He grins. “Lots of people. I mean, that’s kind of how the real estate business works.” He bites down on a baby carrot and crunches away.
“We just had a huge meal! Why are you eating?” I made Zoey’s favorite spaghetti and mini meatballs and she made sure that Beau joined us for supper, even going as far as to call him and demand he come over since she missed him last night. After we ate, she took a bath and fell asleep reading books with Beau shortly after. “How are you still hungry?”
“I thought we established this already. I’m a growing boy.”
I roll my eyes and throw a dish towel at his face, which he deflects and catches easily. “Oh, whatever. So tell me about this house you bought on a whim.”
“It wasn’t on a whim,” he says, digging another carrot out of the bag and munching on it. “I’ve been thinking about it for a while, as you know. My other house has a sale pending and I’m pretty certain that it’ll go through. Grant and I have been working already on setting up some jobs here before the end of the summer so he wants me back and ready to work.”
“Which one did you buy? Was it the green one with the awful kitchen?” That’s my best guess because while the kitchen was truly terrible, with an outdated well, everything, the rest of the house was pretty great. It seemed as though where the owners didn’t spend a dime on updating the kitchen, they went all out in the rest of the house.
“No. You didn’t see this one yet.”
My jaw drops. That can only mean one thing… “Don’t tell me.”
He waggles his eyebrows up and down, excitement radiating off him. “Don’t tell you what?”
“The Noosma house?” I guess.
“That’d be the one.” He looks so proud of himself as he keeps eating those carrots, with no idea that I’m fighting against my feelings of jealousy and sadness.
“Wow.”
“I think you’ll love it. I’m looking forward to you seeing it.”
“Mm hmm,” I hum.
He’s practically bouncing as he enthuses, “I’m so excited for Zoey to see it. She’ll love it out there. No other homes around, all sorts of space to run.”
“With those donkeys.”
“That’s right. Milly and Billy.”
“You’ve named your make-believe donkeys?”
“Of course I have! Do you think I’ll leave the naming up to Zoey? After Macaroni was named?” Beau points to Macaroni on the floor who, bless him, lifts his head and looks at us, tail thumping against the tile floor like he’s been summoned and will receive a treat soon just because he knows his name. “She’d probably end up naming one of them cheese or booger or some shit like that.”
A very unladylike laugh escapes my throat when I think of Zoey naming a donkey — or any animal — booger. “And Milly and Billy is what you came up with?”
He shrugs. “They sound like donkey names to me,” he says. I don’t agree with him, even though he’s right. They sound like the perfect name for donkeys. I can picture Zoey running out there begging to show Milly and Billy some love. Feeding them apples or whatever it is that donkeys like.
I cross my arms and jut out a hip. “So what other animals are you going to learn to raise?”
Beau rubs his hands together and smiles. “See? It’s fun to imagine, right? What else? A huge garden, probably? There’s a lot of space and Richard already has a space for a garden. A bunch of dogs, obviously. Probably some cats. Isn’t that normal? To have barn cats to keep the rodents down? Maybe a fleet of rabbits?”
“A fleet? I am absolutely positive that’s not what it’s called.”
“It isn’t, but it sounded funny. And I don’t actually want rabbits. I’m not sure what they’re really good for because it’s not like I’m gonna eat a rabbit or milk it or some shit like that. But maybe some chickens, goats, a few cows. We talked about this.”
“Yeah, we did, but I thought you were joking.”
“I kind of was, but I went out to the house today and it got me thinking. Besides, Richard, that’s Mr. Noosma, he said he’d love to see animals out there again and offered to help.”
I swallow hard at the idea of Richard and Beau working side by side. Richard knows my feelings toward Beau so it makes me wonder if he’s plotting something.