Page 18

Chapter Seventeen

Travis

" S o you have a month to find a new house back in Canada."

I nearly tripped over the sand—which would’ve been, like, really pathetic.

Except I’d never been in sand. Or if I had, it’d been a million years ago.

I was a child of the city. The concrete jungle.

All my playgrounds had been asphalt. God help you if you fell.

Skinned knees, anyone? "What the fu…dge are you talkin’ about?

Isaiah has a nice condo. Houses are expensive in Vancouver. "

Nana halted.

I did as well. And faced her.

"No. You make Isaiah sell his condo and buy a big house. My cousin's daughter, Alicia, is coming to Canada soon. I expect her to stay with you, and you look after her while she's there at university."

I blinked. “Uh. No way. I mean, what the fu.. dge?"

"Nope—you must do as I say."

I just stared.

"Yes. And Libby’s boy, Patrick, will be needing somewhere to stay in a couple of months. He can stay with you."

“With us?” I sort of felt like a broken record. Because even though the words changed, the disbelief didn’t.

She tapped her chin. "Yes. Matthew is getting into trouble at school—maybe we’ll send him to you for six months and get him away from the bad influence." She grinned. “And there you go. You’re going to make all our problems go away.”

“Me and Mallow?”

She cocked her head.

“Sorry, me and Isaiah? Isaiah and I?” Man, grammar should’ve been the last thing on my mind.

“Yes. It is decided. You go home and buy a house.”

I started doing the calculations in my mind. Maybe if we bought something in the suburbs. We could pool his money from the condo and the money I’d saved for my retirement. I could work another few years. Or maybe forever.

Whatever. If Mallow wanted this, then we’d find a way to make it work.

“You’re a smart man.” She pressed a hand against my heart. “You’ll figure it out.”

“Uh…sure…” I was in no way convinced, but I’d damn well do my best.

Later that night, as we sat around the bonfire, Mallow tugged me close. We hadn’t spoken all day. Nana had me doing various tasks, chores, and—of all things—helping out in the kitchen.

Libby had been kind, considerate, and—above all else—patient.

I was a slow learner, but I didn’t fuck up anything too badly, so dinner had been served on time.

“What did Nana say?” Mallow whispered the words into my ear as the children danced around in an attempt to replicate their parents’ performance from a couple of nights previous.

To varying degrees of success.

“I’m not sure you want to know.”

He nuzzled behind my ear.

My favorite spot. Which meant I was putty in his hands.

“She says I need to convince you to sell your condo and buy a house so all your family can come and stay. Hell, she wants some to move in.”

“Mmm.” He nipped my earlobe. “What did you say?”

“What the fuck?” I swallowed. “Okay, maybe what the fudge ?”

He laughed.

“I’m trying to be serious, Isaiah.”

He pulled back. Whether because of my tone or because of my using his proper name, I wasn’t certain. He touched my cheek. “What are you afraid of?”

“I’m not—” I stopped abruptly. Of course I was terrified.

Who wouldn’t be? We’d known each other three months.

I’d never had any stable relationship in my life.

My mother had been gone longer than I’d had her.

I never did more than one-night stands. Hell, my right hand got more use than me being with other people.

So the idea of spending the rest of my life with someone—anyone—terrified me.

But I was especially petrified because this was Mallow.

My Mallow. The man I loved. I’d told the kids as much this morning and, after Nana made her appearance, I realized she, and Mallow, had probably overheard us.

“I’m afraid of disappointing you.” I pointed to my face.

“A face only a mother could love.” Something I’d repeated to myself over and over.

Only my mother had never had that opportunity.

And I certainly hadn’t sought out anyone who might disagree.

Mallow cocked his head. “Have you looked around lately?”

I did a quick sweep of the group. “Uh, sure…?”

“And did you notice Paul’s tattoos? And Peter’s? And Libby’s?”

“Well, yeah.”

He snorted. “Sweetheart, I’m surrounded by ink.

I’ve chosen not to get tattoos while I’m playing, but I’ll certainly get them once I retire.

Where they can be covered up so I don’t have a problem with the school board.

When I retire from teaching, though, I’ll do my forearms, hands, and face.

This is part of who I am. I might be a good Canadian boy, but my heart is also here.

With my family. I want to express that as well. In good time.”

“So you don’t…?” I waved in the direction of my face.

“Think you’re some kind of criminal? Or that someone slashed your face in a knife fight?

” He snickered. “I know you’re not a bad guy—in any sense of the word—and an industrial accident by a careless employer doesn’t reflect on you.

It reflects poorly on them, and they should’ve faced steeper punishments.

But none of that matters. Literally. All I see is the man I love.

” He grinned. “The man who, I believe, told my nieces and nephews this morning that he loved me.”

“Uh…you overheard that?”

“What? You giving great advice? Yes. Because obviously you care. And that means everything to me. So they’re coming to stay, eh? I guess we’ll have to find a way to get a house.”

I squinted into the fire. “I might’ve snuck a look at Vancouver real estate.”

He laughed. “Oh dear.”

“I might’ve found a place in the east end. Near where I used to live. On a nice street, though. It’s a down-to-the-studs gut job. Will take a lot of money both to buy and to renovate.”

“Well, that’s not a problem.”

“Oh really? How’s that?”

“Three things.” He gave me that look.

“Okay…hit me.”

“First, I have some equity in my condo.”

“And I have my retirement savings.” He had to know I was invested in this—however we were going to make it work.

“We might not need that.”

I started to speak.

He placed a finger to my lips.

I desisted.

“Second, there’s an inheritance. Each grandchild gets a small amount either when they marry or when they turn thirty.”

“I’m amazed everyone isn’t married.”

“Ah, but Nana has to approve. And before you ask, she’s given us her blessing. If we marry, that small inheritance is mine.”

“I don’t want her to think I’m marrying you for the money.”

He guffawed. “It’s not that much money. And I told her that you didn’t know about it.”

“Which I didn’t.”

“Right. So I didn’t have to lie to my grandmother.”

“Okay. What’s the third?”

“Well, two more.”

God help me. “Sure…”

“Mama’s lonely.”

That had me sitting up. “Maria? She said that?”

He nodded. “She thought she’d be okay in her studio apartment, but she misses me.”

“And you miss her.”

“Right. Now, do you want your mother-in-law living with you?”

“There’s a legal suite. She’d have her own space.”

He laughed. “Oh God, you have this all worked out.”

I waved him off. “What’s the third thing? Or is it the fourth?”

“Patience.”

“Not a virtue I’m known for.”

“That is true.” He squeezed my hand. “When Roger and Becca bought their house—just before the birth of their fourth child—everyone pitched in to do the renovations. If I ask, I believe we’d have a pod of Orcas descend to help.

We could have your down- to-the-studs home habitable in a short period.

With Maria and Becca decorating, I believe it would be livable—and beautiful—in no time. ” He snapped his fingers.

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

“It sounds too easy.”

He shrugged. “Life can be easy sometimes. If we live in the east end, we’ll both have to commute to our jobs and to the stadium.”

“We’d manage.” I’d spent a few hours thinking about how we might make this work.

“Then let’s call the realtor tomorrow. Roger and Becca can arrange a home inspection so everything’s ready to go when we get home.”

“Just like that?”

“Yeah, just like that.” He pressed a kiss to my lips. “Well, first we go to an All-Blacks game.”

“You don’t want to stay? Play for the best team in the world?”

He tilted his head. “Was that always a dream? Sure. Every kid who plays rugby dreams big. But Canada’s my home. And the odds of me making the squad are infinitesimal. The odds of making a happy life with you are so, so, so much better. I like playing to win.”

I couldn’t believe how simple he made everything sound.

“Are you going to tell Nana, or am I?”

“We’ll tell her together.”

And the next day, we did.