handle himself. And while she’s certainly ticked, I could see the devastation on her face when she looked at his signature. She thinks he betrayed her. We all know how that feels,” Hudson said.
“Yeah, but I don’t take Bubby as the type of man to do something without a plan. So maybe he didn’t want her having to deal with this giant property. I’m sure he’ll explain it to her and everything will be good,” Noah said.
“I took him as quite the crafty man, and being friends with Uncle Joseph, I’m always suspicious of motives, but wanting to sell his land makes sense. He wants to spend the winter in Florida boating, fishing, and relaxing, and live in the new senior community the rest of the year right here in Seattle. He said he was an old man and wanted to enjoy his retirement years. So there was nothing that set off any red flags.”
“Maybe he wanted to break it to his granddaughter gently. Maybe he felt it was time she moved from home,” Noah said. “And since you obviously know her, I want to know what in the hell that story is. It’s got to be more interesting than the property.”
“I met her a month ago,” Hudson said. There was no way he was going to be able to keep this from his siblings. They’d push and dig until they got it out of him. So it was better to pretend it was no big deal.
Noah grinned. “Does Uncle Joseph know you met her?”
“No, no one does,” Hudson said.
“Well it appears you might be working with her to get this all settled,” Noah said. He didn’t push on how they’d met. They all met women. It wasn’t a big deal.
“I wouldn’t mind doing some work with her . . . or on her,” Hudson said with a huge smile. “I think I can change her mind if she still wants to fight about the land.”
“I’m sure you can, little brother,” Noah said with a chuckle. Then he laughed even harder.
“What?” Hudson asked.
“Uncle Joseph helped you find this land,” Noah pointed out.
“Yeah, you know that. You were at the same meeting I was when he brought it up,” Hudson told him. “And he didn’t know anything about Daisy.”
“Even if he didn’t know you’d met her, which I’m not convinced of, he still knew there was a young, beautiful, stubborn, single woman who comes attached to the land,” Noah said, emphasizing the word single.
Hudson lost color in his cheeks. “No. He doesn’t know anything about Daisy, and certainly not that I’ve met her,” he insisted.
Noah kept on laughing. “If Uncle Joseph wanted you to have this property so bad, I’d bet my entire fortune he knows something,” Noah said.
Hudson wanted to panic, but then he glared at his brother as he swiped his hand through the air. “Nope. No way. No how. I’m not being matched like you other idiots. Even if that was Joseph’s plan, I won’t fall for it.” He gave a wicked grin before moving back to the table and gathering up his drawings. “However, there’s nothing that says I can’t have some fun along the way. If she wants to play, I can play, and maybe even get Uncle Joseph’s hopes up of another perfect match before I snatch the rug out from beneath him.” He was quite pleased with himself for thinking of that.
Noah wasn’t impressed. “Yep, Finn, Brandon, and I thought the same exact thing,” Noah said as he held up his left hand where his wedding ring shone in the sunlight.
“I’m smarter than you guys. You’ll see,” Hudson said. He put away his drawings, then climbed into his truck.
“Good luck, little brother.” Noah moved to his own truck, and before Hudson could pull away, he added, “You’re going to need it.”
Hudson just smiled. He didn’t need luck. He was smart — much smarter than his siblings. He wasn’t going to get infected with the marriage flu like they had. No way. No how. No chance. Nope. He was all good.
Then a vision of Daisy flashed behind his eyes: those flushed cheeks, sparkling eyes . . . and no clothes. He pushed his foot down on the gas pedal, trying to speed past his thoughts. He’d win. He’d damn well win.
Because Andersons didn’t quit and they didn’t fail. Not ever. Well, except for every single one of his cousins, and three out of four of his brothers.
A shudder passed through him. He might actually be