Page 114 of Finding Lord Landry

He’d bought it last year. Which meant this gesture actually went back to the early days of our time visiting Majestic.

“Why didn’t you say anything before now?”

Landry shot me a look. “Well, first of all, I wanted to show you in person, and we’ve been a little busy the past couple of months. Before we were together, I couldn’t think of a way of gifting you a large parcel of prime Wyoming acreage without you immediately refusing me and calling me names in the process. Are you suggesting you would have accepted my gift?”

I stepped closer and threaded my arm through his, clasping his hand and looking out at the view from his side. “Not sure I would have been able to say no.”

He huffed out a laugh. “Liar. You were, and still are, entirely capable of cutting off your nose to spite your face. In fact…” He turned and tweaked the tip of my nose. “I believe that’s why it’s so petite.”

I swatted his hand away and moved into his arms. “I might have refused it at the time, yes. But I’m definitely not refusing it now. Thank you. Thank you so much.”

He kissed me for a long time before pulling back with a murmured “Welcome.”

I inhaled the still-cold mountain air and spun slowly to take in the entire vista as his generosity sank in. “How much of this is ours?”

He turned to take in the expansive view. “Forty-eight acres. It goes to the base of the hills.” He gestured to the foothills leading to the mountains. “All of that is forever wild. And to the south is Dev and Tully’s ridiculous acreage. To the east is the road to town. Which leaves our neighbors to the north, and they can’t ever build too close to the river, which leaves us plenty of?—”

“Nobody cares about your neighborhood roster,” Foster called, stepping out from behind the barn. “Let’s get this show on the road. It’s going to get cold as balls once the sun goes down.”

I glanced at him in surprise. “You invited Foster?”

Not that I didn’t like the guy. I did. It was just that he’d been ornery as hell since he’d gotten back from his vacation in January, and we all considered him the Man Most Likely To Kick A Puppy these days.

Way had kindly reminded us that Foster’s actual puppy—a bloodhound in training for search and rescue—didn’t seem the worse for wear, but we all kept an eye out just in case.

“Not just Foster,” Landry said, pulling me by the hand toward the barn.

Others began streaming out from behind the barn. The Brotherhood and their partners, Way’s sister Sheridan and her crew, Foster’s mother and sister, and…

“Baa Baa?” I squeaked, recognizing the woman on Bash’s arm. Her wide grin and open arms were waiting when I ran into her embrace. “What are you doing here?”

“Your husband sent the plane for me. Said he figured you’d need expert advice on how to design a home that had just the right space for visiting grandparents.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Ed, Nan, Cora, and Jamie laughing and talking with Landry. It was clear he’d already greeted them.

“Where did you all come from?” I asked in happy disbelief. Landry opened his mouth, but I cut him off with a raised palm. “And if you say, ‘From behind the barn,’ I will cut you.”

Cora bounced over and gave me a tight hug. “We’ve just landed about an hour ago. Landry said he arranged for some people in town to delay your progress through the store.”

As I hugged and greeted everyone, I thought back to Natana Whiteplume’s odd request for my help selecting between two identical boxes of penne pasta because one of them looked “shifty.” Lake McNair’s insistence that I look at an astronomical number of ultrasound photos their surrogate had sent that seemed to only feature one cell, though Lake had insisted it was an entire fetus. Kicky Winshaw’s long, drawn-out retelling of local gossip, including my own surprise wedding that she hadn’t been invited to.

Jo Blake waited for everyone to finish saying hello before beaming at me and squeezing my shoulders. “I’m so happy the two of you are building a home here. When my nephew brought back that ornery city boy from Las Vegas a while back,” she said, thumbing over her shoulder at Silas, “I never expected he would bring such a cast of characters with him. We are so happy to have you all here in Majestic.”

She leaned in and gave me a tight hug before Dev approached her and handed an eager Lellie off to her. “Your turn, Auntie Jo. If you’re going to promise this girl candy, then you can take her.”

“Lollypop!” Lellie said, beaming at Jo. “Lollypop!”

As Jo walked away, chatting happily and pulling a toddler-safe lolly out of her pocket, I noticed Foster staring after her with a mixture of emotions. Envy, longing, wistful happiness maybe.

But there was also exhaustion and defeat, which I hated to see on a friend’s face.

“Foster,” I began, stepping toward him.

His expression shuttered on a blink and was replaced with a friendly but polite smile. “Congratulations, Kenji. Mom is right—we’re grateful you’re here. Welcome.” He held out his hand for a shake.

Now wasn’t the time or place to press him on whatever it was that I’d seen on his face. Instead, I asked about his new pup. “Where’s Chickpea?”

He rolled his eyes and sighed. “Jesus fuck. That dog. Don’t ask. I’ll be lucky if she can just stop tripping over her ears by summer, much less come when I call her.”

---