Page 43 of Off Plan

And Life Rules were Life Rules, forever and ever. Amen.

“Fenn! Fenn Reardon!” a familiar voice bellowed from downstairs.

I stood and pulled back the curtains to find my uncle waving up at me. His T-shirt was orange today with the wordMAYORwritten in orange across the front in shiny block letters, like we were celebrating Halloween five months early.

Jesus. How many of those shirts did he have?

“You done yet?” he yelled, hands on his hips.

I threw open the door and stepped out on the shared balcony.

“Nope.”

“Yeah, ya are. Stop mooning over Mason’s tighty-whiteys and get over to the house. I’ve got another job for ya and a big announcement!”

“Wait, what?” I hadnotbeen thinking about Mason’s underwear.

Though, if I had been, I’d have pegged him as the type to wear tight, black boxer briefs. The plain kind that hugged every curve, and…

How the hell did Rafe know what kind of underwear he wore, anyway?

And what announcement?

By the time I thought about any of these excellent questions, it was too late to ask. Rafe had disappeared through the trees toward his house, whistling a peppy tune.

I rubbed a hand over my face and went back to Mason’s room to collect my tools and vacuum, then—under duress, mind you—marched my ass next door.

I walked into the kitchen and found Young Rafe and Beale sitting silently, their bulky frames making the little table and chairs look like doll furniture. Rafe, who was just a fraction leaner than his younger brother with hair more black than brown, stared down at his phone and didn’t acknowledge my arrival. He looked vaguely pissed off, but that was so common these days, the real shock would have been seeing him happy.

Beale gave me his usual cheery greeting. “Morning, Fenn. Eye looks way better today.”

“Mmm. A week’ll do that,” I said sourly, heading for the coffeepot. “What’s this announcement?”

“Dunno.” Beale shrugged. “We were on the other side of the island, looking at the roof on Grandma Goodman’s old place to get it fit for human habitation so Rafe can move in—”

I poured myself a cup of coffee from the pot on the counter. “Aw! Are you identifying ashumannow, Rafe? Congrats, bud!”

Rafe raised his middle finger in a salute but didn’t otherwise look up from his phone.

“Anyway.We got a text from Dad, who told us to come home and wait in the kitchen. So here we are.” Beale stretched his long arms toward the ceiling. “I bet it’s about the Extravaganza, though. It’s all he talks about.”

I grunted in acknowledgement of this and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter. “Rafe, you get your Jeep fixed yet?”

Rafe nodded absently. “You were right. Ignition coil.” He lifted his head from his phone and speared me with a glance. “Two hundred American dollars later.”

I winced. “Sucks.”

“Mostly sucks because you called it, and I shouldn’t have had to take it in at all. One of these days, you’re gonna trust that you know what you’re doing, rather than second-guessing every damn thing.”

“Yeah, well.” I sank into the seat opposite him and stretched out my long legs. “Last Friday was not that day. Today’s not either.”

Rafe snorted, but when he looked back down at his phone, a muscle in his jaw ticked.

“What’s your phone done that makes you look even grumpier than usual?” I demanded.

“I might have a fairly good idea what my dad’s announcement is about.” He slid his phone across the table in my direction without meeting my eyes. “Gage sent me this a minute ago.”

I took the phone and scrolled up, seeing the headline of the local paper.