Page 153 of Tangled up in You

“He…does?”

She stopped taking notes and looked at Jesse. “They saved your life. They kept you alive, they brought you home safely, you love them, and they’re giving him his first grandchild. Of course he loves them. But he feels he needs to act…”

“Fatherly?” Jesse suggested.

“Yeah, that.” She returned to tapping on her phone. “Oooh, there’s a couple of nice parcels available for sale north of Gardiner. Plenty of acreage.” More tapping. “Even more properties available with houses on them.” She looked up. “Your call.”

Jesse took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and let the options spin through her mind. “Yes,” she said. “I want to move out here permanently.”

She opened her eyes and looked at Josie, who nodded. She screen-capped something, sent a text, then made a phone call. “Kelly? It’s Josie. … Yeah, I just sent you a text. I want to close on it by end of week or sooner. … Yes, it’s in Wyoming.”

She winked at Jesse. “Well, we’ll be buying more property and building out here, but for now I want something large enough where we can all stay without making people sleep on air mattresses. … No, Brand doesn’t know about it yet, but I’ll tell him. Please let me know when the closing is. … No, don’t haggle it down, just find out their buy-now price and meet it. If you need to offer more, do it, and tell them it’s cash. I’ll even toss in an extra twenty grand if they close by end of day tomorrow. … That’s what I said. … Good, thanks.” She hung up, smiling. “There. Sothathappened.”

Mark and Chris looked understandably stunned. “You just…bought a house?” Mark asked. “Without even looking at it?”

“Over the phone?” Chris asked.

Josie held up her phone. “Real estate website, great pics. We can turn around and sell it once we don’t need it.”

The men exchanged another look.

Josie laughed. “I was making sixty grand a year as an admin assistant at a brokerage when I met Brand. That’s what a liberal arts degree gets you in the finance world, but I’d started working there in college and I could pay my bills. The first time Brand saw my car was on our sixth or seventh date, I think. He literallystopped in his tracks, called the dealership, and by the time we returned from our date he’d had an SUV delivered. Paid cash. I’d honestly thought he was joking until we returned and it was sitting there.That’swhen I realized how much he was worth.”

Josie waggled a finger at them. “Don’t freak out over this, but yeah, you’re now part of a family with money. I liked Brand even before I knew who he was or how much he was worth. I thought he was a nice guy who worked at a tech company. Frankly, it freaked me the hell out in the beginning once I learned how rich he was. But he’s a good man, an even better philanthropist, and three times that a fantastic father and husband. That’s a rare combo in our income bracket. He wouldn’t cheat on me if forced to at gunpoint.

“My point being that we can’t take it with us. There’s no fun in having ‘fuck-you’ kind of money if you can’t use it for good or spoil your deserving loved ones rotten. So that’s what I’m doing.” She grinned. “My little sister nearly puked in shock when I surprised her by taking her to a house she thought we were attending a party at and I handed her the keys.”

She stood and leaned in, kissing Jesse’s forehead again. “Don’t worry about your father. I’ll handle him. You just start planning your nursery. I’ll text you the house deets.” She kissed the men on their cheeks and exited the room.

Mark and Chris still looked like they were in shock.

“Did…did she really just buy us ahouse?” Mark asked.

“She did,” Jesse said. “And, surprise, it’s not a meth house.”

Chris immediately brayed with laughter.

It took Mark a few seconds longer, then he swore and kissed her. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

“Nope,” Chris said, slapping him on the back. “That will be a family story passed through the generations.”

The End

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