliment. “It was a lot of hard work, but we also had more than our fair share of luck.”
“And you want to do something similar with Grandpa’s house?”
“I do,” he confirmed before launching into all of his plans. From everything he described, it sounded as though the neighborhood would be gorgeous if they were able to complete the project. Unfortunately, I didn’t share his excitement. I had too many happy memories that would be wiped away if they remodeled my grandfather’s house. Not that it was actually my decision, no matter what Grandpa had told him.
I flashed him an apologetic smile. “I hate to break it to you, but I can’t sell you the house.”
“You didn’t even let me give you a number,” he chided, moving his empty mug to the side so he could lean closer to me. “The offer is quite generous since your grandfather was the only holdout. We’re willing to pay twenty million cash without any contingencies. And we can wait to start on your grandfather’s property until after we’ve made good progress on the others, so he would have plenty of time to move. We can come to an agreement of some kind that allows him to stay there for another year even, if that’s a sticking point for you.”
I knew the house was worth a lot because of the location, but I hadn’t expected a number quite so high. Not that it mattered when I wanted the house to stay exactly how it was, no matter how much money he dangled in front of me. I stuck with the easier explanation instead of telling him that. “It isn’t mine until my grandfather dies. Which will hopefully be many years from now, and it doesn’t sound as though you want to wait that long for your project.”
His brows drew together. “That’s strange since he was quite adamant that the decision was yours.”
“That’s probably because he knows how much I love the house.” I couldn’t imagine him ever agreeing to sell without talking to me about it first. “My best guess is that he wanted me to be on board before he considered your offer, but I can’t be sure. He’s the best man I know, and I love him dearly, but Grandpa tends to keep his motives to himself.”
He sat back in his chair and scrubbed his palm over his bearded chin. “I have to admit that I’m a bit stumped about how to proceed then. Getting the meeting with him yesterday was next to impossible, and I was hoping the fact that you were willing to meet with me less than twenty-four hours after I called was a good sign.”
“I’m sorry I haven’t been much help, but until the property is actually mine, it wouldn’t be right for me to entertain any offers on it,” I apologized.
“I get it,” he sighed. “I guess I’ll just have to try to get your grandfather to meet with me again. Maybe you could help with that?”
“Sure, I can let him know that we’ve talked. Although…”
His head tilted to the side as I trailed off, shaking my head with a chuckle. “Although what?”
“There’s a way that I could take ownership of the property sooner. If you want to get engaged.”
I hadn’t meant to share that tidbit of information with him, but as soon as the words left my mouth, I couldn’t help but think about how happy my grandfather would be if I had someone in my life. Knowing I had a guy like Jeremy looking out for me would probably be a huge relief and allow Grandpa to focus on his recovery instead of worrying about me.
“Engaged?” he echoed with an odd gleam in his eyes.
I laughed, playing it off as a joke even though part of me wished he’d take me up on it. “I know it sounds ridiculous, but my grandfather recently told me that he would gift me the house upon my engagement,” I explained, my cheeks heating because it sounded even more ridiculous out loud. “He and my grandmother were wildly happy together, and he wants me to find that too. I think it’s his biggest wish—to see me happily settled and ready to start my own family in the house he built for her.”
4
JEREMY
She just handed me the perfect opportunity to make her mine, and I jumped on it.
“Excellent idea.”
McKenna blinked at me a few times, then her brow drew down. “What is?”
I smiled my most charming smile and reached across the table for her hand. “Getting engaged. It’s a brilliant plan, and I’m completely on board.”
Her eyes widened, and she swallowed hard before she sputtered, “I wasn’t—you can’t be serious—I mean, we can’t—that's crazy!”
“Is it?” I queried, cocking my head to the side and studying her thoughtfully. “You said yourself that your grandfather wants to see you taken care of, happy like he was with your grandmother. This is your chance to give him that gift.”
