All The Way (All Series Book 3) (15 page)

Brynn was trying to hide her shock, but it was hard. They had just pulled Alec’s truck in front of Ryan’s house.

When he suggested the day on the lake, she’d assumed he owned his own boat. She was surprised to find out he was borrowing Ryan’s.

He was smiling now too, back to the way he always was around her. Of course she thought it helped by saying, “Can we stop at a store for me to get you some flowers and chocolate before we get to the lake?” When he burst out laughing, she felt the crisis was over.

She really hadn’t meant to say what she did earlier, at least not the way she did. It was probably the wrong time, but she had no clue he would react that way. For a guy that was always laughing and cracking jokes, she figured he would have thought the comment was funny. Once she realized he didn’t, the dread just sunk in over her words.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, running into Phil in the parking lot was worse. Ten minutes earlier and she would have been extremely embarrassed. But Phil only grinned at her, said hello and walked into the office like it was nothing out of the ordinary for her to be there on a Saturday morning with a bathing suit on under her sundress and Alec inside.

“It’s impressive, I know,” Alec said, causing Brynn to turn her head away from Ryan’s house and back to him.

“It’s huge. I would have never expected this big of a house on the lake. Or this much land.”

“He has a good spot here. It’s a double lot. Ryan does things on a grand scale. He always has.”

They made their way around back. By now Brynn shouldn’t have been surprised to find out the house was actually three stories and built into the land with a walkout basement.

Alec unlocked the door and Brynn couldn’t hide her gasp at the sight of Ryan’s home, and this was his
basement
. Then she heard Alec chuckling next to her.

“You can close your mouth. It’s just my sister’s house.”

His sister’s
stunning
house. Then all of sudden she said, “Did you build this house?”

“We did,” he said proudly. She saw it in his eyes, the look of satisfaction. “To date this is our biggest build. Not too many people want a home this big.”

“Not too many people can afford a home this big, let alone on the lake.”

“True.” He walked over behind the bar and opened a drawer, then pulled out a set of boat keys. “I’ll give you a tour of the house when we get back. Kaitlin and Ryan should be home by then. Or I can show you around now; they won’t care.”

“No. That’s fine. I don’t feel right walking around the house without them here.”

He laughed at her. “Everyone walks around each other’s homes in my family when they aren’t around. The only person we give a head’s up to is Ben before we walk in his house.”

“Why’s that?”

“I told you he was a Navy SEAL, right?”

“Yeah.”

“He always warned us to never enter when he was home before letting him know. Well, at night at least. I didn’t think anything of it until I walked in one night after drinking too much. I took a taxi to his house rather than have it bring me home since I was in Albany closing the development deal. Anyway, he was sleeping since it was late. Next thing I know I’m standing in his kitchen with a bottle of water in my hand and a gun pointed at me.”

“Are you kidding me?” she asked, not able to hide her shock. Just the thought of it sent chills down her spine.

“Unfortunately, no. I dropped the water bottle and just about peed my pants.” He burst out laughing. She couldn’t figure out why he thought it was funny, unless maybe now after the fact it was a joke. “I know better now,” he added, grinning.

They made their way down to the dock and onto the boat. Minutes later they were pulling away. Brynn took in the beauty around her. That one day over a month ago when she looked out at the lake from the public beach didn’t even give her a glimpse at how picturesque the lake was. It was almost like a painting.

They made their way around the lake, moving at a fast clip, and then he slowed down to a crawl. “There’s Mac’s house,” he said, pointing to the cedar-sided home. It was exactly the type of house she would have thought of for a lake like this. Not that Ryan’s house wasn’t speculator, because it was, all nice and modern with a shine to it, but Mac’s house looked more…homey.

A minute later he stopped in front of a stunning home with easily twenty-foot glass ground-to-roof windows, with more windows off to the side, bedrooms probably. This house made you stop and stare. “I wonder how they clean all those windows?”

“You can ask Lucas tomorrow.”

She turned her head sharply. “That’s Lucas and Brooke’s house?”

“It is. The first house Phil and I built from the ground up.”

Wow. Now
that
was impressive. Their first home, and it looked like that. “How much business did you get after it was completed?”

“A ton. You could say that Lucas’ house was the tipping point for us. I lost track of how many people called us after his house was complete.” He shook his head at her in amusement. “I can’t tell you how terrified Phil and I were over that build. We’d been doing remodels and additions, even flips for a few years, but we knew this was going to be huge, and nothing like we’d done before.”

“I bet. How hard was installing all that glass?”

“I still have nightmares about it.”

She laughed at him. She bet it was difficult. “I’ve always loved lots of windows and natural light. Waking up to that view every morning would be magical. I’ve never been on a build with windows like that. Most of the new builds I had were in residential areas. People don’t like their neighbors looking in that much. Whenever I showed a home with floor-to-ceiling windows I was always in awe.”

He added some speed to the boat and traveled down past a few more houses spread out, then pointed out Michele and Thomas Mathews’ house. The brick colonial looked so out of place, yet again, homey. This lake was exactly what she thought before. It was the perfect mixture of homes.

Ten minutes later they were stopping in front of a log cabin. By now she knew it had to be someone he knew or a house he built. Every time he slowed the boat down it was to point out a home they built or worked on, if not a friend’s house. She took a guess. “Phil’s house.”

“How did you know?”

“Well, you haven’t shown me your parents’ or Phil’s house yet and I know they live on the lake. This looked like him, or something he would live in. Though I have to say it doesn’t quite look like Sophia’s style.”

“It is Phil’s. Believe it or not, it’s not completely a log cabin inside. It’s a good mix of modern and Sophia claims it’s exactly what she always wanted, but never knew.”

“How far away is your parents’ house?”

“Not far by water.”

“That’s where you grew up?” she asked shortly after, looking at the white-sided two-story house. It wasn’t modern by any means, in terms of being brand new. But she would be willing to guess the inside was completely modern and updated.

“Yep. It was a good place to grow up. The neighbors are closer than I would like now, but as a kid I didn’t notice. The house is bigger than it looks from the lake.”

She looked at it more carefully. It didn’t seem very wide, not wide enough that it would be a home for four children, but then when he moved the boat forward she realized how long it was and easily saw the size then. “Did you each have your own room?”

“We did. I have a lot of great memories here on this lake.”

“I bet you do.” This ride around just made her realize how much more she would love to live here.

***

Alec hit the gas and steered around the lake some more, then slowed down in front of a piece of land. He hadn’t planned on showing Brynn the three pieces of land his parents still owned for him, Ben and Kaitlin. Ben and Kaitlin had no need for the land and told him to choose whatever one he wanted when he was ready to build. He knew what he wanted now, but he was curious what Brynn might pick.

“So what do you think of this property?”

“It’s nice, not very wide though. I think the house would have to be more length than width. If it was going to be a small house, then it would be perfect. The land is kind of flat though. It seems to me that most houses have a walkout basement and I don’t know how you could do that here, not without a lot of work and a lot of additional fill.”

She was right and it was the piece he liked the least. They could put in the walkout, but they would have to dig much deeper and build around it. It was not what he really wanted to do.

He drove around some more and stopped in front of the next piece of land. This one was bigger than the last but didn’t have a beachfront. He could build one if he wanted to, but again, a lot of work. He wanted a piece of beach, even if it was a small one. Those memories of building in the sand as a child were deep rooted. He wanted them for his family someday.

“It’s nice. Lots of grass and property, but no sand. What fun is living on the water without any sand?”

Exactly, he thought to himself, and realized that she was definitely in tune with him, his likes and dislikes.

He swung back around toward Phil’s house, stopping about half a mile away. He knew in his heart he would end up close to Phil, but he wanted to know what Brynn thought.

“That is perfect.”

“How’s that?

“First, it has a beach. Second, the land is sloped just enough to do a walkout, but not so much that you need to build stairs into the land like a lot of the other properties. The house would have to be built back farther, but that is fine, it would give you all this property to enjoy in front of the water. I wonder how close it is to the road, though.”

“Closer than most, but not too bad. There are plenty of trees offering privacy.”

“How do you know?”

“Because this is where I’m going to build.”

“It’s your land?”

“My parents’,” he clarified. “They bought four pieces of land for investment purposes when we were children, then decided to give us each one for our own. Phil took the one piece no one wanted. He likes to be secluded off by himself.”

“But it’s not too far from him, right?”

She picked up on the geography of the lake pretty fast, even though he had been going in circles. He was impressed. “No, not far, but you saw how secluded he is. He always liked privacy more than the rest of us.”

“I can see that.”

“Kaitlin has no need for the land since Ryan already lived on the lake. Ben said he might build a summer home at some point, but he and Presley will stay in Albany close to their jobs. I’d been going back and forth for years on what piece I wanted, but deep down I knew all along.”

“What made you wait so long?”

“It never seemed the right time. Until now.”

Asked First

Brynn looked around the party. They were the last to arrive. She and Alec had slept in, then started taking measurements in the basement so she could start working on that. He was almost done with his flip and he told her she could focus on the basement at the model home.

The plans were almost done and they just needed Phil to find the time to finalize them. He said he would try to get over to the house and walk through with her one day next week.

Unfortunately, she and Alec were so caught up on what she wanted to do, and arguing about the size of the rooms, that they completely lost track of time. While Alec had run to the store to buy some beer, she quickly made her spinach dip and another crab dip and threw them in the oven.

Now she looked around at the party in full force, slightly embarrassed because she brought an appetizer and they were late. She was never late for anything.

Alec quickly introduced her to Mac. Not that she would have needed an introduction because the resemblance between him and Brooke was ridiculously uncanny.

Beth came over, welcoming her and assuring her that several people had arrived just five minutes before them. They weren’t really late. So Brynn followed Beth to the deck with her dips and chips and set everything up.

“Mommy!” Brynn heard a loud shout and looked over the deck to where a beautiful little blonde with long curly hair was yelling and running toward them. “Evan and Michael are throwing dirt at me.”

Beth laughed. “My daughter, Zoe, trying to get her brother and cousin in trouble.”

Brynn looked further down and saw two toddlers sitting on the beach with Lucas close by. Both boys had blonde hair and were currently sitting next to each other giggling and tossing dirt into a pile next to a hole. It looked to her like sandcastles were being built, with Phil in the lead.

“Why are you coming up to tell me?” Beth asked calmly. “Uncle Lucas is sitting right there.”

Zoe stopped and grinned, showing two missing front teeth. “Because Uncle Lucas told them to do it.” Brynn laughed, drawing Zoe’s attention to her. “I’m Zoe. Who are you?”

Brynn laughed again. She couldn’t help it, the girl was so cute. Before Brynn could reply, Beth said, “This is Brynn. She’s a friend of Alec’s.”

Zoe’s eyes went wide. “Alec is here?” she squealed and looked around, then spotted Alec standing with Ryan. “Alec,” Zoe yelled, and took off running and shouting some more. “Phil is building sandcastles. Will you build some too?”

“Zoe loves all the men,” Beth said, chuckling.

“I see that, and they all seem pretty taken with her.”

“They are. Can I get you something to drink?”

“No, I’m good.”

“Well, since Alec took off on you, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

Brynn looked around the yard some more. “I’ve met everyone but Cori now. I think, at least that is what Alec said.”

“Well then, let’s go meet Cori. You are in for a treat.”

Brynn had no idea what that comment meant, but she followed Beth across the lawn.

They stopped in front of a small redhead sitting in a chair next to Kaitlin, holding a baby. Brynn heard Kaitlin say, “Can I hold her?”

“No.” The redhead—who she assumed was Cori—giggled and added, “You have your own babies. Go hold one of them.”

Kaitlin looked over at Brynn, her eyes dancing, then turned back to Cori. “Are you kidding me? I never get to hold them when their grandparents are around.” She pouted a little. “I don’t think it’s fair. I carried them and gave birth, yet I can’t even hold one.”

Brynn turned and saw the four grandparents in the shade playing with Kaitlin’s son and daughter, and couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. Her father would totally be the same way. Her mother would have been too, if she had lived to see grandchildren.

Beth drew her away from her thoughts and introduced her to Cori.

“Did you bring anything to eat?” Cori asked her, her green eyes sparkling.

Brynn thought the question was odd, but didn’t let on. Not even after Beth and Kaitlin laughed, or when Brooke, who had just walked over and heard, replied with, “Ignore Cori.”

“I made a few warm dips. They’re on the deck. Would you like me to get you some?” Brynn offered. She knew Cori had only given birth less than two weeks ago, too. “Actually, Kaitlin, would you like anything, too?”

Kaitlin smiled, “I’m good. Thanks. What I want is one of my babies back. Can you go steal one for me?”

“Not until she gets me some food,” Cori said, laughing. “She offered, and I’m hungry.” But just then Jack walked over with a plate full of snacks. He handed the plate over and took his sleeping daughter out of Cori’s hands.

“Now you can go steal one of my children back,” Kaitlin said. Brynn looked over, thinking Kaitlin was joking, but she soon found out she wasn’t. “I’m serious. Go grab one. I don’t care which one. Take your pick.”

Unsure of what to do, she turned and walked away toward the grandparents.

***

Alec was watching Brynn with his sister and overheard what Kaitlin told her to do. He didn’t expect that she would do it and was pleased that she was. He headed over himself to see how this turned out.

“Hi, Mom,” he said getting there a few steps before Brynn.

“Alec, sweetie, look at Harper. Isn’t she just the spitting image of Kaitlin?”

He looked down at the sleeping infant with blonde hair. She didn’t look like Kaitlin to him, but then again, what did he know? All babies looked alike at that age to him. He often wondered how his parents could tell him and Phil apart so early on. “Sure,” he lied with a smile on his face.

But his mother saw right through it. “She really does look like Kaitlin, only with Ryan’s coloring right now. You wait, I bet their hair darkens, and I doubt they will keep those blue eyes, most babies don’t.” His mother turned to Brynn. “It’s so good to see you, Brynn.”

“You too.” Brynn leaned down to look at Harper sleeping, then lifted her eyes to his mother.

There wasn’t much that could get a baby out of his mother’s hands, least of all her first granddaughter. “Would you like to hold her?”

Alec’s jaw dropped. “I’d love to,” Brynn replied, and reached for the baby.

He squinted his eyes at his mother, only to have her wink back at him and laugh. He was on to her. He wasn’t sure what she was up to, but it was something.

“I heard Alec showed you around the lake yesterday,” his mother said.

Alec lifted his eyebrow, wondering how his mom knew. Then he looked over at Kaitlin and saw her waving at him with a huge grin on her face. His eyes drifted to Ryan who was smirking and then he knew. All those years of calling Ryan pretty boy were going to come back and bite him. His brother-in-law just set him up.

“He did. He showed me all of the houses he had built and worked on.”

“Did he now? Did he tell you the first house he ever worked on was the one he grew up in?”

“No, he didn’t, but I’m not surprised.”

Alec fought to keep the embarrassment from rising up his neck. He wasn’t sure why he had that reaction, but he did. His mother looked ready to start bragging.

“Every time I turned around, Alec and Phil were working on a room in our house. They’ve redone every single room. The only one I never let them touch was the kitchen. Then one year, Thomas took me on a vacation and I came home and my entire kitchen had been gutted and redone.”

“Really? That is so sweet.”

Alec waited to see how his mom responded. They had to fight her to get that kitchen done. “It was sweet. They remembered everything I had said I wanted over the years, and Kaitlin even came home to put the kitchen back in order for me. My children know I’m very fussy about my kitchen.”

“You weren’t so happy when you came home from vacation,” he reminded her.

“Of course I was, but I didn’t want you to think every time I left the house you could go in and redo something.” She laughed at him when he winced. “Alec was constantly doing things in the house. Which would have been great, if he asked first before he did them.”

“You always liked the end results.”

“That is true, so I guess I shouldn’t complain too much, other than he has never let his father or me pay for anything.”

Now Alec started to squirm, more so when Brynn turned her eyes on him, all tender and sweet.

“You and Dad have done a lot for us. You deserved it.”

“Brynn, you should have Alec bring you over for dinner tomorrow since your office is closed for the holiday. That way I can show you all the things he’s done to our home.”

And there it was. What he knew his mom was waiting to do, and he was thankful for it. One hundred percent. His mom just took the pressure off of him to get her over for a family dinner. He jumped up and said, “We don’t have any plans, right, Brynn?”

“No,” she said, hedging.

He put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a quick kiss in front of everyone, just in case they were wondering, but he knew they weren’t. There seemed to be a huge weight lifted off his shoulders just now. “We’ll be there.”

Brynn’s face was priceless, but beneath it all, she looked almost relieved. He hadn’t missed everyone watching them at that moment.

Phil was right all along. Bringing her here was the first step. “Why don’t you take Harper back to Kaitlin before Mom claims her again?”

“Ah, sure.”

Alec watched Brynn walk away and then turned to his mom, and caught his father’s grin. His father said, “You can thank your mother now for helping you.”

He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Thanks, Mom. You always did know what to say and when.”

“You’ll know someday too, Alec.”