“Just Ian, Cam. I guess we’d better use first names all around,” Ian said. “Since there are three Kendalls at this table. First, we’ll want an assessment of the building’s condition. Not just what you can see, but what you can’t.”
“You didn’t have it inspected as a condition of purchase?” Cam asked.
“It wasn’t the building itself we were interested in,” Ken said. “We bought the business, which happens to be located in that building.”
“If necessary, we’ll tear down and rebuild,” Ian said. “We don’t want to cut any corners. Also, we’ll want the parking area torn up and done right.”
Cam grinned at that. “Yeah, I always had to be careful parking there, especially after a heavy rain. There are a lot of potholes in that lot.”
“The first day we visited was after a hard rain,” Ken said. “That’s when the parking lot went on our to-do-list.”
“Are you re-purposing the space?” Cam asked. He’d taken out a notebook and looked from Ian to Ken.
This part—dealing with contractors—had always been Ian’s job. This time, they were sharing every detail between them. Ian gave his cousin a subtle nod.
Likely we’ve changed our rhythm because we’ve decided to change our lives by courting Alice. They hadn’t expected to meet her yet, hadn’t necessarily been ready to meet her, as they’d wanted to get their business plan in operation before they met their future wife.
As Grandpa had said, this was something that couldn’t be scheduled or formatted. They had to just go with the flow and manage the best way they could.
“Not re-purposing, so much. Edgers, Waco is still going to be, at its heart, a sporting goods store. But there’ll be a larger equipment rental business than there is now and, of course, the vacation excursion connections.”
“We’ll want a section that we can dedicate to those connections,” Ian said. “We’ve discovered that locals like to take day trips in their own backyard and many times don’t know the attractions that are within a couple hours’ drive from where they live.”
“There are enough active things to do locally?” Cam asked.
Ian and Ken took turns educating the two Texans at the table about some of the treasures they’d already discovered, both in town and going no farther away from Waco than Austin.
“Once we have an idea of what’s to be done with the structure, and get that underway, we’ll be visiting each of the attractions. Our policy is that we never recommend something that we haven’t experienced ourselves.”
“Sounds good.”
Cam asked them some more questions, just the basic ones that contractors asked to get a good sense of how their clients thought. Ian and Ken had discussed these very things. If the building itself proved to need replacing, they’d do it. They’d been more focused on the business’s viability in the marketplace than the building that housed it.
“Do you have time to have a look at it now?” Cam asked.
“We certainly do, if you do,” Ian said.
“Do you mind if I tag along?” Jordan asked. “I haven’t actually seen the place, and I know at least one of the dads is going to grill me about it.”
“Of course, they will,” Cam said. “They always keep an eye on family.”
That little exchange sealed the deal, as far as Ian was concerned. Clearly, Cameron Drake was a man who knew of, and was known by, the Kendalls of Lusty, Texas. If his cousins and uncles trusted him enough to hold family secrets, then Ian and Ken could trust him enough to get the job done.
Chapter Six
At least Alice wasn’t the only one in shock. Looking at their expressions, this wasn’t the intimate family dinner party Ian and Ken had envisioned, either.
The men had extended the invitation from Samantha Kendall, their aunt, to come to Sunday supper. Totally casual, they’d asserted, and just the family would be there, which of course included their grandpa, Noah Kendall—or Grandpa Noah, as the family had taken to calling him.
The two men then proceeded to regale her with tales of Sunday suppers at the New House, tales they admitted they’d heard second- and third-hand.
“The most fun Adam ever had, apparently,” Ian said, “was not too long after Tamara dropped out of the sky, more or less landing at Morgan’s and Henry’s feet.”
“Tamara’s not very tall,” Ken said, “and apparently, Henry had given her the pet name of ‘itty bitty.’”
Alice shook her head even as she chuckled. “I’ll bet Morgan and Henry thought that was cute at the time. But I’d also bet that neither Tamara nor Aunt Samantha thought so.”
“Which Adam knew, which was why he ‘took Henry to task’ about the habit at the dinner table.”
“I’ve seen cousin speak in action,” Alice said. “And I’d heard that it’s even more edgy at the New House during Sunday suppers. I’ve also been assured that women are never the targets.”
“So, you’ll come with us?”
“I will, of course. Should I make something to take? A salad? Or a dessert?”
“If I know Aunt Samantha, she’s got everything covered with the efficiency of an army general. This will be your first family Sunday supper, so you’ll likely be treated as an honored guest.”
Ian nodded to back up his statement.
“All right. You know her best. In that case, I’ll just drive over to Gatesville and get a nice bouquet of flowers for her. Do you know what her favorite flower is?”
Ian and Ken looked at each other as if their failure to know this was a serious sin. Men are just so damned cute. If she was asking about flowers for their mothers, she’d expect them to know. But since they really hadn’t spent a lot of time with their relatives in Texas, she simply patted their arms.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll just see what’s available and if anything looks like her.”
Saturday afternoon she’d
