Page 93 of Insta-Family (Forbidden Descendants 3)

I shrugged. “Just me and Lucy.”

“Hm.” Gray nodded and slid his gaze back to the steaks. When he licked his lips, and then commented on how thick and juicy they looked, I sighed, realizing I would probably only be getting one extra steak for the rest of the week after all.

“You want one?” I reluctantly asked. “Lucy’s got a pasta salad chilling too.”

“Really?” His eyes immediately lit up. “Well, I can’t turn down a nice, thick steak. I’ll call the wife and see if she wants to chip in another side.”

And there went my last extra steak. But instead of mourning the loss, I smiled. “Sounds good.”

“So anyway,” he went on after shooting off a quick text. He opened his briefcase. “Back to the initial reason I stopped by. We’ve had a few developments on your house. I would’ve called, but it was near the end of the day and Lucy’s place is on my way home, so I thought I’d just deliver the news in person.”

“Oh?” My brows furrowed in immediate concern, certain something was wrong, like maybe he was going to tell me he couldn’t sell my house after all. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, definitely,” he assured and grinned in encouragement before explaining, “So we’ve had the stager come in and set up furniture and get pictures taken, got the pre-listing inspection done, made our brochures, and put up the for sale sign out front, then listed it on our site. We even cleaned all the stains out of the carpets, patched the holes in the walls, and did a little touch-up painting here and there...”

“Okay,” I murmured, following along.

Sweeping out a hand, Gracen went on. “That all happened incredibly fast. Faster than usual. So today, only two days after putting it on the market, we got our first nibble. Except, alright, sorry.” He paused to shake his head and sigh in delight. “Nibble is actually an understatement. Two different parties have already made a freaking offer, and both are willing to pay your asking price.”

“What? Really?” I blinked, not expecting so much interest. And so soon.

“Yep. One is some guy who buys a lot of real estate from us and makes his money flipping houses. Then, there’s a family who only made two requests for changes before agreeing to close the deal. Very minor things too.”

I furrowed my brow, thinking the place had been in pretty good shape. “What things?”

Gracen nodded and flicked up his index finger. “One, they wanted an updated range in the kitchen plus a refrigerator. And two...” A second finger came up. “In the master bathroom, they want the toilet to flush without having to jiggle the handle.”

I blinked then shook my head. “That’s it?” Well, that didn’t sound bad at all.

Gracen grinned. “That’s it.”

“Wow.”

“I know, right? I’m used to crazy haggling with people. But this couple was already all-in and ready to commit. I guess a flood took their last place, and they’ve been staying with different family members for the past year, except they have two small boys, and things are getting hectic with all the shifting from temporary place to temporary place. When they finally got their insurance payout this month, they were hungry to jump on the first acceptable place they found.”

“Two small boys?” I asked, smiling slightly at that, my heart expanding with nostalgia as I remembered watching television in the living room with my feet up while Duke was jumping on the couch before our mom appeared in the doorway, yelling at us both to keep our shoes off the furniture.

I wanted exactly that for my old house again. It needed that kind of love and wear on it.

“Either offer is solid and dependable if you want to accept one,” Gracen was telling me. “But I would be lax in my duties if I didn’t tell you I honestly think you could make more if you got them in a bidding war and—”

“No,” I broke in. “Give it to the family. I want them to have it. Whatever they’re asking.”

A flicker of sympathy but also maybe pride flashed across Gracen’s features before he nodded. “I had a feeling you’d say that. I’ll make sure the deal gets sealed, then.”

“Thank you.”

So that was that, I decided. I was selling my house.

I was moving forward and now so was my childhood home. There was no going back for either of us.

Looking at Ava contentedly chewing on her toes as she sat on my lap, I realized I was at peace with this.

27

VAUGHN

“God, to be able to stretch my legs around like that,” Gracen said from the picnic table, making me realize he was watching Ava eat her toes as well.

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