Chapter 5
The vacation they took was better than either of them had dreamed of it being.
He was glad to be home, but he’d go back anytime he had some time off.
It had been all the time that they got to spend together that had been the best part.
Since they didn’t know anyone around them, it was nice to be able to spend some much-needed time with just the two of them.
Neither one of them seemed to be as stressed when they got back, either.
And they were able to move into the house earlier than they’d expected to.
They had a few days left on their vacation, so he set it up so that the movers could get both places lined up to be packed up on the same day. They just wanted to move in at this point, and Wylie was happy that he had the resources to get it done. He’d hate to think of all this doing it on his own.
Wylie was glad for the vacation they’d been on for two reasons. It had been nice to get away, but he also got to know more about Rosie. They’d spent their entire lives together and knew so very little about each other. She was well rested, too, and for that, he was happy.
“I’m thinking that we need to make sure we get away like this once a year, if not more.
” He said he was all for that. Even if they stayed at home.
“Yes, I was going to say that too. It was nice of your brothers to cover for you while we were gone, and I’d do the same for them.
It was just too much fun not to be able to look forward to something like that once in a while. ”
“I agree. Also, when we have kids, we’ll have to take them with us.
Even, like you said, even if it’s only to have a nice vacation at home.
” Nodding at him, she closed her eyes and leaned back on the new couch that had only just arrived.
“We’ll have to make sure we get enough of the other things we need, too. Lamps in here would be a good thing.”
“I was thinking of how nice it was that it’s dark.
But I suppose you’re right. We do need some lighting.
” She snuggled down on the couch, and he watched her.
In less than ten minutes, he knew she’d be asleep, and he had figured out that was one of his favorite pastimes, just watching her sleep for a few minutes.
“I can’t believe that I need a nap right now.
I slept most of the way home, and now here I am resting again.
Just a few minutes and I’ll be fine and ready to go. ”
He knew that about her, too. That after about ten minutes of her laying there with her eyes closed, she’d be awake and energized again.
He envied that about her. A power nap could do for her what he’d not been able to do for himself.
Get rested enough to go on with their day.
He knew it was because he’d been watching her every move.
He found it mesmerizing to know every little thing about her, including her sleeping habits.
Getting up when she snored softly, he made his way to the kitchen to see what he could get them in the way for dinner.
They had a cook starting on Monday, so for now it was just the two of them.
Kinsey had given them some beef that he had left over from when they were living on the ranch, so he put on one of the roasts so that they could have it for dinner.
He was pretty good at cooking, but he didn’t want to do it all the time any more than she did.
After getting the roast on and the kitchen cleaned up, he made his way to the office he’d taken after checking up on Rosie.
She was still sleeping, so he left her alone.
After getting his computer set up the way that he wanted—they were still getting things put where they wanted them—he pulled up the investment portfolio that he’d been using since he’d been doing his own investments.
He knew that Bodi and Ara had hired someone to do their investments, and he was thinking of going that route as well.
Meggie said that she could use their firm that did it for her and Kinsey.
He might do that and go with someone whom he could trust. He didn’t want to run out of money because he didn’t know what he was doing.
“You let me sleep too much.” He moved back from the desk so that she could sit on his lap. “I had the strangest dream. I dreamt that I’d met the man of my dreams, and he was you. What a strange dream, don’t you think?” She laughed when he did.
“I’m thinking of finding someone else to do our investments.
” He told her what he’d been able to figure out.
“I’m having fun with them, but I’m not all that good at it yet, and I don’t want us to run out of money too soon.
I figure that someday we’ll be able to look back on this and wonder what all the fuss was about, but for now, I’m not sure what I’m doing. I don’t want to mess up.”
“I understand. It’s difficult to start a new project when you don’t have all the information.
I would imagine that it might take a person years to learn the job.
” He agreed with her. “I’m going to have to get things rolling on my job.
I’ve become too pampered with being at home, and now I find that I don’t want to go back.
I will, even if it’s only for a short while, but I’m enjoying only thinking about work once in a while instead of all the time like I was.
This break showed me too that I’m not needed all that much now, and I think, while a little bit sad, I can take the time off without hurting the department. ”
“I know what you mean. It’s like life went on without us stressing about it, and now that we’ve come back to the real world, it’s kind of sad that barely anyone missed us.” She laughed and stood up. “Are you leaving me? I thought we’d use the top of my desk for a little fun. What do you say?”
“I have to decline. I’ve started my period, and I have cramps really bad.” He said he was sorry and asked if there was anything that he could do for her. “Nothing. I’m all right. I think that’s why I took such a long nap. My body is dealing with too much today.”
After she left him, he decided to make the calls about their investments.
He’d been putting it off in favor of just doing it himself, but he again didn’t want to mess with their money too much.
As soon as he was off the phone with the guy that Meggie told him about, he felt better about it.
Like Rosie had said, it was better to leave that sort of work to the professionals so that they had money when he needed it.
He was sure that he was so worried about money because of the way they’d grown up.
They’d been so poor all the time that they were one breakdown from a disaster.
They had a lot of help from their neighbors, but their own equipment was old and wearing out, and they could barely afford to feed themselves at times, not to mention the cattle and chickens that were depending on them.
It had been a scary time growing up without.
But their grannie had made sure that there was meat on the table even if there was nothing else. She’d been good to them and for them.
She’d told Kinsey to sell the land to the highest bidder, and that’s what he’d done.
Splitting the money six ways evenly so that they could all reap from the land.
David Winchester had purchased all the land from them and made them all millionaires.
The man himself was a billionaire, and he was happy to know him.
He’d been like a father figure to them all since he’d met them.
Making several more calls, he was ready to call it a day when his phone rang.
He would usually let it go to voicemail, but since he’d made so many calls today, he thought that he’d better answer it.
He couldn’t believe it was the prison where his father was.
They were asking him if he was Kinsey Pennington.
“I’m not, but I’m one of his brothers. What’s going on that has you calling here? I know for a fact that we said that we didn’t want to hear from him again.” The man said his name was Warden Jefferson, and he was calling to tell him that their father was dead. “What happened to him?”
“He got into a fight over potato chips of all things, and the other man broke his neck for trying to steal them. It was over almost as soon as it started, as your father didn’t have a chance.
We didn’t see it happen, but it’s on CCTV here at the prison if you were to ever want to look at it.
I’m sorry for your loss.” He didn’t know what to say, so he said nothing.
If he was honest with himself, he was happy that he was gone.
It had been his biggest fear that he’d get out somehow and terrorize them.
“Would anyone from your family like to claim his body? I know for a while there he was talking to one of you, so I was wondering if you’ve had a change of heart about him. ”
“No, we only spoke with him the one time, and that was it. That’s all it took for us to tell him not to call here anymore.
” He said he was sorry. “I am as well, but not like you think. Thanks for telling me, and I’ll make sure to pass it along to the others.
You can bury him out there in the unmarked graves as far as we’re concerned. ”
He did wonder if he should have asked his brothers about their father, but he was sure that they were under the same opinion he was about him.
He was gone and good riddens. As soon as he got off the phone, he called Kinsey.
He was the oldest and would know more than they did about what was going on about them being called.