Page 96 of Break My Heart
‘And of course I said yes.’ Mom smiles at Callie and Nash.
‘With the bad weather coming soon,’ Nash says, ‘it’ll beharder to get here so we just decided to move here for a few months.’
‘Where are you going to live?’ Jason asks.
‘Here,’ Mom answers. She’s beaming as she looks at Nash and Callie. ‘Your father and I invited them to stay with us. Nash is going to work on renovating the old Carson house and Callie’s going to help me make the baked goods for the orchard.’
‘I thought you wanted to get rid of the Carson house,’ Jason says.
‘We decided to fix it up,’ Dad says, ‘in case one of you boys wants it someday.’
‘I’m not living there,’ I tell him. ‘I love you guys, but that’s a little too close.’
‘I might live there,’ Jason says. ‘But yeah, it’s a little close. I’d have to think about it.’
‘I’ve already got my eye on a place,’ Brody says. ‘It’s a few blocks from downtown with a big yard. Nash, you think you could teach me how to do construction? The place needs some work done.’
‘Sure. You can help me with the Carson place. The best way to learn is to just do it.’
‘You’re buying a house?’ Nick asks Brody, like he’s crazy for even considering it. As the oldest, Nick worries about all of us. He’s always questioning our decisions. It’s annoying, but we all know it’s just a big brother thing. He can’t help it.
‘I’m thinking about it,’ Brody says. ‘Matt’s got the listing. I told him to let me know when the price drops.’
‘Matt didn’t tell me that,’ Nick says.
‘Because he knew you’d try to talk me out of it.’
‘You’re okay with this?’ Nick asks Dad.
‘It’s his money,’ Dad says. ‘And when he’s done fixing it up, he’splanning to sell it or rent it out. It’ll be another source of income for him.’
‘Why don’t you and Lyndsay take the Carson house?’ Jason asks Nick. ‘It’s right next to the orchard. You could walk to work.’
‘It might be a little small for us,’ Lyndsay says, smiling at Nick. ‘We’re hoping to have a family someday.’
‘We don’t need to figure it out now,’ Dad says. ‘If you boys don’t want it, we’ll rent it out. Either way, it’s worth fixing up.’
‘How long do you think you’ll be here?’ I ask Nash.
He looks at Callie. ‘We haven’t decided.’
‘Probably until the baby arrives,’ she says.
‘I think Martha would like you here even longer than that,’ Uncle Mitch says, smiling at her.
‘I would love to help with the baby,’ she says to Callie and Nash. ‘But you two need to decide what’s best for you.’
‘I hate to run off,’ Nick says, ‘but I have a lot to do before the orchard opens.’ He gets up from the table and leaves.
Mom checks her watch. ‘I suppose we all need to be getting ready.’
‘Martha, I can start on the apple tarts,’ Callie offers.
‘That would be wonderful. Thank you. And while you’re doing that, I’ll get the tables set up.’
‘I can do that,’ I say to Mom, knowing the tables are heavy.
‘You sure?’ Jason says, smiling. ‘You might ruin your sweater.’
