Page 19 of No Place Like Home
“How can you tell him from the other one?”
Kai shook his head. “I can’t, but from what I can tell, Percy’s the one always causing trouble.” We entered their small barn, wherehe filled their food trough and gave them fresh hay. “There. Now maybe they’ll stay put—until their mom gets home, at least.”
I followed him outside. There were six chickens pecking at the ground and a rooster not far away, keeping an eye on us. “I met Big Red, the rooster Kora left behind.”
“Yeah, we couldn’t catch that ass, and the injuries we would’ve sustained weren’t worth it. That one,” he gestured toward the one watching us, “was easy to catch, keeps the girls safe, and doesn’t get all into being a cock.”
I laughed. “Next time Summer tells me to stay away from Big Red I think I’ll listen to her. Heisan ass, and I have the wounds from the encounter to prove it.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Kai said. “So how are you and Summer dealing with the one bed?”
I thought back to last night, sitting on her bed, eating and joking together—how much I enjoyed being that close to her, even though we were fully dressed. It brought back memories of when she’d stay at my house when we were teenagers, and we’d talk until all hours.
But Kai didn’t need to know all that, so I said, “You know, I’m letting Summer think she’s in charge for now, and that keeps her happy. A happy Summer is much easier to be around than a pissed Summer.”
“I can see that. Summer’s a trip.” We walked past the front of the house and into the backyard. “I thought Kora was a spitfire when I first met her, but Summer has her beat, hands down.”
“No truer words have ever been uttered,” I agreed. “How many acres do you have here?”
The yard was flat and open all the way back to the tree line. Sod had been laid down, covering the areas they’d finished building on.Past that, you could barely make out the river behind the trees and the field on the other side of the river. It had always been an amazing piece of property, but now with a new house and some TLC, it was even better.
“Twenty acres, give or take.” Kai slid open the patio door and I stepped into the kitchen, which opened out to an enormous great room with eight-foot tray ceilings that made it look even larger. Floor-to-ceiling windows in the kitchen made the outside feel like it was inside. I followed Kai through the great room to the base of the stairs that welcomed you at the front door. A convenient coat closet stood to the left of the entry.
“Kai, this is . . . Well, ‘nice’ doesn’t pay it justice. It’s amazing.”
“Thanks.”
We continued through a bedroom on the bottom floor with a large connecting bath, still full of construction supplies. “Will this be yours?”
“Nope. Just an extra room. Eventually, it’ll be an office, or maybe a spare bedroom. Kora’s hoping her dad will come visit occasionally. The master’s upstairs.”
The upstairs hall had windows that let in outside light, and an amazing view of the spacious yard and tree line. Kai led me to the right. “This end has a small room for an office and two spare rooms, eventually to be filled with babies.” He winked and continued his tour.
The office was smaller than the two rooms, but still big enough for a twin bed, if needed. The spare rooms were both spacious with large closets and a Jack and Jill bathroom. Like everywhere else in the house, windows filled the rooms with light.
I followed him back down the hall.
“This is our room,” he said as he opened the door.
The room we entered was huge. I walked to the three large windows that filled the back wall. The view was amazing. “Kai, wow. I’m sure Kora loves this.”
“She does. This is where I proposed to her, back when the house was just a skeleton.”
After spending a little more time admiring the upstairs and the view, we made our way to the kitchen. Kai leaned against the counter. “Water, beer, sweet tea, or coffee?”
“Beer would be great.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.” He grabbed two bottles from the fridge, a High Water IPA and a Summertime Lager. I chose the lager. “Interesting choice,” Kai said, and his mouth ticked up.
“Interesting how?” I asked as we opened our beers and got comfortable at a high-top table out on the patio.
Kai paused a beat, his gray eyes studying me. “No reason.” The smirk that he didn’t care to hide pissed me off.
I glanced at the label of the beer in my hand, which depicted a sun rising behind a lake and the word “Summertime” in bold lettering. I sighed. Yeah, a little too much of a coincidence. “I hate IPAs, just so you know.”
“Gotcha,” Kai said, but this time he hid the smirk behind his beer.
How irritating. “The women all think you’re a saint,” I said. “I’m calling bullshit. What are you insinuating?”
