Page 97 of Messing With My Brother's Best Friends

“Of course she does. Are we going over or should I set up a Zoom call?”

“You are not talking to my bestie about her issues over Zoom. Grab your damn briefcase and let’s go!”

“Should we be bringing someone else in on this?” Gage asked as I ended the call.

“If anyone is able to get us out of a financial mess, it’s Alan. The guy is supposed to be a freaking genius,” I replied. “You wanted fresh eyes? Well, I’m bringing some in. Some that have knowledge about what’s legally possible.”

“We can talk to this Alan,” Van said. “It doesn’t cost us anything to listen.”

“What’re they doing?” Barbie whispered. She’d burst in, grabbing me in a big hug but Alan followed much more slowly. He looked the house over, an approving look in his eyes, right up until the point he spied the guys.

“So you’re Connor Woods,” Alan said, holding out a hand for my boyfriend to shake. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Haven’t heard anything about you at all, mate.” Connor reached over and shook Alan’s hand hard. “You are…?”

“Alan, Alan Rickards.” He flexed his fingers when Connor finally let go. “Barbie’s partner. Kendall has been a part of our lives for some time. She’s like a sister to me.”

“Ohh… I get it.” Barbie waved a finger through the air. “This is like when strange dogs meet each other at the dog park. They’re circling around each other, sniffing each other’s butt.”

“A real sister,” Alan continued. “One I care about deeply.”

Barbie and I looked at each other, our eyes going wide at that. Alan was always unfailingly patient with me, but I never expected this. He was doing the whole big brother thing.

“Not more than us, mate.” Van offered him his hand, staring pointedly at Alan as he shook it. “Not for as long. There’s nothing more important to us than making sure things are financially secure for Kendall.”

Apparently those were the magic words. All the stiffness left Alan’s body and he smiled sheepishly.

“Then we want the same things.”

“A beer?” Gage opened the fridge and handed them out, the four of them cracking the cans and then standing around as they took a sip, the mood now considerably warmer. “I’m Gage. So what do you think you can do for us?”

“That remains to be seen.” Alan slid his briefcase onto the kitchen counter. “I’m gonna need to see all of this year’s financials, if not the last few. Any loans…” He noted the way the three of them stiffened. “Maybe we should start with those?”

Connor went into his bedroom and retrieved his laptop and then they went to work.

“If you want to pay out both investors at the same time, then you’re gonna need to find some money from somewhere else,” Alan said.

“I know that.”

Connor’s arms crossed his chest, gripping tightly until I went and grabbed his hand.

“You could do that by saving on some of your overheads, like reducing your staff,” Alan suggested.

“There are blokes who’ve been with us since the moment we put people on,” Van protested. “Blokes who need that pay cheque to keep a roof over their heads.”

“Well, you could sell off some assets. There’s the tools, the vans—” Alan continued.

“All pretty essential to the business,” Gage said.

“Or there’s other assets.” Alan looked around at the house. “A four bedroom place in a nice neighbourhood with good schools near it. You’d be able to sell this for a nice chunk of change.”

“We built it in this area for exactly that reason.” Connor stared at Alan, willing him to understand. “So that if one day…” He looked my way and it felt like his eyes speared straight into me. “If one day we found Kendall, we’d have something to offer her.”

“Oh my god, bestie!” Barbie’s whisper became a little squeak. “They went Field of Dreams for you.”

But rather than grab her hand, I shook her grip off.

“You do,” I told him, proud of myself for keeping my voice even when I felt anything but. “You have a whole lot to offer, but that’s not this house.” I looked around it, seeing the kitchen, the living room, the pool beyond it and knew I’d miss it, but not as much as them. “I love this place. You’ve obviously put a lot of work into making it a great place to live, with the pool—”

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