How to Love Your Neighbour(82)
“I don’t know. You guys are always saying shit like I’m flighty and less reliable. I want this. It’s not a whim.”
“Jesus, Noah. You’re in my face all the time about being a nerd. Last week you texted that my longest relationship was with my Switch console.”
Noah laughed, remembering the text.
“Okay, fine.But I didn’t want to joke about this.”
“I saw the magazine.” It was a quick shift in topics but Noah rolled with it.
“And?”
“Clearly you’re finding your passion. You look and sound different. The house is gorgeous. As is Grace, but that’s beside the point. We bug you because we’re your brothers, same as you do. But we have your back and you know it. The house, the community center . . . you’re doing what you wanted. You’re finding your own path.”
Noah’s fingers loosened, his chest puffing out. “It’s not what I thought it’d be.”
“Most things aren’t. You should have seen Dad’s face. If he’d tried any harder not to react, he would have exploded. His face was so still it was like he’d had Botox.”
“So much for making the old man proud, huh?”
“I don’t know, man. I think part of him has to be. You’re making your own rules and he’s realizing he shouldn’t have let you go.”
Did he? Or was he pissed at Noah and looking to get back at him? The thought hadn’t occurred to him before. “Do me a favor?”
“The very reason I phoned,” Wes said dryly.
“I know you’re short on time, what with all the gossiping you and Chris do about me,” Noah said.
Wes laughed. The sound reminded Noah how much he missed his brother. “There’s so much to dish about.”
It was Noah’s turn to laugh. Wes interrupted, saying, “What do you need?”
“Look into a couple companies for me. Do some digging. They said they were going in a different direction.”
“Ouch.”
Exactly. “I know. I want to see which direction.”
“Okay. But the real reason I called is the warehouses.”
Noah took the turnoff for Anaheim. “What about them?”
The final straw with his father had been when Noah fell in love with some old-school warehouses in the Bronx near the water. He’d had big plans for them that would have thrilled his grandfather. But not his father. Noah had invested his own money, thinking this would show his father how sure he was about the investment. It hadn’t.
“The sale has been stopped.”
“Why?” He felt bad leaving Wes with his mess to clean up, but his brother had offered to finish up the deals to sell that Noah had started before he left.
“You put Dad’s company on the papers.”
Noah pulled into the golf course parking lot and found a spot.
“Noah.”
“What?”
“You can’t guess where I’m going with this?”
He tried to reroute his thoughts, irritated with himself for thinking about all of the things he wanted to do with his girlfriend. Not just in the house either. He wanted to go to Disneyland, take her to Napa, do some hiking.
“Just tell me.”
“Dad won’t authorize the sale.”
Noah’s foot flexed, anger coursing through his body. “Excuse me?”
“Says it’s his.”
“It was my money. He knows that.”
“I’m just trying to give you a heads-up. Don’t shoot the messenger. You might have to call him and talk.”
“That bastard.”
“I’m sorry, man.”
“I’ll deal with it. Get on a plane and come out here. Why are you still there?”
“With just me and Ari here, we’re the golden children now. You want me to leave my pampered lifestyle?”
Noah laughed, again when he didn’t think he could. Of the three of them, Wes was the least concerned with amassing a fortune. Oddly enough, he was probably worth more than Noah or Chris. He created apps, designed software, and did a bunch of nerd stuff that ended in tons of dollar signs.
“At least come visit.”
“I’m thinking about it. Trust me. Talk soon, okay?”
“You bet.”
They hung up and Noah worked to ease the tension out of his body as he grabbed his clubs. Before he got to the clubhouse, his phone buzzed again, this time with Grace’s number.
His heart double-bounced like a kid on a trampoline. She was becoming more and more important to him. It was a shift he hadn’t expected. Work always came first, but maybe that was because no other woman was Grace. Chris made it work with Everly, and he was committed to his job. His dad couldn’t make a relationship work even when he was engaged, but Noah wasn’t him. And Grace wasn’t just a fling. As scary as it was to admit that, it made him more determined to prove to himself that he could balance it all. He could do what he did best and have a life on top of it. But what if what he did best was changing?
Noah
Headed onto the course.
Grace
Break a leg. Or whatever you say before a game. Just wanted to let you know I invited Morty and Tilly for dinner. You’re welcome to join. I’d like it if you did but no pressure.