His grandfather stepped out of the room for a moment. Ian wondered if it was to hide his emotions. But then he returned only a couple of minutes later, rolling a small serving cart toward them.
Ian and Ken both headed over to help. Grandpa shooed them off and told them to sit. They did, of course, because neither of them had ever disobeyed their grandfather in their whole lives.
“You boys just sit, and I’ll hand over the tea and cookies. Then we can have a nice long visit. I’m glad you came. Where are you staying while you’re here?”
“We’re glad we’re here too, Grandpa,” Ken said.
“Brit, Sean, and Noah invited us to be their guests.” Ian took a cookie from the plate but didn’t bite into it right away. “They’re leaving, heading to D.C., of all places. They’ll be back in two weeks, but they told us to treat the place as our own while they’re gone. Then, we’ll see.”
“You four always did get along well,” Grandpa Noah said. “That house they had built out on the edge of town is fabulous, isn’t it?”
“Cousin Jerry would choke on his tongue if he ever saw it,” Ken said.
“Your cousin Jerry is an obnoxious oaf. Imagine assuming that because Sean and Noah were always traveling that they were hoboes.” Noah shook his head.
“He is obnoxious,” Ian said. “I try very hard to remember that a person only knows what they know. Aunt Teri’s poisoned all of her sons’ minds against the rest of us.”
“Yes, she has.” Grandfather nodded to the cookie in his hand. Ian knew when he was being given a directive.
He took a bite of the small confection and then immediately groaned as the flavor seared his senses.
“Wow! These are seriously good!”
“Anna Jessop—the curator of the museum—keeps me in supply. Between her cookies and banana bread and Tracy Alvarez-Kendall’s cream puffs, it’ll be a miracle if I don’t gain a ton living here.”
Ian thought that unlikely since his grandfather had the Kendall physique—long and lean, a body that refused to gain weight.
“I’ve spoken with Ron and Ali very recently,” his grandpa said. “But I haven’t heard from your parents, Triple K.” Grandpa grinned, likely because he used Ken’s old nickname. “Your folks doing all right?”
“They are, Grandpa. I’m sorry if they haven’t been in touch. I spoke to them last, oh, about a week ago. I didn’t mention to them that we were headed to Lusty.” Ken looked sheepish.
Grandpa waved that away, much as he had their tacit offer of help with the tea. “You can only do your best trying to raise your parents,” Grandpa Noah said. “But there comes a point when they have to assume the reins of responsibility for their own lives. Nothing you can do, son, if the examples you’ve set don’t take hold.”
He’d said that with such a straight face that it took Ian a moment to understand one very important thing—and in his mind, it was the best thing, ever.
Noah Kendall the elder still had it. His mind was as spry as it ever had been, and Ian wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to discover that his moving to Lusty was at the heart of that fact.
He was also a man who’d made his mark in the business world. Ian shared a quick glance with his cousin and then sat forward.
“We’ve been looking for a place to open a second brick and mortar outlet for some time,” he said. “That’s the other reason we’ve come to Texas.”
“There were a couple of places in this state that were for sale. One, the one we liked best, is one of the two we considered in Waco,” Ken said. “We stopped there first to have a look at it, and of course, we did our due diligence beforehand. We’ve made an offer for the business, and it’s very likely going to be accepted.”
“We’re set well enough,” Ian said, “that we can take some time, refurbish and update it ourselves. We’ve got a first-class staff in charge back in Denver, so we can take an extended amount of time, here. While the work is ongoing, we’ve a list of attractions we need to check out.”
“You’re going with the same business model you used in Denver?”
“We are,” Ken said. “Edgers has a reputation for top-of-the-line sporting and outdoor equipment as well as top-of-the-line tour packages.”
“The triplets would be able to help you with any Texas legal questions, as would Jake,” Grandpa said. “Are you exploring only extreme sports venues?”
“Not this time,” Ian said. “Maybe it’s because we’re getting older. But mostly it’s because the modern-day vacationer isn’t the fit millennial young couple looking for edgy adventure. It’s a family. More often now, according to statistics, a family of more than two generations. We want to offer all different levels of physicality to tourists and natives alike.”
“I’m sure your folks will understand your presence here, seeing as it’s business related.”
Ian noticed the twinkle in his grandfather’s eyes. There was absolutely nothing he could do about the blush that began to heat his face.
“Yes, sir,” Ian said.
“And? You can tell me the rest of it. Certainly, visiting me and setting up a new branch of your business are valid reasons to be in Texas. But I think you have a different reason for wanting to base yourselves here in Lusty. Don’t you?”
“We’re not getting any younger,” Ken said. “We did as you suggested all those years ago. We worked on getting our business off the ground in Colorado, and we spent a lot of time talking and thinking about our future.”
“The truth is, Grandpa, that we haven’t changed our minds. And we really don’t want to wait any longer to find someone to settle down with. So we’ve come to Lusty, because this is the one place we know where we can make the kind of life we’ve
