Page 82 of When Morning Comes Around

He didn’t want to admit that his more pressing desires were of the physical variety. “Hopefully, when she’s ready. I…”

“Ah, right. At the moment, you just need a place to spend the night?”

“Yeah.”

“And you wouldn’t be comfortable taking her home with you?”

He shrugged. “It’d probably be fine, but I don’t know how she’d feel about it. It’s not as though Jake’s a problem, or that he’d have a problem. It’s just… You know, the first time.”

“Yeah. I get it.” Damon looked down at the brochures. “It seems kind of drastic to buy a house though, just so that you guys can spend the night together.”

He chuckled. “I know, but it’s not just that.”

“Maybe not, but if you’re trying to hurry things along, you’re going to forget the possibility of building, aren’t you?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I definitely don’t want to wait half a year or more before I can take her home with me. Why? Why are you so interested in me building rather than buying, anyway?”

“I was kind of hoping… I’m not trying to sway you or anything, but…”

“Go on, just go ahead and say it. What are you thinking?”

“You know the lot next to us, the lot that Jo bought to make sure that she wouldn’t end up with a new subdivision on her doorstep?”

“Yeah.”

Damon shrugged. “I was thinking it’d be kind of nice if my brother lived next door.”

“Wow! But I thought she bought it so that it couldn’t be built on – there are covenants in place, right?”

“There are, but the restrictions aren’t so that the land can never be built on, just that there can only be one house every twenty acres.”

Dom thought about it. Would he like to build his own house on the waterfront, on twenty acres, right next door to his brother? Hell yeah, he would.

“And Jo’s thinking about selling the lot?”

Damon smiled. “Only to you. She mentioned it a while back when you first started talking about looking for a place of your own.”

He sipped his coffee. “And she’s serious?”

“She’d love it.” Damon chuckled. “And you know that I would. Not just for the obvious reason; I hope it goes without saying that I’d love to have you right next door. But there’s also the matter of her kids. They’ve been to visit a couple of times now, and things are getting better, but…” He shuddered. “I don’t exactly relish the thought of having one of them decide that they want to move up here – and that Jo should give them the lot so that they can build on it.”

Dom had to laugh. He hadn’t met Jo’s kids, but he knew that she had a strained relationship with them. From what Damon had told him, they didn’t sound like the kind of people he’d want on his doorstep, either.

“So, how about I talk to her about buying the lot, even if I’m not ready to build on it yet?”

“How about, instead of buying something, you start building, and rent a place until it’s ready?”

“That’d make sense.”

Damon checked his watch. “How about we go back and see Austin – ask him about rentals instead?”

Dom downed the last of his coffee. “Yep, let’s go – and thanks. It sounds so obvious now that you’ve said it, but I wouldn’t have come up with it on my own – renting while I build – let alone being able to build right there next to you guys.”

“I didn’t want to push you, I was hoping that you might decide to build, but… I’m glad you like the idea. Sometimes, two heads are better than one.”

Dom laughed. “Yeah, we might be twins, but we don’t exactly think the same, do we?”

“And that’s a good thing – we can help each other out.”

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