Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
Bax took a deep breath, standing at the door to their house, keys in hand. A couple three days ago, they’d signed everything. Now they had lights and water and more in their name, no realtor in sight and the bed, a fridge and a huge sectional couch were on their way in two hours.
“You ready, babe?”
“I think so. Open the door.” Jason was standing at the top of the stairs, vibrating.
“Okay.” He did, the brand-new key sticking a tiny bit, but it worked. It was just the humidity and salt. Bax was already making lists of things that would take a different kind of maintenance than a small ranch in East Texas.
“We’re in. Come on, Mini. Take that step.”
Jason stood there a second, then nodded like he was riding, and came right to him and they stepped through the door.
He took Jason’s hand and tucked it in against his arm. “You ready to count off the kitchen while there’s nothing in the way?” The staging furniture was all gone. They had a blank slate.
“Yeah. We’re at the front door.” Jason stepped forward and they counted. This was easy. They’d done it in a hundred hotel rooms, at Gramps’, AJ’s. Jason was quick, absorbing all the information.
He just had to make sure he matched his steps to Jason’s natural ones. The first few times, he’d waltzed Jason about, and Mini had run into things. ‘Easy does it’ was better. Jason trusted him to get it right.
“Okay, so reach out now and you have the kitchen island at arm’s length.”
“Are we going to put chairs here? To sit at?” Jason walked around the island, searching it with his hands. “Are there counters all around us?”
“To your left, there’s a pantry cabinet that’s pretty big, then a little counter, then the stove as you start around the U.
The sink is in the middle, directly across from the inside of the island.
” He watched Jason feel his way. “Then you get more counter and cabinets, and the fridge will be at the other end of the U, where you come back past the island.”
“Cool. I like it. It feels good—not crappy, not fancy.”
No, it was right in between. Just perfect for them. “There’s a nuker above the stove and the dishwasher’s…yeah, right there.”
“Oh, cool. I can do that without having to move too much. Not like Momma’s where they stuck it in next to the fridge on the same water line as the ice maker.”
“Right?” Bax took a second to look around, letting himself take it all in. His house. This was somewhere he belonged, something he owned, something permanent and real. He was damn proud, and Jason couldn’t stop grinning, which made it even better.
He could see them, a year or two from now—all their shit around them, dogs and more animals to care for, sitting and listening to the water.
Bax sucked in a breath and held it a second, fighting a rush of shit that he didn’t know how to feel. He sure wouldn’t be able to explain it to anybody.
Jason came around to him, hunting him with outstretched hands, then hugging him close. Lord, it was like Mini felt vibrations from him or something.
Still, he’d take it. He held on tight, breathing with his man. “We got us a house, Mini.”
“Yessir, we did.” Jason sounded about as wigged as he felt.
“There’s not even a place to sit. We should have got us some camp stools.”
“We can sit on the floor. God knows we do it enough at work.” Jason chuckled. “After the couch and all comes, we’ll run to the Walmart and get some food and outside chairs and sunscreen.”
“Sounds like a plan.” That way they could figure out where everything was from their place, see how long it took to run errands. Bax liked a plan.
“We need a big TV with speakers too. And something to play music everywhere. Baby gates. Whoa.”
“I’ll start a list.” They just sat right on the floor where they were, and Bax pulled out his phone to make notes.
“We’ll have to bring the fifth wheel down too and park it here. That’ll be nice, to have room for it.” Jason chuckled softly. “You going to decorate with antlers and horseshoes, man?”
“Hell, we’ll be lucky if there’s anything on the walls two years from now.”
Mini snorted. “Dillon and Emmy will provide art if we don’t. Keep that in mind.”
“Oh God.”
“Right? Momma will help. Then you’ll have sunflowers and horseshoes and a lot of wood signs and shit.” That would be better than a bunch of naked dudes cavorting and tons of heavy glass vases on posts.
“I need the AJ decorating school,” Bax said. “Comfy couches, warm blankets and a few good Western paintings.”
“Amen. I mean, it ain’t like I’ll notice.”
“You will if it’s itchy or smelly.” He leaned on Jason, thinking how tonight they would sit on their couch and watch a movie, then go to their bed.
“We have to buy a comforter and some pillows.” Jason grinned. “A soft one.”
Thank God the washer and dryer had come with the house. They would have a lot of towels, too. Momma had said she was bringing old ones for the beach. “I’ll shore up the parking situation soon, and Jack can help me put in an outdoor shower.”
“Good deal. So…can folks see us on our balcony?”
“Nope. We got no neighbors for half a mile. So unless there’s a boat out there…”
“So, if we had a sturdy lounge chair, we could—” Jason blushed dark.
“We could and now we surely will. That might take a trip to Lowe’s. I’m not sure Walmart makes fucking chairs.” Maybe they did. They’d have to look.
“You’ll have to test them out,” Jase teased, beginning to cackle at him. “Jump up and down on them some, maybe. Or ask Beau and Sam for recommendations…”
“I like that. I’ll call.” He would, too. “Though I reckon Balta would be the one to know, huh?” It was a blessing to have friends he could tease.
“Balta’s as big by himself as both of us put together! All he’d have to do is flop down. Boom!”
“See? He’ll know what to buy,” he said, laughing like a loon.
“Did we call him?”
Bax shook his head, then rolled his eyes at himself. “Nah. I texted him. He’s been busy, so I just wanted to let him know without any pressure.”
“I texted Beau and them too. The Taggarts are close enough to just visit on a whim.”
“There are Taggarts everywhere.” Adam and Bryan and Chrissie got around. Bax loved them so hard.
“You know it.” Jason chuckled. “We need a grill, man. You burn good meat.”
Bax added a pork loin, seasonings and a grill to the Walmart list. Their bank accounts were smaller, but life itself was just fine.
Hell, after he did them commercials… They could do this. They had this.
“Let’s go walk to the bathroom down here, and I want to explore the sunroom.”
“You got it.” They both climbed to their feet, wandering all over the main level, then checked out the downstairs, too—and the garage, which was the closest outbuilding.
“Monica said they used to park a food truck in here. That’s why it’s raised too, to keep water damage out.”
“Cool. Is it big enough for the fifth wheel?”
“It might just be.” Then they wouldn’t have to worry on it.
They had room to anchor a carport on a slab near the house that would survive most anything, and Corpus wasn’t as prone to the big storms as, say, Galveston.
Bax would do some measuring before they brought down the big trailer. “Looks solid as a rock.”
“If it doesn’t, we’ll figure something else. Hell, you could have a workshop.” A moment of sadness crossed Jason’s face, then it disappeared. “We need a practice barrel out here, for fun.”
“That’s a good idea, Mini.” They would find Jason’s new thing. Maybe they’d set up a little music area in the sunroom. Jason loved to play the guitar. “I’ll ask AJ how he set his up.”
“Sounds like a plan. Does it feel real yet?” Jason’s grin told him that this wasn’t a question coming from worry, but from joy.
“It feels fucking amazing, babe. We got us a place. Just ours. You feeling all adult yet?” Bax felt like a big faker sometimes, but today he felt real. Proud.
“I am.” Jason lifted his face to the sun again, looking like he was this sun worshipper cowboy type. “I can smell the water, Bax.”
“I know. You good?” Hell, he could see Jason was, but he wanted to hear it. Bax needed to know Mini was in a good spot. It was a hard road they were riding.
“I am. I’m going to ride my ass off. I’m going to take the championship. I’m going to come back here, to our house, and get me learning and a dog.”
His man with a plan.
Bax just grabbed Jason and held on like he did when he was riding. He was nothing if not stubborn. “I’m with you.”
“Then we got it.” Jason bumped shoulders with him. “I think, for now, we’ll need a set of ropes out to here and out to the water. I can get to the truck just fine.”
“Yeah. I can do that.” He’d been thinking about how to anchor things so the wind and salt and all wouldn’t be too much of a factor. Bax loved that he was going to flex his working man muscles and get some shit done.
He was going to make them a home, make this place right for them. Dammit.
So. They would go hit the Walmart once the big furniture came.
Grab some food. Then he would make sure he had enough daylight to string some of the ropes Jason would need first while he let Jason set up some of the fridge and stuff like he wanted it.
Mini did great as long as things stayed in the same place every time.
They were going to sleep in their bed in their house tonight. Jesus. That brought goosebumps all up over his skin.
They just sort of sat there holding hands until they heard the big delivery truck pull up. Then they grinned at each other again.
“Time to get to work, Mini.”
“Yessir. I’m on it.” Jason chuckled softly, then they both started howling, letting that hint of sorrow out. A man had to laugh sometimes, so he could re-right his shit.
They did have a hell of a lot to do, though, so the moment had to pass. They got up and got moving, and Bax wouldn’t let Jason fall.
Not even for a minute.