Page 89 of If You Were Mine
“I know you said you were going to plan on selling that old place, but I want it.”
I blinked. “What?” There was no way I’d heard him right.
Hudson wouldn’t look at me, his voice gruff. “The old cabin. The Ackerson place. I want it.”
“Why do you want it? It’s a piece of shit. And it nearly killed me and Wellesley.” I’d rather burn it to the ground than step foot in that place again.
“I know it’s a piece of shit, but I just have an idea. I’ll buy it from you over market price. But I don’t want it out of the family.”
That was it. My brother had officially lost his damn mind. “I don’t know if it was technically really part of something that we want our family legacy to be.”
“No, not that. I just like the real estate.”
I narrowed my gaze. “Are you fucking with me?”
“It’s between two of our lots, I don’t want a stranger there. Just let me have my way. For once. Just let me.”
Considering Hudson never asked for things, yes he sometimes demanded things like privacy, but he was usually the guy who just did things on his own and didn’t ask for help.
So if he wanted this, it was for a reason. Maybe it was privacy, maybe it was something I was never going to understand. “I’ll sell it to you for five dollars. How’s that?”
My brother blinked at me, jaw dropping. “Is this how you do business down in Denver with all of your companies?”
“No, he knows if he sells it for more than that, I’ll get grumpy.”
My entire body warmed as I looked over at Wellesley. I knew she had to deal with a few things at the bakery, and had been downright mean to me when I had said I would stay with her. I hadn’t wanted her out of my sight, but I had finally given in.
Because I loved her, and frankly, she could kick my ass. And I would probably deserve it.
“Baby,” I said, my spine softening.
She wrapped her arms around me, as I did the same to her. We were both still healing, and while she was not allowed to lift anything heavy, she still liked to spend a couple of hours a day in the bakery.
I had almost lost the love of my life, and I was never going to let myself forget that.
“Hi. Sorry I’m late. Scarlett dropped me off, so I didn’t walk anywhere. I promise. Now, sell the place to him like you said you were for five dollars. And if Hudson fights you on it, I’ll sick Scarlett on him.”
“That’s mean,” my brother growled, but I just threw my head back and laughed.
“I love you so fucking much,” I said softly.
“I love you too. And I know I’m the luckiest girl in the world. Just saying.”
I leaned forward and captured her lips with mine, ignoring the hoots and hollers in the room.
My entire family was watching at this point, and I could not care less. All that mattered was I had Harper Wellesley in my arms. Our life wasn’t perfect. And we weren’t going to be okay and happy every day. We had suffered losses that seemed insurmountable, but we would survive. There was truly no other option. She was my everything. The one person I would protect no matter what. The person I loved more than anyone.
Hudson sighed. “Fine, five dollars. But don’t you dare sick Scarlett on me.” Hudson growled a bit more and stomped off to the kitchen, ignoring everybody who told him to just sit down and relax. None of us seemed like relaxing tonight.
I wrapped my arms a little tighter around Harper, knowing that we were both still a little sore.
Sore enough that it had been far too long since I’d felt her around me, the heat of her, the need of her. And from the way that her eyes darkened, I knew she was feeling the same thing.
“Six more days,” she whispered.
I groaned and captured her lips with mine. Somebody threw a folded up napkin at me, and I ignored it, holding Harper closer.
This was our new home. Maybe not underneath this roof, but my other house on the opposite end of the lake. I could work remotely, and we could go down to the city when needed. Hell, if Wellesley let me, we’d be opening another Rising Cage in Denver. We could always use another bakery in the family.
