Page 44 of Developing Hearts (Pine Point Fixer-Uppers #5)

Mason

Three Months Later

Surrounded by brightly colored carnival glass—plates and cups and candy dishes in iridescent jewel tones—Mason helped Aras gather up drinks for the cooler. “You really do have a nice place.”

“Well, I know some halfway decent home renovators. And Evander.”

“I heard that!” Evander and Ozzy were both on the sofa, tangled up in each other.

“That was the point, asshole. Stop making out on my couch and do something useful.”

“We’re guests .” Evander stood anyway and slapped his hands on his hips. “Just because Mason doesn’t know how to stop working doesn’t mean you can hold us all to that standard.”

“It’s my house. I can hold you to any standard I want.”

“I hear shouting?” Dane, Aras’s boyfriend, walked in. He had a shock of red hair on top of his head, actually gelled up into a proper mohawk for the day. He was slight and pale, and the oversized tank top he was wearing accentuated that.

Aras shook his head. “Just trying to convince our guests that making out on my sofa isn’t appropriate behavior.”

“There was no making out,” said Ozzy. “Yet.”

Dane shook his head, then kissed Aras on the lips. “Get the drinks outside, then you can yell all you want, okay?”

“Anything for you.” They finished loading up the beers and seltzers and wine coolers, then Aras took one side of the cooler and Mason took the other, and they headed outside.

There wasn’t room for everyone on the patio, which filled Mason with more than a little joy. For so long, they’d all been apart. Their friendships had shattered apart. Yet now, not only was the Pine Point Fixer-Uppers crew all back together, they’d grown.

Jake sat next to Quinn, casually holding hands with his dark-haired boyfriend. It was the most relaxed he could recall seeing Quinn, wearing swim trunks and no shirt. They didn’t glom onto each other, but they always kept some kind of contact with one another.

Bunny and her husband, Xander, were sitting cross-legged on the grass. He was still as handsome as he had been in high school, but his hard-edged face had softened with age. And with the smile he got from watching their son run around. He had to be the cutest six-year-old in the world.

Mason and Aras dropped off the cooler on the very edge of the patio, so it was easily accessible to everyone. Aras clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Thanks for helping with everything. Not exactly used to playing the good hostess.”

“Hey, keeping everyone on the crew together and working properly is my job.”

“Well, you’re off the clock, so accept the gratitude.” Aras rolled his eyes…then smiled. Being with Dane had been great for Aras. He was still himself, just not quite so angry and distant all the time.

The doorbell rang and Mason’s heart lightened up. There were only two arrivals left, and one of them, he was really waiting for. David was driving over.

Aras went in and opened the door, and then a cavalcade swarmed through the house. Robinson was followed by three teenage boys. Mason couldn’t call Colby, Nick, and Ryan his stepsons at this point, but he had a sneaking suspicion it wouldn’t be long before Robinson and Chuck got engaged, at least.

Chuck himself brought up the rear. He was a distinguished guy, about ten years older than Robinson, but he wore it well.

Slight gray in his beard, fine lines in the corners of his eyes, but still a tall, almost imposing figure.

Except that Mason knew him well enough not to be imposed at all.

Chuck was a sweetheart, and spent a lot more time hitting the books than hitting the gym.

Robinson veered straight for Mason and wrapped an arm around him, still carrying a bag of food in the other hand. “You look so good.”

“I look the same.”

“No, you look way happier.” He took a step back. “And you probably want to head inside and help your boyfriend. He brought something that looks way too big for him to carry, but he insisted the boys shouldn’t help him out.”

Mason’s heart fluttered. It wasn’t like he and David spent no time together.

They lived close enough that they saw each other a lot.

So much that Mason had even gotten closer with his aunt and uncle, since David visited with them every time he came to Pine Point, now.

That didn’t make him any less excited to see his boyfriend, and to know that David had made it up into the mountains in one piece.

He strode through the house and out the front door. David was carrying a stack of boxes that went up under his chin, and from the strain on his biceps, they were heavy. Without asking, Mason took the top three. “Babe, let’s not ruin that perfect little body of yours, okay?”

“I had it.” His arms relaxed. “But thanks.”

“What exactly did you bring, anyway?”

“Some food…and some gifts.” Then he rushed ahead without further explanation. Mason glanced down at the top of his stack. It bore a label that said Pinafore Bakery, so he had to assume that was the food, and he resisted the urge to check out what must have been the gifts down below.

When he walked in, Aras was actually giving David a hug—a brief one, but still—and the others had come in to help him with the packages.

Bunny went for Mason and took the top box. “Gang’s all here.”

“Yeah.” He set the boxes down where David did, in a stack next to the sliding doors into Aras’s backyard. “Hell of a gang we’ve put together.”

She looped her arm through his, elbow to elbow. “We did good. We managed to raise them up into fine young men.”

“Not nearly as fine as your husband.” He kept his voice low. It wasn’t like anyone thought Mason was going to step out on David…but Xander was a handsome man. No question, and no point lying.

“Oh, stop. You hooked up with a god damned supermodel.” She kissed him on the cheek, then went over to the cooler to get a couple of beers.

David took her place. “What’s this I hear about you thinking some other man is good looking? Do I need to get into a fight?”

Mason raised an eyebrow, then pointed to Xander. “If you think you can take him, be my guest.”

David clicked his tongue. “Damn. No, you were right. He’s a good looking man.” He wrapped both arms around Mason. “I’m still happy with the model I settled on, though.”

“Oh, you settled for me, huh?” A few months ago, that would have been enough of a source of worry to send Mason on a bender.

Now, he rode along with it. David had proved over and over, in every interaction, that he was with Mason.

Fully. Completely. Ignoring that much evidence would have been illogical.

Aras clapped his hands. “All right, we’ve got food and drink. Get served up, then we can start the main event.”

“Hold on.” David of all people spoke up. “I wanted to thank everyone.” He looked around. “Everyone who helped get my house put together, and brought me a boyfriend in the same package.”

“Oh, you too?” said Quinn.

David nodded. “Me too.” He went over to the gifts and quickly did the rounds, passing them out. “It’s not much, but it’s what I could manage.” He ended with Mason, handing him a box with his name on top in calligraphy.

Mason didn’t hesitate to open it up. Inside was a framed drawing. His own face. The one from the sketchbook, the one that had finally busted through whatever block David was having. A quick glance around at those close enough showed Mason they were all drawings, all presumably from the sketchbook.

“These are so good.” Chuck beamed at Robinson first, then at David. “You’re quite the artist.”

“I try.”

There was a bit of back and forth, everyone looking at everyone else’s drawing.

Then they all plated up, got drinks, and moved to sit by the pool.

Aras had one hell of a setup for a guy who didn’t have company until recently.

The kids played in the water, along with Bunny, who stayed in just in case her son needed a rescue.

But even she watched the outdoor TV that hung over the opposite end of the pool.

Mason recognized it. It was a nice TV, if a few years out of date, and designed for outdoor spaces, which meant the colors were more saturated than usual, and the anti-glare coating on the screen was impeccable.

So they didn’t lose any fidelity to the sunlight.

Aras moved over to the brand new HomescapesTV app and clicked on it. Which was when Evander rose up. “Jake and I have our own surprise. Before we start.”

It was only then that Mason noticed Jake had disappeared. He looked around, and saw him walking back out of the house with a woman on his arm. Thin, wearing an uncharacteristically casual jeans and a blue V-neck. Eliza Kaplan waved to them all as she approached.

There was a round of greetings, Aras even getting her a drink from the cooler so she didn’t have to step away. Mason nodded to her and offered his seat, but she declined, instead moving to stand next to the TV. “Hey, everyone. I don’t want to cramp your style—”

“You’re not,” said Bunny. “Stay and relax.”

“Oh, I will.” She clasped her hands down at her waist, large eyes even wider than usual. “But I have an announcement, since you’re all about to watch the show.” Her face split into a smile. “We’ve already been renewed. If you all will take the offer, Homescapes is ready for another season.”

It was fantastic news, to be certain, but Mason looked around at everyone, and everyone else was also looking around at everyone. He saw little nods, tilts of the head, lips quirking up. Tiny, silent communication. The kind that wouldn’t have worked if they didn’t all know each other so well.

Then all eyes landed back on Mason, and he got the message clear as day “We’ll need to…negotiate a little more time to rest between jobs, I think.” He looped an arm around David’s waist. “You might have noticed that no one’s single anymore.”

Eliza waved that concern away. “You’re the talk of the network right now. You’ve got leverage.”

So Mason nodded. “We’d be ecstatic to jump back on the ride and go again.”

When he said that, there were cheers, and Eliza’s shoulders slumped, like she’d released a bunch of tension. She also downed the entire hard seltzer in one go, which led to even more cheers until she plopped into a chair.

Mason approached her and spoke low. “You didn’t think we’d say no, did you?”

“Of course I did. No offense, but none of you had much going on when I made the offer the first time. Things are different now.”

Mason conceded the point. “We owe the show for things being different. We owe you for things being different. We’re not about to turn our backs on all of this now.”

“Good. Because I have the contracts in the car. After all’s said and done.”

“Of course you do.” He gestured to the cooler. “You want another drink.”

Her eyes turned toward the screen, and a much more natural smile sat on her lips. “No, I think I’m going to watch you all react to this first. Want to be mostly sober for that.”

Mason left her to it. Once everyone had settled back down, Aras finally scrolled down to the show. It was a cute logo, a pine tree silhouette with thee words coming out of the trunk.

Aras hit play and jaunty piano music started, overlaying footage from their VideoHead channel while Mason’s own voiceover explained the situation. “We fixed up the houses in Pine Point, Washington. Now, we’re heading out to fix up…the rest of America.”

And they had. And they would again.

But more than any of that, they’d fixed up themselves.

As a group—finally, a cohesive group once again—they all wooted and hollered when the title screen came across and the first shot of them in the car on the way to Quinn’s house played.

They’d come a long way since then. Mason gripped David’s hand and stared at the screen.

We’ll keep going. Together.