An Ounce of Hope (A Pound of Flesh #2)(9)

Max laughed again. Yeah, he was definitely Riley’s brother. He held the iPod tightly. “Thanks for this.”

Tate nodded. “My pleasure.”





Grace Brooks cursed her brother up and down for being so freaking tall.

Seriously, the man was a mountain. And it wasn’t because she was bitter being an above-average five foot six; it was because she was struggling to keep her gloved hands over his eyes as she led him down a snow-covered dirt driveway toward the surprise she’d kept secret for nearly a month and a half.

“Look, you made me drive you all the way out here to see whatever it is you want me to see and—” He stumbled. “Are we nearly there?” Kai asked, his posture clearly giving him a hard time. And it wasn’t any wonder. He was almost bending completely backward to accommodate his sister’s lack of height.

“Yep,” Grace replied, pulling to a stop. “Okay. One. Two. Three.” She pulled her hands away from Kai’s eyes and opened her arms wide. “Ta-da!”

She watched Kai stand to his full height, adjusting the gray scarf around his neck. His dark chocolate eyes narrowed slowly as he took in the two-story house sitting back from the drive, surrounded by dense forest. His silence and the pinch of his mouth made Grace shift from one foot to the other.

“Well,” Grace said encouragingly. “Isn’t it great?”

His eyebrows lifted at her choice of adjective. He leaned his weight to the right and crossed his arms over his broad chest. “It’s definitely something,” he commented carefully.

Disappointment bloomed in Grace’s stomach.

“I bought it,” she continued anyway. “You’re always telling me to move on, do something crazy, well . . . here’s crazy!”

Kai rubbed a palm across the back of his neck. “I know, I just didn’t think it’d be this crazy.” He gestured toward the house. “Grace, it doesn’t even have a front door. Or windows. The roof is barely existent, and it— Wait, is that a toilet on the porch?”

Grace grabbed her brother’s forearm, yanking him toward the house, the first thing she’d ever owned in her twenty-six years. “You need to use your imagination. Don’t look at what it is now. Think about what it could be.”

“I don’t think even Dr. Seuss would have enough imagination.”

Grace huffed, stopping by the termite-ridden porch. “I don’t need you to be a sarcastic ass right now? I need you to be fun and un-adult and . . .”

“Imaginative?” Kai smirked.

Grace snapped her fingers. “Yes! Imaginative.”

Her brother sniggered and looked up at the house. Surely, Grace thought, he of all people could see the property’s potential. Sure, it was run-down and would probably take a million years and a shitload of elbow grease to turn it into something habitable, but it was hers, and that, after everything she’d been through, was something Grace couldn’t help but get excited about.

“Obviously,” she began, standing straight as she launched into her sales pitch, “in its present condition, it was a steal. I know it’ll cost to make it pretty, but that’s the fun part. I want to paint it white so it stands out and have a blue door just like Momma’s house used to. What do you think?”

Kai opened his mouth but she continued before he could take a breath. “The construction company in town has already taken measurements and my ideas and, holy hell, their plans are amazing. They’ll start in the new year, depending on the weather.” She pointed toward the upper level. “It has three bedrooms so there’s room for you to come and stay whenever you want to hide from your harem of women? and there’s also space for an amazing darkroom and, God, Kai, imagine the photographs I could take here!”

She looked from the house to her brother and blinked at his cocked eyebrow. “What?”

“I don’t have a harem of women.”

She snorted. “Kai, I’ve lived with you in DC for eighteen months; it’s like a freakin’ carousel of breasts at your place with names like Charissa or Sashina.” She elongated the vowel.

“Sasha.”

“Whatever.”

He laughed and shook his head in disagreement, despite knowing that she was right. Grace wasn’t ignorant enough not to see why he had women all but breaking down his front door. Her younger brother was charismatic, intelligent, funny, and a looker. He was also the very best person she knew.

Kai observed her for a moment before leaning closer. “You don’t have to move out, Grace. I like you living with me. You keep my carousel of breasts in order.” She smacked his arm, both of them laughing. His face quickly turned serious. “Are you sure you’ll be okay with the distance from DC, getting to your sessions and everything?” He glanced around. “It’s pretty remote out here and I’m not sure I like that you’re staying in a boardinghouse. I told you, you can stay with me as long as you need.”

Grace smiled gratefully. “I know you did, and thank you.”

“But?”

Grace shrugged. “But I feel like it’s time. I like how remote it is and I’ll be okay. I only have sessions every other week now. I don’t feel unsafe here. Plus, you’ll be over to visit.” She looked back at her house, imagining how beautiful it would look when it was finished. “Momma left us that money to do something great. This is what I want.”