Page 20 of An Unexpected Everything
Maybe this forced work-from-home, or at least any home that wasn’t my own, would help me get to know Hudson.
I studied his bearded face, the fact that he had pulled his long hair back in some form of a small ponytail or bun thing. I knew he had tattoos running up and down his arms, and an eyebrow ring, and looked so different from the rest of the Cages, that it was a wonder he was one. However, he was Flynn’s actual identical twin, so it wasn’t as if he didn’t share their genetics. He just didn’t bother with the suits that the others did.
“Isabella?” he asked, and I pulled myself out of studying this brother that I didn’t know.
“I’m unpacked. I didn’t bring much.”
“I figured you’d stay for a little longer than a weekend. There are some clothes free to get down on Main Street, but most of the things that you are probably used to aren’t going to be there. Most people shop online these days or go to the city. Not much up here for a city girl.”
I raised my brow at the tone. “City girl? I’m a suburb girl, thank you very much.” Even though he’d called me a city girl before…
“You worked at the big building. That’s downtown.”
“And it’s still not a huge metropolis like New York or Philly. But I do like suburbs. With a coffee shop close by. And sometimes fast foods. Like a salad-to-go place.”
Hudson clucked his tongue. “You’re not going to find that here. But you’re going to find a bunch of places with our name stamped all over it. Good food, good coffee. And nosy-as-fuck people.”
“Please, sell me more of this town,” I said dryly.
He shrugged. “It’s home. The others come and go, but I like it here. I get my privacy as long as I stay at the house rather than going downtown often.”
“I like how you call it downtown.”
“Fine. Down to the town.” He rolled his eyes, his face brightening. Well then. Maybe he didn’t smile, but maybe he wasn’t just the asshole that people thought he was. There had to be a reason he was hiding up in Cage Lake. Then again, I was doing the same.
“It’s still really nice that Aston is letting me borrow his place.”
“He isn’t using it right now. Most of them aren’t. And I’m sure they’ll set aside a parcel for you soon. You can build your own place.”
I had just taken a drink of water from my water bottle and choked. “Excuse me?”
“What, each of us Cages has a house surrounding the lake, and we didn’t allow others to build anything too crazy, or near us. We also made sure that we were still taking care of the environment around us. So, we have the space, and this is for family. When you’re ready to build something, let us know. We are in the real estate business after all. And development. It’s sort of what we do. At least, what they do.”
My eyes widened even as I shook my head. “I do not understand this family sometimes. You’re just going to what, give me a house?”
“Maybe. Or maybe give you the time to have it. We don’t need all this space. Honestly, I’m pretty sure that Flynn and James decided to keep extra space just so Dad couldn’t have it. And so other developers couldn’t come in and build a shopping center or set of apartments that they would never keep up with.”
“I guess that would ruin some of the beauty.”
“Exactly. We’re already taking up too much of it.” Hudson shrugged. “And I’m not even the biggest environmentalist of the family. Anyway, I’m not too far if you need me. The security system’s is going at Aston’s place, and we already went over it. And if there’s ever anything you need, you got my number. And well, I know you’re in Aston’s place because you are friends with Blakely, but you also know the guy next door. I realize that you might think I bite, but I’m not that much of an asshole. At least to family that I like.”
“So you like me?” I asked, letting out a hollow laugh.
“I don’t actively hate you. I don’t know you. But I guess you’re here, so I suppose I’m going to have to get to know you.”
He said it so dryly that I realized that this was his form of humor. “I have a feeling I’m actually going to like you.”
Hudson barked out a laugh and gestured toward my car. “Do you have good tires on that?” he asked, and I looked over at my SUV.
“I do. I think. I mean, they got me up here.”
“It’s spring in the mountains, so we might get snow. You should head over to Caldwell’s and have them check it out just in case. Don’t want you to run off the road. We get enough accidents out here. And we’ve lost some good people.”
I froze at that and shook my head. “I’m fine. I don’t need to go to Caldwell’s.”
“Okay. But Weston will hook you up. He somehow got me to be his best friend, and I don’t know how that happened.”
Hudson kept speaking, and it was like I was seeing this through a new dimension. How small was this world that my ex-boyfriend was best friends with my brother? Just like my best friend was dating my brother. How the hell had this happened? My life didn’t use to be this complicated. At least I didn’t think it did.
