Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 88456 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88456 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
“That was harder than I thought it would be.”
Laughing, I kissed him on the cheek. “You did great.”
“Next up is number two!” Lincoln called out.
Nathan jumped up and slipped the plastic into his mouth.
I pointed at my cousin. “Nathan kills these. Watch.”
When Nathan said his sentence, everyone stared at him.
“What?” Lily asked as she slowly shook her head.
Nathan sighed. “Ound anana uffins.”
“Brown banana muffins!” Bryson cried out.
Nathan jumped up and down and pulled his mouthpiece out. “Dude, you got it!”
Bryson smiled, then quickly dropped his smile when my father shot him a dirty look.
As the game went on, Bryson guessed more than anyone else, and my father declared Bryson wasn’t allowed to play anymore.
“That is our cue to leave,” I said as I stood and reached for Bryson’s hand.
“No! Don’t go,” my mother said as she walked over to us.
“We need to get home, as well, and put the twins to bed,” Georgiana said as she and the baby she held both yawned.
Morgan stood. “Same with us. I’m not sure how they slept through all the yelling.”
Hunter laughed. “They’re used to it.”
Bryson made his way over to Brock and Lincoln. “Thank you so much. I had a great time.”
Giving Bryson a friendly pat on the arm, Brock said, “You officially made it through your first Shaw family game night. Welcome to the club!”
“Thanks so much!” Bryson said as he shook Brock’s hand, then Lincoln’s. We made our way around the room saying goodbye. Bryson offered to play a bit of ball with Nathan and Josh, and I thought for sure my brother was going to cry. When we finally got to my mother and father, Dad gave Bryson a megawatt smile.
“You did good.”
Bryson returned the smile and shook his hand. “It was fun.”
Dad gave him a friendly slap on the back. “All teasing aside, Bryson, I’m glad you joined us. And I’m very happy to see that smile on my daughter’s face.”
Looking down at me, Bryson squeezed my hand. “So am I.”
When we both looked back at my father, he added, “Just a reminder, if you hurt her, I will kill you and bury you up in the mountains, and no one will ever find your body.”
“Dad!” I exclaimed.
“Ty Shaw!” my mother said as she glared at him.
Bryson took a step away and replied, “Duly noted.”
And with that, Bryson nearly dislocated my arm as we retreated.
Chapter Twenty
BRYSON
Two months later - October
“Wow, I can’t believe it,” Rose said as she slipped out of my truck and stared at the log home that was in the middle of being constructed. “How are they moving so fast?”
Walking up next to her, I took her hand in mine. “I won’t lie and say when I searched for a builder, I didn’t do a little digging. Tim Hassle Builders is out of Idaho, but he is a huge Mariners fan. Once he found out who wanted a house built, and I offered up a few perks, he got me on their schedule and has been personally overseeing the building.”
Rose stared at me in disbelief. “Bryson Robinson. Did you bribe him?”
“No. Not really.”
She laughed and turned back to the house. “I still can’t believe I designed that.”
I smiled and pulled her to me. “I can. Did you ever show the plans to your old boss?”
“No, and I don’t intend to. I was being silly. So, now that the house is dried in and the inside is safe from the outside elements, the fun really begins.”
Laughing, I replied, “If you say so.”
Rose had designed a two-story log home with five bedrooms, five-and-a-half baths with a total square footage of fifty-three hundred. The outside of the cabin we went with square logs rather than round. The roof was metal, and a ton of windows allowed the outdoors inside.
The first floor had a three-car garage. When you walked into the house from the garage, the mud room was to your left and the laundry to your right. Down the hall, the kitchen sat on the left side, the back side of the house, and had a beautiful view of the Bitterroot Mountains. Opposite the kitchen was a large formal dining room. The kitchen had a clear shot into the large family room. On the advice of Kaylee and my mother, they both said when you’re in the kitchen, you need to be able to see what was going on in the living room. Not simply for entertaining but someday when kids came along.
The front of the house, opposite the family room, was the staircase, a half bath, and a large, two-story open foyer. Rose designed a large front porch and a huge outdoor patio that would be in the backyard.
The northern side of the house held the owners’ suite. Rose knocked it out of the park with her design. She included a fireplace, a coffee bar, a bathroom that would end up looking like it belonged in a spa, two walk-in closets, and access to the outdoor patio. At the front of the house and across from the bedroom was a media room, and next to that, a library, which had been a private joke between me and Rose. Nathan and Joshua already asked if we could watch baseball games in the media room.