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“Thank you!” Farrah replied. “Want a tour? We just had some of Drew’s newer art framed for decoration.”

Maggie nodded, and I excused myself to go out back and talk to Gage. When I stepped on the back porch, he glanced over at me. “Hey, Rhett.”

I stared at him in shock. “You call this a grill? Looks more like a rocket ship.”

Gage smirked. “I am still a billionaire, you know.”

“So what does this thing do?” I asked, going to a cooler in the corner of the patio and pulling out a beer. “For what I’m assuming it cost, tell me it blows you.”

Gage chuckled as he closed the lid. “It grills, smokes, and there’s a griddle inside if I wanted to cook that way. Best meat you’ve ever tasted—and you can tell Dad I said so.”

“Yeah, you know the whole ‘kill the messenger’ thing?” I teased.

He took a swig from his beer. “True. Hey, there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about.”

“Shoot.”

He went to the patio table and sat, gesturing I should do the same.

“Shit.”

“It’s good news,” he replied, looking up at me.

I sat down, waiting.

He folded his hands atop the table. “I checked the investments I made for your brokerage account, and one of the businesses you invested in blew up.”

My lips parted. “Blew up how? Like with a bomb?”

His smile was growing by the second. “I mean you have enough money for a down payment on that plot of land, maybe even a little extra to start putting in the water and electric infrastructure.”

My jaw was hanging on the floor at this point. “You’re shitting me.”

Gage shook his head.

“But that wasn’t supposed to happen for another eight years!”

“Caught a lucky break,” he said with a shrug.

My throat felt tight. “You know you work toward something so long you start to wonder if it’s ever going to happen.”

Gage said, “I never had a doubt.”

“I had doubts. A lot of doubts. Especially last year when I found out...” My throat closed up, and I absently rubbed the place on the back of my neck where the last spot had been removed.

Gage held his hand out for me to shake. “Congratulations, Rhett. You did it.”

I gripped his hand, giving him a hug. “Thank you, brother.”

After we hugged, he shook his head at me. “You fucker, I told you I would have bought it for you five years ago. I had the money. Still do.”

“Yeah, but then it wouldn’t have felt like mine.” I glanced through the screen door where I saw Mags, Cora, and Farrah chatting at the kitchen table. “And now it can be ours.”

59

MAGNOLIA

I fellasleep on the way home Sunday, feeling more at peace than I had in a really long time. I remembered living in Austin, going to work, taking courses, and still feeling like I’d never get any closer to my dream of owning my own salon, much less having a family of my own.