When Gary Fortune’s job, along with thousands of others in the auto industry, had been cut years ago, he’d never seemed to spring back. But even before then, their family had always been short on money. Adam would say that having six kids tended to cause that, but David Fortune’s passel of yours, mine and ours was even larger.
It wasn’t enough for Gary to begrudge Gerald his fortune, though. He seemed to feel the same way about David even though David hadn’t known anything more about Julius or Gary and Gerald than Gary had known about them.
Adam had no problem with Gerald or his new wife, who’d seemed pretty down-to-earth when he’d met them a year ago for their wedding. He knew David and the other newly discovered uncles were all married. Didn’t know or care if their wives worked or not. His own mother, Catherine, did. And the fact that she’d had to contribute to the family coffers had just seemed to add to their dad’s simmering bitterness. That was Adam’s take on it, anyway.
“Dad’s bitter because he doesn’t have what all the rest of Julius’s sons seem to have,” Adam said bluntly.
“Yeah, too true,” Kane said. “Anyway, you want some good news?”
Adam gave a half snort, half groan. “I don’t know. Do I?” He’d had enough news lately to last a lifetime.
“Callum is ready to submit the revised plans for the hotel to the town council. He ran them by the mayor and she thinks it might actually get approved this time.”
That was a surprise. “Callum’s finally satisfied?” Callum was the eldest son of David and brother not only to Ashley and her sisters but to Dillon and Steven, who were the other owners of Fortune Brothers Construction—the driving force behind all of the new projects that Rambling Rose had seen in the last year.
A real estate developer and contractor, Callum had also been at Gerald and Deborah’s wedding last year. Callum had talked then about the possibilities awaiting in Rambling Rose. And what better way to put Julius’s past in the past for all of them than to share those opportunities with Gary’s side of the family, too?
Adam’s dad had flatly refused to discuss it. He hadn’t wanted to attend the wedding in the first place. Hadn’t wanted to drive all the way from Buffalo to Paseo—a tiny town he’d considered a zit on the back end of a boar. But either curiosity or jealousy had gotten the better of him.
When it came to the opportunities that Callum talked about? Nothing doing. Gary said they were from Buffalo and from Buffalo they’d remain.
His attitude hadn’t stopped Callum, though. He’d been more than willing to bring Adam and Kane into the fold regardless of their father’s attitude. Rambling Rose was a not-so-sleepy little town with a great location midway between Austin and Houston, with the burgeoning plan to offer newcomers more affordable land around their mini-mansions than in its larger neighboring cities. And then all of those mini-mansion-dwellers would need newer and fancier places to shop and eat and pamper themselves. They’d need space for their satellite law firms and country clubs and luxury resort living.
In time, there’d be plenty of opportunity for all of the Fortunes if they just took the chance.
Callum had promptly relocated from Florida to Rambling Rose and began turning those opportunities into reality.
It had taken longer for Kane and Adam to move there. They’d both had jobs to get out of first. Jobs they didn’t really care about but were committed to doing. Adam had just wanted to get away from Buffalo. It was Kane who’d really been ready for the new challenges. He’d been the one who’d been arguing for weeks now that Callum’s plans for an expansive luxury resort needed to be scaled back. Maybe it was because he and Adam came from modest means, but Kane had recognized the growing animosity among the core residents of Rambling Rose toward the wealthy newcomers.
Most of all when it came to the fancy hotel Callum and his brothers had originally planned. Not even Steven’s recent marriage to the mayor had gotten the elaborate project past the red tape in which it had been mired. Finally, the plans had been revised entirely from a luxury hotel to a property more in keeping with the town’s personality.
“Congratulations,” Adam said. “Some progress finally.” His brother had a wealth of patience that Adam didn’t, but even Kane had limits.
“The only thing we’re missing in town is a brewery,” Kane said pointedly.
Adam’s head throbbed. He wasn’t getting into that argument again. A craft brewery cost money. More money than he’d managed to save so far. And way more now that he’d signed Dr. Granger’s paperwork.
He wasn’t going to worry about that when he had more important things to worry about—like a son he hadn’t known he had until a few days ago. A son he hadn’t even been able to see except through a window because of the strict protocol surrounding his transplant.
“Sandwich’s getting cold,” he said again. “I’ll talk to you when I get back.” Before Kane could say anything else, he ended the call and wearily tossed the phone aside.
He lay there for a while, listening to the click and whirr of the air conditioner beneath the window.
But when Laurel’s aquamarine eyes and luscious lips swam into his mind, he rolled off the bed.
He finished pulling off his shirt, pitched it into a corner and went into the bathroom.
The room was dinky, with barely enough space to turn around between the toilet and the shower stall. But the water in the shower ran good and hot, even though he stood beneath the spray for a small eternity until his muscles finally began to relax and his brain finally mastered the art of keeping Laurel out of it.
At least for the moment.
Her breath caught in her chest,
