Page 269 of The Maxwell Brothers
“I know it’s short notice, so thanks again for coming with me,” Luke said.
I had no problem with it. “I don't have court today, and I can rearrange almost everything except court dates.” Reviewing leasing contracts wasn't something I usually did, but I was a jack of all trades for the family. Whenever they needed someone they could trust, I stepped up. Why have them talk to strangers when I could do it?
Once we got out of the car, I fought the urge to check my phone again. I’d looked at that picture Liz sent me every half hour and broken into laughter every time. My brothers thought I was nuts. But now I needed my focus fully on business.
"This isn’t a bad spot,” Sam said. It was at least ten acres, surrounded by tall trees. The forest stretched farther out behind it.
“We need to talk about our strategy. Declan, you play bad cop," Luke said as we started walking.
"What are you talking about?" When it came to business, Luke was a take-no-prisoners kind of guy. He was completely different than how he was with family. "You've got that role down to a T.”
He patted my shoulder. "But you're extra observant and may see something I don’t."
“What about me? Just the sidekick who’s here for entertainment value?” Sam asked.
“No, I want your opinion too. You’ve got mad people skills,” Luke pointed out.
“That I do.”
There was a small building on the property. I wasn't an expert, but it seemed like a teardown. It was old.
A woman stood in front of it, waving at us.
“Damn, she’s hot,” Sam said.
I whipped my head in Sam’s direction. “And married. Luke told you that five minutes ago.”
Sam cleared his throat. “My bad. Completely slipped my mind.” He held up his hands as I continued to glare at him. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not gonna flirt with a married woman.”
“Declan, chill,” Luke said, shaking his head. “Dude, I forget you’re always so damn intense.”
I didn’t reply because we’d arrived in front of the woman. Her husband stepped around the corner of the building a few seconds later.
“Hey, I was just looking around,” he said. “I’m Colin.”
“And I’m Nikki,” the woman added.
“Welcome,” Luke said. “These are my brothers. Declan is a lawyer. He’ll look over the contract. And this is Sam. Let’s go inside.”
Luke gave us all the tour of the building. It had five different rooms. The furniture in it was old as fuck, but overall it looked better on the inside than the outside. Once we’d finished, we gathered around the wooden table in what used to be a living room.
Colin took out a stack of papers from his backpack as we sat down.
“I printed out the contract,” he said, handing it to me.
As I went through the paperwork, Luke asked them why they wanted to run a farm and if they planned to make any changes to the building.
“No, not at all,” Colin said. “It serves our purpose just the way it is. We’re going to get new furniture though, if that’s okay with you.”
“Yeah. Feel free to get rid of all the junk inside,” Luke replied.
Sam was silent. Gran used to say he was an expert at reading the room. I didn’t fully understand what she meant by thatuntil I became a lawyer. My brother would have made a great businessman or lawyer, but he was an extraordinary doctor, and I respected him for his choice.
An hour later, we stepped out of the building.
"That went well," I said.
"Yeah, if the goal was intimidating them, you were 100 percent successful.” Luke’s tone bothered me.
