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“Yeah, and that means you look just like me. So, you’ve got that going for you. You make her laugh. You’re definitely not shy about showing her how much you like her. You’re a good guy, Jameson. You aren’t going to be the only lucky one if this thing works out between you two.”
“Thanks, man.”
That might be the nicest thing my brother has ever said to me. And probably the longest he’s talked to me that wasn’t us joking around and talking shit.
No one in this family talks much. About feelings. Or about anything else. I guess we all just talked to our mom about that kind of stuff. And then once she was gone, we never learned how to talk to each other.
“If you hurt her, I’ll kick your ass, though.”
“Understood. What if she hurts me?”
“I’ll give her a stern talking to and tell her she made a big fucking mistake.”
“Sounds fair,” I tell him with a grin. “Since I’ve got you in such a helpful mood for once. There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Yeah?”
“The old Sorenson farm is up for sale. I want to buy it. Well, I want you to buy it. I think we can do more with the four of us all working here now that Jasper’s back. And you’re here half the time, not that you’re much of a farmhand.”
“Are you asking for my help or insulting me right now?”
I grin and shove his shoulder with my good arm. “Both.”
“You sure you want to be starting a fight with one arm down?” Jacks asks with a grin.
“I could still take you. I’m younger and faster,” I promise him. “So, maybe we can go take a look at it? Check it out. If you don’t want to buy it, maybe you could co-sign a loan or something like that?”
“What’s this about? You planning on living there with Lily or something? I haven’t been out there in years. But who knows what kind of shape the main house is in.”
“No. She’ll always want to live at her grandmother’s house in town. And that’s fine by me. Just need to convince her to invite me to move in officially. That’s not what this is about. I like what the girls are doing. Selena’s bakery. Lily’s flower shop. They’re bringing some life back to this town. And I think we can do more with the farm. Buy more land. Create some more jobs. Grow more crops. I want to try growing kale. Do you know how much people pay for organic kale? It’s crazy. But Jarret won’t hear it. Jensen’s been talking about moving into the fucking barn. There are a couple of houses on the Sorenson farm. So, at the very least, it would keep him out of the damn barn. And it’s right next door on the way into town.”
“I’m not co-signing a fucking loan.”
“Can we at least talk about it? Dad would probably offer to put up the farm as collateral, but I’m not risking that. We’re never risking the farm. And I’m sure the rest of us have enough saved up to put together a down payment, but we’re going to need more than that. There’s equipment. There’s labor. There’s shit I don’t even know about yet. All I know is even thinking about it feels expensive.”
“No, I’m not co-signing a loan because you don’t need one. Let’s go check it out tomorrow. If things look good, let’s buy it. Any other places we should look at?”
“Seriously? There’s lots of other farms that aren’t doing well. Have you seen the Fraser farm? Place is going to hell since old man Fraser passed. Mrs. Fraser is completely lost. The daughter lives back East. If something doesn’t happen soon, they’re going to get foreclosed on, or something.”
“So, let’s buy it, too.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, who knows if they want to sell, but it’s worth a try.”
“Just like that? You’re going to buy up a bunch of farms because I asked you to?”
Jacks nods. “I have more money than I can spend. And you know what I care about?”
Slowly, I shake my head.
“This family. Selena, Lily, Dad, you idiots. This farm. That’s all that matters.”
Jacks stares at me for a long minute. I don’t say anything. I don’t know what to say to that. This family and this farm are all that matters to me, too. They’re the only things that have ever mattered to me.
“This is a good idea. What is this, the second good idea you’ve ever had? Lily must be a good influence on you. Probably because she’s been my best friend so long, I must have rubbed off on her.”
“I love you, man. And I get that you’re going to buy us more farms just because I asked you to. But if you ever talk about rubbing up on Lily again, I’m going to kick your ass, broken arm or not.”
