Page 53 of From the Ground Up

Me:LOL This entire thread made me so happy.

My Girl:Ugh. Ok, I’ll see you soon. I promise. Even with the SLOW lines.

Me:Drive safe. Love you.

My Girl:Love you.

Well, that was fun. At least our texting keeps us both entertained. I figure I have at least thirty minutes until Tess gets back. The nearest town is about twenty minutes away, and it sounds like she is just out grabbing some groceries. I hop in and out of the shower real quick, pull on a pair of jeans and a dark blue flannel shirt, and start a fire in the wood-burning stove that sits in the corner of the room. While I’m twisting newspapers and strategically placing logs in the woodstove, I call James to check in on everything at home. Tess and I may be away from home to reconnect with each other, but we’ve still made sure to keep in contact with the kids.

It’s about nine o’clock, so I know the kids will be at school already, but we talked to each of them last night, so now is really just checking in with James to make sure there isn’t anything he needs to tell me that he can’t when the kids are around. I find his name in my recent calls and press send.

After just the second ring, he picks up, “Hey brother!”

“Hey there. How was your morning?”

“Oh the typical. Saving lives by finding Mags’ missing algebra book, making Harper the best eggs she’s ever eaten in her entire history of ever eating eggs, her words, not mine, and feeling like a total wimp after watching Grady work out on his torture chamber.”

“Yep. Sounds about right.” I laugh.

“Seriously, Barrett. Grady is getting huge. Maybe there’s something to that thing.”

“I know. Every time I go out there with him, though, it totally kicks my ass.”

He busts out laughing. “I can see that. It’s hell.”

“Yep.” I laugh again. “So, how are things going? We talked to the kids last night, you know, but I figured you’d be able to tell us more when they’re not hanging on your every word.”

“You know them well. I bow to you.”

We both laugh lightly. He’s such a smartass.

“Honestly, it’s going well. Maggie is Maggie — you know. She always just lets life roll off her shoulders. I can’t believe how carefree she is. She definitely got that from you. Tess was never that way growing up.”

“No, she wasn’t. Still isn’t. She has gotten more easygoing as I’ve forced it on her by being around my awesome self,” I say only to be interrupted by James.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, as I was saying. Maggie is great. Easy peasy. But Barrett — you’re gonna have trouble soon. A few of Grady’s buddies were over after practice last night. Fair warning. It does not go unnoticed that Grady’s little sister is gorgeous, easy going, athletic, and a generally happy girl who’s able to just hang as one of the guys and doesn’t try to show off for them all the time. It also doesn’t go unnoticed that Grady would rather cut his left arm off than watch his sister date. So I think you’re safe, for now anyway, but the minute Grady is off to college, it’ll be like open season.”

I groan in response and drop my head into my hand. This isn’t news to me. She’s a replica of her mother. She is gorgeous, and I don’t just think that because she’s my little girl. “I know this, but thank you very much for the reminder. I told Brandon that he needed to somehow infiltrate back into the school next year so he could take over in Grady’s absence.”

James laughs loudly. “Good plan. Probably better than you stalking the halls.”

“I’m not above it. So, what else? Grady? How is he doing with everything that happened?”

“He’s managing – seems to be doing well, actually. Like I said, he kicked some butt out there on his torture chamber this morning. I almost I threw up for him. He’s been working especially hard since he had a two-game suspension for the fight. Even though he still goes to practice, I guess he just wants to prove to Coach Mac that he’s still the same guy. You know him better than I do.”

I place another log on the fire and use the fireplace poker to move the wood around. The flames begin to really build, so I slowly close the glass door then move over to the couch and settle in with a cup of coffee, propping my sock covered feet on the coffee table and crossing my ankles. Damn, this after the day of nakedness, this was the best decision we ever made. I haven’t been this relaxed in years.

“I know the suspension about killed him, but I think he’s worrying the most over what this could potentially do for his scholarships. According to his coach, he doesn’t have anything to worry about though.”

“He talked to me about that the first night I was here,” he tells me.

“That doesn’t surprise me. I hate that it happened, but I do like that it knocked him on his ass a bit. Knowing that there are consequences for your actions is a hard lesson to learn.”

“For sure. I don’t blame him for what he did though.”

“Nope.”

“How about this for a development only about eight years in the making. I think it’s safe to say that he and Bri are officially out of the friend zone, though. About damn time, if you ask me,” he mutters the last sentence.

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