Page 61 of Brett and Rowdy
“Pappy. Pappy, I’m home. I brought all my things.” Madison ran up to her grandfather and hugged him tight. “I’m home, I’m home, I’m home.”
“Thank God for that. I’ve missed you something fierce. It’s been almost a year.”
“I know! I had to graduate. Senior year was wild, but I was so ready to be out.” She bounced around like one of the puppers.
Brett wasn’t sure what to do, but Rowdy took his hand. “I’m going to get Brett settled, y’all. Then we’ll all have food together.”
“Sounds good, son.”
“Come on, darlin’. I’ll show you where to take Mr. Mann, and where we’ll put your bags.”
“Sure.” He nodded at the older Mr. Duran, then followed Rowdy off to his room, presumably.
They walked through huge front doors, which opened into a massive foyer that was curved like a huge half-moon. The windows were floor-to-ceiling, with benches to sit around and watch the mountains in the sunken area.
Wild.
To the left, there was a big open living area that read more hotel lobby than home, and past that a commercial kitchen and vast dining area.
“Okay. I know this seems huge and overwhelming, but honestly, think of it as three homes connected by common areas. That’s most logical.”
“I guess it grew kind of organically, huh?”
“It did.” Rowdy chuckled. “I live in the oldest part. Pop actually has the newest, and that’s where the family kitchen and living areas are as well. The dog runs are accessible through the laundry room from here, but this is my part of the house.”
Obviously, Rowdy knew exactly where everything was because he just walked into the house without even hesitating. There was a door, which wasn’t locked, and they wandered through, coming into a lovely little house.
Little house.
It was a house, sure. There wasn’t a whole lot little about it.
“So this is my place. It’s got three bedrooms, three bathrooms. Well, it’s got a bedroom, a guest room, and then there’s an office. And my man cave.”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course you have a man cave.”
“Of course I have a man cave.”
The first thing Brett noticed was the windows, which ranged the whole entire side of the house. They were floor-to-ceiling windows, the light just pouring in. The walls were painted white, and there were a bunch of exposed wood beams on the ceilings, mantel places, and built-ins. Everything was either wood or white and there was a mixture of age and clean lines that suited him to the ground.
The fireplace stood to one side of the living area, built in this huge U and along the sides of the U lay padded seats that were obviously meant for someone to warm their feet. The furniture was good quality, of course, but simple, really—couch, chairs, nothing fancy. And the art that hung on the walls looked exactly like expensive hotel paintings. He figured why should Rowdy care?
Rowdy needed one of Brett’s coffee tables here. No question.
From the windows, he could see that this house was built before the open concept became popular, and there were halls and tons of rooms as opposed to one big space.
Directly ahead of him was a French door and a doggy door, which led out to some sort of big patio area. Mr. Mann started pulling when he saw the doggy door.
“Is it all right?” he asked. “If I let him out?”
Rowdy nodded to him. “Of course, it’s all fenced in over here. He won’t be able to get lost. The worst thing that’s going to happen is that some of the big guys are going to come through.” Rowdy leaned against a built-in bookshelf filled with stacks of books chosen for their color rather than their content. “So how this works is there’s a big fenced-in area that kind of encompasses all three houses, and there are gates in between. So think of it as literally three full yards that are connected. The gate between mine and Maddie’s always stays open and it’s pretty much the same with my dad—unless one of the shepherds eats all his bread or something, and they get banished. So the worst thing that’s going to happen is that Mr. Mann’s going to wander into either Dad’s or Maddie’s. Don’t worry, there’ll be a shit-ton of German shepherds to help him decide where to go. They’re very opinionated, these guys.”
“Fair enough.” He unhooked Mr. Mann’s leash and walked out to look at the backyard area. It was beautiful; no grass but there was a nice solid fence, a grill, a hot tub. Lots of seating. “This is nice. You said you had a pool?”
“I do, but it’s covered in an inside enclosure so I can use it year-round.”
Spoiled bastard. Mr. Mann traveled outside, his big feet flopping and kicking up some dust. “This is an amazing place, man.”
“It’s been in the Duran family for generations. I love it. I think the front foyer with its big curves is the thing that people comment on most. That’s the place we leave open to the paying guests, and they can come sit and have a drink in the evenings. We offer fancy wine tastings and cheese pairings.” Rowdy rolled his eyes. “Madison’s idea. We’re more bratwurst and beer as a family, but whatever. And they can stop there and watch the sunset and it’s really pleasant. We get good reviews on it.”
