Page 30 of An Inconvenient Plan
He got out of his car and just took in the gorgeous property for a minute. Acres of rolling hills with woodlands just beyond, all of it in the bloom of spring—flowering trees, bright green new leaves and grass, landscaped beds of bright yellow daffodils. Horses grazed in a large paddock by the pond. More barns and stables off in the distance.Must be nice.
He turned to the large stone and stucco mansion, with arts-and-crafts-style post and beams on the upper levels and the large porch, and headed for the door. He lifted the metal knocker on the door, and the door popped open a moment later. Jake probably knew he was here from the security guard who’d let Josh in at the gate.
“Von’t you come in?” Jake drawled in a deep Dracula voice.
Josh snorted and followed him in.
“To the man cave,” Jake said and headed in that direction.
Josh followed him through the foyer to the kitchen and the stairs just beyond to the basement man cave. It was basically Josh’s dream bar in Jake’s house. There were not one buttwobars down there, one for regular drinks and one for wine tasting complete with a wine cellar of extraordinary wines. The regular bar was in a large room surrounded with all the best stuff—big-screen TV, pool table, Ping-Pong, pinball, old-school arcade games.
Jake bypassed the wine-tasting room and headed for the main bar area, stopping at the far end of the room. Josh stopped next to him, where they both stared at a new addition to the man cave—a gorgeous vintage jukebox. Shiny chrome with lilac trim, the forty-five record player visible through the glass. Another addition to Josh’s dream bar in his twin’s house.
“Nice,” Josh muttered, trying to keep the envy from his voice.
“It’s yours,” Jake said.
Josh’s head whipped toward Jake in surprise. “This is my present? For what?”
“It’s a congratulations-on-your-new-bar gift. Whenever you get the addition finished, I’ll have it delivered. What do you think?”
Josh’s throat closed with emotion. Here he’d been envious, when his brother, as usual, was being generous. He swallowed hard, turning back to the jukebox. “It’s really cool. Thank you so much.”
“Sure. It’s an antique. Nineteen sixty-two, fully restored. One hundred twenty selection for forty-five RPM records. You can see the whole thing set and play, stereo sound.”
“It’s amazing.” He turned to Jake. “I really appreciate it.”
Jake nodded, smiling and looking at the jukebox. “Can’t wait to see it in your place. Wanna play pool?”
“Sure.” A weight lifted off him. An awesome present and a game of pool were exactly what he needed to relax after two long days planning and then ditching his stupid date idea for Hailey. He was not a prince by any stretch of the imagination, by deed or title. He was just a guy who owned the local bar. Somehow his big accomplishment—taking ownership of Garner’s—felt too little, too late.
Jake racked up the balls and broke. Josh went into deep-focus mode, some part of him needing the win. Time passed quickly as he kicked his twin’s ass. The weird thing was, Jake didn’t seem to care. Was he letting him win?
Jake set up an impossible shot, aimed, and missed.
Josh finished up, claiming the win.
Jake smiled. “Good game.”
“What’re you so damn happy about?” Josh barked. “I crushed you.”
Jake smiled even wider. “Claire’s pregnant. Nine weeks along. We’re due October thirtieth.” He barked out a laugh. “I’m going to be a dad!”
His chest ached as he stared at his twin’s brilliant smile, pure happiness written all over his face. A wave of intense longing momentarily prevented speech. Jake was leaving him in the dust.
“Josh?”
He snapped to attention. “Congratulations! Wow, that’s big news.” He went over, shook his hand, and gave him a bro hug with a slap on the back for good measure.
Not that life was a contest, but if it was, Jake was winning. His twin had beat him out of the womb by two minutes and had been in the lead ever since—personally and professionally. Thirty-five years old and Jake had it all—hugely successful business, a beautiful home, gorgeous loving wife, and now a baby. Soon Jake would be wrapped up in his new family. They’d probably have a slew of kids. Meanwhile Josh had a crappy one-bedroom apartment and had just drained his savings and gone into debt with a loan to buy the bar. Even owning the bar, finally, didn’t seem enough. No wife, not even a girlfriend. His mood plummeted from shitty to dark despair. If he could’ve cried, he’d be a blubbering mess just like Hailey was in his office two weeks ago. Of course, that was before the playboy prince. Now her life was all sunshine and mansions.
Rock-bottom suckage.Wallow is me.
A stab of guilt hit him as Jake enthusiastically pulled him into a full-on hug before leaning back, holding Josh by the arms. “You’re the first person I told.”
Josh swallowed over the lump in his throat. “Really happy for you and Claire.” He pulled away and turned toward the stairs. “I’m going to go up and tell Claire congrats.”
“Hold up.” Jake went to the wall and pressed on the intercom system. “Paging Claire Jordan. Please report to the man cave.”
