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place great again.
Banning hopped out to open the gate and the damn thing
practically broke off in his hands. I pulled out me notebook, ready to
start making lists. That would be first on the needs fixing now list. As
if agreeing with me, Banning ripped the thing off the hinges with one
good tug and tossed it to the side of the drive.
Interesting approach. I snickered when he got back into the
SUV.
What? He shrugged at me as Rory pulled forward. There be no
point in having a broken gate. We re gonna need to replace it
anyways.
We haven t accepted the gift yet, I sighed, rolling me eyes.
Until we do, this not be our place.
Now it was me twin s turn to roll his eyes. He gestured out the
window. Right, like we be saying no to this. I followed his hand,
110 Joyee Flynn
getting me first good look at the place as Rory steered toward the
main house.
It was breathtaking. Mostly because I knew it was ours without a
doubt. Because the vineyard itself would need a ton of work. It was
overgrown, dying, warped, run-down, and in desperate need of some
tender care. But it had history, character, and we would just be fixing
things instead of having to start completely from scratch.
I surveyed the vineyard, taking in the beautiful fields with their
delicate fencing. The fields seemed to roll out before me, a thin layer
of snow covering them as well as the big barn and numerous
greenhouses, which were charming even in their dilapidated state.
Me answer be yes already, I said quietly, swallowing around the
lump in me throat. But there s no way we have enough in our
savings to fix all of this, Banning.
Aye, he whispered sadly. Unless we started out small and just
kept improving as we go.
I nodded, not thinking that would work. We climbed out when
Rory pulled up in front of the main house. Now I just wanted to cry. It
was an enormous ranch-style house. Although it only had two stories,
the house stretched across a large portion of the property. As we got
closer, I noticed the light brown paint was chipping off the siding and
a number of the rails were missing in the wraparound porch.
Many of the shutters on the windows were also in need of repair
as they hung precariously from their location, the breeze blowing
them gently back and forth.
We re farmers, not carpenters, I said more to myself than
everyone else, me heart filling with despair. We can t fix this.
Aye, Banning agreed, looking as if someone just ran over his
puppy. We both turned to head back to the SUV, totally heartbroken,
when Rory cleared his throat. We turned to face him and I had no idea
how to thank him for a generous gift we couldn t accept.
You didn t think we were going to give it to you in this
condition, did you? he asked with a raised brow.
A Zane Po Boy 111
Ya bought us the land. That be the most generous mating gift
ever, I answered, not sure what he was getting at. There was no way
Zane would let Isaac pay to fix this place up.
But we re not the only ones giving you presents. He giggled,
handing us a few cards. Banning glanced at me as I reached for them.
I opened the first one and gasped, quickly handing it to me twin.
Dillon, Shane, and Sean contracted a crew to fix the house and
update it as we want! Banning exclaimed, reading what I just had.
Holy fuck me, I yelled as I read the next one. I passed it along
as well. The Marius family be replacing the glass and broken items
in the greenhouses!
We can t accept all this, ma would kill us, Banning whined but
still took the third card. He broke out laughing as he read it, handing it
back to me.
Lads,
Ya be gracious and accept the gifts given to ya by people who be
loving ya both and ya mate. Make them proud as ya have always
made me and ya das. We love ya more than we can ever put into
words and will miss ya dearly. So ya better all plan on visiting a lot,
or we ll be coming there to kick ya arses for neglecting ya family.
Love always and with all me heart,
Ma
I fucking love that woman! I whooped with joy. If the house
and greenhouses were fixed, that was a huge start, and the rest we
could do as we went along. We would have warriors to help, and with
the deal Isaac got us, we would still be making money by handling all
their produce.
So I take it the answer is yes? Rory asked, his eyes twinkling
with laughter.
Aye! we both shouted as we attacked him, hugging him with
everything we had. Thank ya, Rory.
112 Joyee Flynn
I ll be honest because I like you both now, but don t think I did
this all for you, he said gently as we let him go.
Aye, we know, I said with a smile. Ya done it for Isaac so
Zane wouldn t go, but ya also did it for Zane to keep us happy and
wanting to stay. So, we d still be thanking ya.
But ya don t hate us anymore for hurting Zane, right? Banning
asked hesitantly, and I knew it was hard for him to talk about this kind
of stuff. It was a new leaf me twin was turning over, going back to the
loving brother I remembered before too much shit went down in our
lives.
Aye, I be liking ya lots, Rory said in his best imitation brogue.
Bratty kitty, Banning grumbled and hugged him again. Now
what?
Now we call our mate and tell him to take the damn job, I
answered, doing a quick jig. Then we call ma before Dillon, Shane,
and Sean. Then we get to work and start our lives here with our
mate.
And I m going to call the Mariuses and the contractors everyone
hired. Rory chuckled.
For the next ten minutes, all the three of us did was talk on our
phones. We paced around, carrying out our own conversations,
excited, flustered, and a little scared.
Then, as if like magic, all three of us hung up our phones at the
same time. We were done. It was done. This was our new home.
Let s start the lists, Rory said with a wide grin, rubbing his
hands together in glee.
We each ended up grabbing a notebook and pen, figuring with all
of us taking notes there were less things that would be missed. Rory
told us, as we moved into the house and started looking around, how
he felt bad because the contractor and crew had been waiting. He
didn t know that everyone had been on hold during his meltdown.
We swore we d never tell a soul what had happened and told him
to blame us and that he didn t want to give away the surprise and raise
A Zane Po Boy 113
suspicions by rushing us. I think Rory liked us even better after that.
We understood. Not everyone needed to know about every fight
between mates. Hell, everyone knew about our issues when we met. It
didn t make it any easier when people stuck their noses in whether
they had the right intentions or not.
People started showing up at the house. First it was Elena Marius,
with Damian, Gabriel, Stefan, and Patrick. They were all ready to
work and help out in any way they could. Then a few trucks showed
up and dropped off Dumpsters for us to toss what we couldn t
salvage.
More warriors showed up with Desmond, who also brought lunch.
I kept glancing over at Banning, wondering if he was as shocked as I
was. This was better than the barn-raising scene in that old Harrison
Ford movie!
A little while later, the contractor showed up with his crew. They
started helping with the demolitions while we walked the house and
talked to him about what needed to be done first. Elena helped us with
that part, and I wanted to kiss her.
I raised seven sons and have handled countless renovations of
rooms and the house over the centuries, she said with a smirk,
waving off our thanks. Besides, I promised your ma I d help you get
settled since she s far away. Your family was there for Caleb when he
needed you most and that makes us all family in our eyes.
Aye, ya be a great second ma. I chuckled, giving her a quick
kiss on the cheek.
By the time the workers and help were ready to call it quits for the
day, we had a good chunk of the demolitions and removal out of the
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