“I want to do it right. Let’s get as many original pieces as we can in here, and anything we can’t find, we’ll have made, but the goal will be period authentic.”
“Regardless of price?” Reese asks.
“Yeah. I don’t care about that.” It’s our forever house, and I’m not going to say no to something because it might cost a little extra.
She grins. “I thought you’d say that, but it’s nice to hear.”
I smile back because all the money in the world doesn’t compare to making her happy. “Should we look at the stuff that is going to pay for this?”
“Yes. Let me get the look book I prepped for it.”
“What’re you guys talking about now?” Angel wanders over.
I roll up the architect’s plans and clear the table for multi-use facilities.
“Blake is building some waterfront properties and hated the interior design. I’ve redone most of it.” Reese hurries over with the new designs and lays them out. In keeping with the exterior, Reese worked up a new idea that incorporates some of the best of the '80s, including Lucite, geometric designs, and plenty of color. It’s the opposite of today’s sleek modernity but without the dated feeling the original designs evoked.
“I love it.”
“What is it?” Angel wants to know. “Is that…Houston? You’re building apartments and retail shit in Houston on the water?” Her eyes narrow. “How much money do you have, and since it looks like a lot, why don’t you spare me some? I’ll take an allowance of ten.”
“Ten dollars? I can swing that.”
“No,” Reese interjects. “You’re not paying for Angel. Despite what she tried to portray earlier, Mom makes a good living and can provide for everyone.”
“Ten grand,” Angel says, ignoring her sister. “For ten grand a month, I will leave this town and Reesy. I’ll make sure Mom never bothers her again. What do you say?”
Before I can respond, Reese takes Angel by the arm and marches her to the front door.
“What? It was just a proposal. Like a business deal,” Angel protests.
Reese halts and drops her sister’s arm. “Angel, to be honest, you need to go home to Mom. That’s where you belong. Not here in Edison, not with me, not with the Justices, but back home with Mom.”
“I don’t want to go.” Angel crosses her arms, looking a lot like one of the new Justice babies.
“That’s too bad because I told her to pick you up. In fact, there’s her car right now.” Beyond the girls, I spot a large black Mercedes. It stops at the curb, and a woman steps out. As she nears, I see the resemblance to her daughters, although she and Angel look a lot more alike than she and Reese. Reese said she took after her dad.
“You did not call Mom!”
“I didn’t. She called me, and I told her I wasn’t coming home, but you were.”
“Noooo. I told you I can’t go home without you.”
Reese’s mother strides up the brick walkway, stopping only when she reaches the foot of the stairs. Her architect eye recognizes the superior bones of the mansion, which only serves to piss her off more by the way her jaw tightens. Cold blue eyes laser in on her daughters.
“A man, Reese?”
Reese’s chin goes up. “Yes, a man, and my own dreams and my own career. Like I told you last night, I’m going my own way, and you can be happy for me or you can ignore me, but I’m not allowing you to dictate how I feel about myself and what I’m going to do in the future.”
“Hmmph,” Her mom says, but there’s steel in Reese’s voice and her spine, and even her mom hears it. She turns to her youngest daughter. “I asked you to do one small thing, and that was bring your sister home, but you weren’t able to manage that, were you? I guess I should’ve expected this outcome. Get in the car. It’s a long ride home.”
I thought Angel would have some smart-mouthed comment, but instead her chin hits her chest, and she starts docilely down the steps.
Reese rubs her lips together and then gives me an apologetic look. “She’s only twenty, and Mom is…hard.”
I wave my hand. “Do what you need to. I support you.” I always will. One of the things I’ve learned in the short time I’ve known my Reese is that her heart is big. She’s not going to toss anyone out on their ass if she thinks she can save them still. It’s a sweet quality to have. It’s also one that I know I will have to protect.
“Even if I let Angel stay?”
“We have the carriage house and a padlock.”
Reese laughs. “Is the padlock for us or her?”
“Us, definitely us.” I take two steps to reach Reese’s side. Once there, I tip her chin up and give her a long kiss. “So long as I’ve got you, I’m a happy man, and so bring your family, your family’s family, and everyone else. I don’t care.” Her eyes melt. “I love you, Reese.”