Chapter 7 Making Plans
Making Plans
Jonah
After meeting with one of my lawyers about the plans for funding the training facility, I got the approval to proceed.
He agreed with Rafael that framing it as community beautification would be a smart idea, and now he’s chasing that lead and getting all the boring paperwork in line while I get to focus on the fun stuff.
That’s why I’m holding a case of Yuengling in one hand while I open the door to Raf and Angie’s house. Tonight we’re going over plans for the training facility. Plus, any time I can hang out with my amigos, I’m down.
I spot Joaquín’s car in the driveway and smile. I knew he was driving up from DC for this, but excitement prickles under my skin at the possibility of working together with my best friend on a dream project.
I punch in the door code and inhale the smell of garlic.
“Hola carnales. Huele rico.” I announce before taking off my shoes.
I learned Spanish from Joaquín and his family since we practically grew up together.
They always make fun of me because I have a really hard time getting the accent right, so I just gave up.
Now our families refer to what I speak as “frat bro Spanish.”
Joaquín hushes me before wrapping me up in a hug. “Kids just went down,” he whispers in Spanish.
“Oh, sorry,” I say, hoping I didn’t wake the kids. “Smells good.”
A couple of hot pizza boxes and garlic knots sit on the kitchen island.
Ang and Raf have lived here for a couple of years now.
He bought the historic Philly house in hopes of flipping it, but he fell in love with it—while falling in love with my sister—and they moved in right before the twins were born.
The house is gorgeous and massive, but each room is like you’re walking into a different story.
The living room is gothic, the bathrooms are straight out of Barbie’s Dream House, and their library/sunroom looks like it belongs east of the Shire.
Their kitchen? Completely yellow. Cabinetry, walls, countertops, refrigerator, stools—all of it looks like it came from some 1970s home decor magazine. Does it match anything else in the house? No, but my sister loves it, and Raf loves anything his wife loves.
“Come find me if you need a live demonstration,” Raf says to Angie over his shoulder before striding into the kitchen. A grin splits his face, and he grabs a plate.
Joaquín laughs. “Ang reading something good?”
“A bear-shifter romance.”
The two brothers chuckle, and then their meaning catches up to me. Ew. But also, I kind of want that.
My thoughts drift to Renée, and I wonder what it would be like if she let me in like that—if there was some kind of ease between us.
Lately, she’s all I can think about. Every time I drive by her house or look out of my living room window, I try to spot her, but no luck.
She can’t possibly be avoiding me, is she?
I know she told me that night at Strip Tease that what we did (as glorious and life-changing as it was) could never happen again, and I was supposed to forget it ever happened.
But surely those rules are not still in place now that we’re neighbors.
I need to figure out a way to get her number.
“Alright Jonah,” Raf says, pulling me from my head and back to reality. “Tell us where you are with your lawyer.”
I swallow my pizza and set my plate down. “Right. He approved the funds for our training facility and will write up the contract once we want to buy a place.”
“That’s awesome,” he replies. “The rugby board gave me approval to make our real estate purchase if we got the funds, which... looks like we do.”
“I actually found a few places I think will work for your team,” Joaquín says, opening his laptop.
He clicks and scrolls before settling on what he’s looking for.
With Raf and me on either shoulder, we watch on as he explains each property and what it offers.
One of them is an old inner-city high school, which may be too big for what we need.
Another is an old YMCA, and the last one is essentially a big blank canvas—not much more than cinder block walls and an expansive outdoor space where we could easily hold outdoor training sessions.
The Jimenez brothers riff back and forth with shop talk terms I’m not familiar with.
Taxes this, building codes that. Interest rates and estimations.
I’m happy with any of these choices, but I’ll leave the decision to these two.
With their combined experience, they’re going to make the right choice.
I’m just happy to see my friends so excited.
The team is going to go nuts when they find out about this too.
“Alright,” Raf says after a long discussion. “Our first choice is the Y, then the blank canvas, then school.”
Joaquín bobs his head. “I’ll reach out tomorrow to the brokers and arrange the tours.” He turns his smile on me. “This is major. If we win this, it’ll be our biggest project so far.”
“What do you mean, if? You guys have it.”
“C’mon Jonah.” Raf sighs. “We talked about this. The team will need to get at least two other quotes and make the best choice based on finances, quality, and timing.”
“But you guys are the best.” I shrug. “And what do you mean by timing? We’ll buy the building and start working on it.”
“Um, no,” Joaquín chuffs. “If we won this project, it would be at least four months before we could start renovating.”
My jaw drops. “Four months? That’s forever,” I whine.
I’ve never been a patient person. I suppose it may be a symptom of the ADHD I let run wild and unmedicated. It’s not that I’m against medication, I just forget about it. That’s how I end up elbows-deep in a project, only to give up on it when the next best thing comes around to distract me.
Four months before renovation could even begin on this facility? Yeah, I don’t like that.
“If I paid more,” I say, “could you move some things around and start sooner?”
Raf levels me with a stare in that older brother way he has, even though he’s not blood. “A state-of-the-art facility will not guarantee we make the Premiership. You know that, right Jonah?”
I nod.
“It will help for sure, and it will entice better players, but this will take time. That’s if we are chosen to build,” Raf says, then stares at his brother for a silent answer. He shrugs. “I guess we could hire a larger crew to start work on this.”
Joaquín thinks about that. “The apartments in DC just finished up.” He pauses a moment longer before asking, “What if I moved back here?”
“Really?” Raf and I ask together.
“Yeah,” he says, his lips turning up at the corners. “I’ve been thinking about it, and I miss our family. Especially now that you have the kids... I want to be here to see them grow up.”
Joy bursts in my heart at the thought of my best friend moving back. The drive from DC to Philly is about three hours without bad traffic, so he’s always made the drive whenever he could for work and family events, but to have him back would be incredible!
My brain floods with childhood memories—riding bikes to and from our homes, countless sleepovers and band practices, video games, and the general ruckus kids get into.
And I want that again.
Raf clearly loves this idea too, but he stares off into nothing, like he’s running calculations in his brain. “What are we gonna do about our projects in DC?”
“Well, we were going to hire another project manager here in Philly, right? Why not hire one for DC instead, and I’ll work here?”
Raf takes a sip of beer and thinks about it before nodding. “That works.”
Content, Joaquín crosses his arms and leans back in his stool. “Mom and Mamá are going to freak out.”
“I’m freaking out,” I beam. “We’re gettin’ Agony Nectar back together!”
On my drive back home, the city slowly giving way to the country, I think about what the team’s future holds, of all the possibilities in front of us.
I think about my best friend moving back.
But when I drive past Renée’s house, I notice a single light filtering through the curtains on a second story window, and my thoughts drift.
I have a big, beautiful home waiting for me not two hundred feet away, but I want to be where she is. I want to know why her light is on. Is she grading papers about wildlife? Is she reading a bear-shifter romance?
Thoughts of her swim around me as I let my dogs outside one last time before bed. And when I lay in bed, I imagine her waiting for me, every inch of pale, freckled skin on display and her long red hair splayed out.
My hand will have to make do for tonight, but come tomorrow, I’m going to get what I want.
I always do.