times if she wanted to get married, and she kept saying things were fine as they were. I think she was scared.”
Carmen leveled a serious look at Jackson. “Scared of what?”
“I don’t know. Things changing between us, maybe.”
Kal nodded. “Okay, I get that. Our lives were always in flux when we were kids. Foster homes and being homeless. Maybe she was afraid of upsetting the status quo, of you changing your mind about the relationship.”
“Poor baby girl,” Carmen said. “I’m glad you were patient with her, Jackson.”
Jackson took another scoop of food onto his fork, then looked up at them. “Hey, I wasn’t going anywhere. She just had to come to that realization on her own time.”
Kal loved that his siblings were both happy. And the women in his brothers’ lives? He couldn’t imagine anyone more perfect for them. Becks and Carmen were kind, sweet, beautiful and smart. And, more importantly, took no shit from his brothers. Both Becks and Carmen were like sisters to him.
After breakfast, they all cleared the table and took the dishes to the sink. They started to help wash, but Carmen shooed them away.
“It’s enough that you guys are helping Jackson build the backyard deck today. I’ll take care of feeding you and cleaning up.”
“We have to help him,” Kal said. “Otherwise, how would we know he did it right?”
Jackson nodded. “This is true. Everyone knows Rafe couldn’t build his way out of a wet paper bag.”
“Fuck you both,” Rafe said. “And get your tools.”
Kal laughed.
They all grabbed their tools and met out back. Concrete had been laid where the deck was going to go. It was a decent-sized deck. Not ridiculously huge, but enough for the grill, a table and several chairs.
“This looks good,” Kal said. “You can have some kickass parties out here.”
“That’s the idea. And still leaving plenty of space in the yard for a pool, a swing set and stuff for the kids.”
Jackson arched a brow. “Planning ahead, huh?”
Rafe grinned. “We both want kids. Like, right away.”
“I’m going to go ahead and speak for Jackson and myself and say we are so ready for nephews and nieces. So get started.”
Rafe laughed. “First the wedding. Then the babies.”
Kal could already imagine kids running around back here. Birthday parties and summers in the pool. He couldn’t wait to be an uncle. He’d had a blast with Oliver last night. Hell, he couldn’t wait to have his own kids.
The thought hit him hard as he worked with his brothers to lay out the wood piles and get started on the deck. He’d never felt solid enough in his life to even begin to think about settling down. All he’d wanted to do was work and have fun.
But now? Now those thoughts about establishing a foundation and starting a family had started to creep in. Maybe it was because Jackson and Rafe had both found love and were building a future, and those things he’d blown off before were beginning to make sense to him.
First he had to find a woman to share his life with. Which brought his thought process back to Hannah, to last night, when they’d kissed.
He’d wanted more. So had she.
He wanted to take her out someplace nice, and then get her alone to see what could happen between them. For him, that spark was still there. From Hannah’s reaction, it sure felt like it had been there for her, too.
He wanted to see if they could fire that spark up into a flame.
And speaking of burning up, it was humid as hell out today. By the time they broke for a late lunch, they had a good half of the deck completed. The one good thing about Kal and his brothers was that they worked well as a team. There was no bullshitting when there was serious work to be done. They got in and they did it.
Kal went into the bathroom and washed his hands, splashed cool water on his face, then headed to the kitchen.
Carmen handed him a tall glass of iced tea.
“Thanks.” He gulped down two large swallows.
“I’m melting out there,” Jackson said.
“I’m sorry it’s so humid today,” Carmen said, offering him a sympathetic look.
“The weather isn’t your fault, babe,” Rafe said, coming over to sweep his arm around her and give her a kiss.
She smiled. “You’re sweaty.”
“You like me sweaty.”
Jackson curled his lip. “Gross. What’s for lunch?”
“I made turkey sandwiches and fruit salad, and I have cheesecake for dessert.”
“Yum,” Kal said, eyeing the food as his