Chapter 17 #2
‘Why not?’ Nick says. ‘You got nothing else going on. Nash said he left you some trim pieces. Start with that.’
‘I’ll work on it when I’m ready.’ I give Nick a look to shut up, but as my big brother, he never listens to me.
‘Hey.’ Jason nudges me. ‘I want to ask you something. Let’s go in the back.’
I get up and follow him through the bar. I know he’s going to yell at me about the house, but that’s better than staying at the table and having the whole family ask me about it.
‘Why aren’t you agreeing to this?’ Jason says, stopping next to the tasting table Sawyer set up in back for private events.
He does them for birthdays and bachelor parties and actually makes a decent amount of money.
It includes a tour, which is really just looking at the fermentation tanks while Sawyer explains how beer is made.
‘Agreeing to what?’ I ask.
‘Fixing up the house. You’re not doing anything else next week and your new tenant seems eager to help.’
‘Stop calling her that. ’
‘Why? What’s going on with you and her? Are you really dating her?’
‘We’re not dating. We’re just .?.?.’ I pause, searching for the right word to describe us.
‘You’re sleeping with her?’ Jason shoves my shoulder. ‘What the hell is wrong with you?’
‘What? We both agreed to it. She wanted it as much as I did.’
‘She just broke off her engagement. She’s emotional. She’s not thinking straight. And you’re taking advantage of that.’
‘You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Her relationship with her ex was over a long time ago. She wasn’t even living with the guy and they haven’t had sex in over a year. This isn’t some rebound thing to get over her ex.’
‘It’s still not a good idea. She’s going to fall for you, and then what? What happens when she leaves? Is she going to expect you guys to keep dating?’
‘We’re not dating. We both agreed that’s not what this is. She even told me tonight that she couldn’t see us as a couple. She said we’re too different, and it’s true. We are. We’re complete opposites.’
‘Sometimes opposites attract.’
‘And we do, in the bedroom, but that’s it. We’d never get along as a couple. She’s a neat freak. She’d drive me crazy if we dated.’
‘Are you saying you’re not getting along as roommates?’
‘We get along great, but we’re not dating.’
‘You’re living with her and having sex with her. And taking her out on Friday night to meet your family. That sounds like dating to me. ’
‘I didn’t plan on her meeting the family. Are we done here? I’ve had enough family time. I want to go home.’
‘Before you go, let’s talk about the house. Why do you keep making excuses for why you can’t work on it?’
‘I’m not making excuses. I’m just not ready to do anything.’
‘Why? You have the time, and you have someone willing to help.’
‘I don’t want Kate helping. This is supposed to be her time off. I’m not making her work.’
‘She wants to. Didn’t you hear her out there? She’s practically begging you to let her help.’
‘And how could she help? She doesn’t know how to do construction.’
‘Neither do you. You can learn together. Start with replacing the trim. That’s easy. Nash already taught you how to do it and he gave you the supplies.’
‘Would you just drop this? I’ll do it when I’m ready.’
‘I’m not waiting.’ He looks around, making sure we’re alone. ‘I’m serious, Brody. It’s now or never.’
‘What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?’
‘It means you either fix up the house or we put it on the market this spring, as is.’
I sigh. ‘Yeah, I’ve thought about that, but we’d be taking a huge loss.’
‘I’m already taking a loss. I’m draining my bank account paying for a house I don’t even live in.
’ He lowers his voice. ‘You promised me the house would be done by November and we’d put it on the market in December.
Now it’s February and all you’ve done is paint a few walls, and that’s only because Kate did it. ’
Hearing him talk about this is making my whole body feel tight and a pounding headache forms behind my eyes.
I’m angry that he’s pressuring me like this, but I know he’s right.
And I know it’s not fair for me to be mad at him.
Everything he said is true. I promised him I’d do the work last fall and have the house sold by now, giving him half the profit.
But instead he’s got his savings tied up in the down payment and is helping pay the mortgage on a broken-down house that’s losing value with each month that passes.
‘I promise I’ll pay you back what I owe you,’ I tell him. ‘I made enough last week to pay back part of it.’
‘Forget the money. Use it on the house instead. Even if you can only get a few rooms done, it’ll be better than selling it like it is now.’
‘Are you saying you don’t want me to finish it?’
‘I can’t keep waiting. I’m paying for a house that’s not even mine. If I’m going to be paying a mortgage every month, I’d like it to be for my own damn house.’
I sigh, frustrated, but knowing he’s right. I can’t keep holding onto this house, hoping I’ll have the time and money to fix it. ‘So what’s your deadline?’
‘If you agree to work on it, I’ll give you until April first. If you decide to do nothing, we’re putting it on the market in March.’
‘That’s only a few weeks away. Where the hell am I gonna live?’
‘You’ll get an apartment and go back to paying rent. I didn’t want it to come to this, but I gave you plenty of time to get the house done and look what happened. Nothing. The house looks the same as it did three months ago. ’
‘Yeah, I know.’ I rub my jaw. ‘I never should’ve bought it.
I thought it’d be a good side business for when I’m not doing my other business, but what do I know about fixing up a house?
I’m not good at that shit. Then I moved in and saw how much had to be done and it was too overwhelming. I didn’t know where to start.’
It feels good to finally say that, to admit the house was a bad idea. I never wanted to say that out loud, but Jason deserves to hear the truth. He trusted me with his money and I let him down. I can’t keep doing that. It’s time to end this and get out before we’re both in serious debt.
‘What do you want to do?’ he asks.
‘I’ll work on the house and see what I can get done before April.’
‘And then we’ll sell it?’
‘Yeah. I’ll call Matt and let him know we’ll need an appraisal.’
‘Sorry, Brody. I know you really wanted this to work.’
‘It’s okay. It just wasn’t right for me. I get that now. I just have one favor to ask.’
‘What?’
‘Can we keep this from the family? I don’t want Mom and Dad knowing what’s been going on. And I don’t want them knowing you helped me. They’d think I’m having money problems and freak out.’
‘Yeah, I won’t tell them.’
‘Don’t tell Nick either. Or Sawyer. Let’s just keep this between us.’
‘Yeah, got it. But I’m going to hold you to this. I’m going to stop in next week and see if you’re actually doing the work. ’
‘I’ll do it. I don’t need a damn babysitter.’
‘I’m not babysitting you. I’m checking on my investment. Don’t be giving me shit about this. I’ve let you handle this on your own for months. Now we’re on a deadline and I’m done messing around.’
‘Fine. Stop by, but at least text me before you come over.’
‘We better get back out there before Mom starts looking for us.’
We return to the table.
‘Ready to go?’ I say to Kate.
‘Sure.’ She gets up and smiles at everyone. ‘It was really nice meeting all of you.’
‘It was nice meeting you too,’ Mom says. ‘I hope to see you again.’ Mom winks at me as she says it. She loves embarrassing me, but I’m used to it.
We go out to my truck and I open Kate’s door.
‘Why didn’t you want to stay?’ she asks. ‘I was having a good time.’
‘We need to get home. We’ve got work to do.’
‘Work? What work?’
‘Fixing up the house. We’ve got a lot to do and not much time to do it.’
‘Wait—what? But I thought you said—’
I cut her off with a kiss, then look at her. ‘Do you want to help me or not?’
‘Yes!’ She hugs me. ‘I can’t wait!’
I can’t believe I agreed to this. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing and I have no idea where to start. But I made a promise to Jason and I’m going to keep it.