Brody’s Perspective
Seein’ Dylan’s smiling face as he stood by baggage claim wearin’ a John Deere hat and holdin’ a cardboard sign with “Dipshit & Red” written in Sharpie on it made me laugh. Damn, my brother was a doofus, but I loved him. He hugged me with all his might (mostly because he knows I hate it), then he got Max in a bearhug and Max held on for dear life as he hugged him back as hard as he could.
“I’m glad to see you boys back home” he said as he tossed me the keys. “I brought your new truck here for ya’, she’s older n’ dirt but daddy’s got her lookin’ new and running like a top.” My daddy had found me an old pick-up and I bought it with the money I got from Sellin’ Grammaw’s car to Seth. I hadn’t seen it yet, but when it came to vehicles, I could trust daddy 100%. He knew a gem from a lemon and he could fix anything. With our backpacks flung over our shoulders we walked through the small, Wilmington airport and out to the parking lot. “There she is, Brodes” Dylan said pointing to an old, shiny blue Dodge Dakota, extra cab. I’d seen pictures of her in her former glory, but this was my first time meeting her in-person after daddy worked his magic.
“Damn, she looks good” I said with sincerity. Daddy sent me the before pics, but not the after. He overhauled the engine and one of his buddies owed him a favor and gave her a paint job.
“Wait ‘til ya’ hear her” Dylan said as we threw our backpacks in the bed. “Ya’ see that? She’s got a bed linin’ and everything.” We walked around the shiny old truck, kickin’ the tires, and admiring the paint job. I opened the door and jumped in the driver’s seat. “Shotgun!” Dylan yelled “Sorry, Red. You’re a little bitty thing, you get to ride in the bitch seat in the back. I need me a little more room.” Max took it like a sport and crawled into the little backseat from the passenger said. Dylan smacked his ass as he did and told him to move it along. Max just laughed as he tumbled into the back. Once he was back there Dylan jumped in and slammed the other door. “Crank her up Brodes.”
I turned the key and the engine grumbled loudly, I revved it a little and she growled louder. Damn! This was a pick-up truck and it had muscle. Max yelled over the engine “You only paid $1,500 for this?”
Dylan yelled back “Daddy can take a piece of shit and shine it into a gotdamn diamond. And every damn body shop, tire shop, and parts store in the state owes the guy a favor.” Dylan was right, Daddy cashed in a few favors and came through for me in spades.
The seat was vibrating under me as the engine roared “Damn! Old Blue is growlin’ like mountain lion” I yelled with a huge, redneck smile on me. Now this was a truck!
“Old Blue!” Dylan repeated, “perfect name.” Then we roared off towards the house. We talked along the way but had to yell over the engine as we roared down the highway. Max missed most of the conversation sittin’ in the back, but Dylan was ramblin’ on about some girl he was dating, Kim. I was happy for him but I doubted it would amount to much of anything, it never did. Dylan came off as a dumb redneck, just a good ole’ boy. But he was intelligent as hell, sometimes people confuse simplicity with stupidity. He was simple yeah, but smart and he always got bored with these back-assward, country hick girls after a month or so. I watched him go through an uncountable number of women over there years and I knew better than get attached to any of them. I’d know the right one when he brought here home, but I can tell you one thing… she wouldn’t be homegrown. No local girl could hold his interest very long.
We pulled into the long driveway and Old Blue was spittin’ gravel like a camel. The house looked pretty much like it did when I left in January, except for the dumpster I ordered for the kitchen demolition. I pulled Old Blue up next to Dylan’s truck and we all got out. Me n’ Max grabbed our stuff out of the truck bed and I inhaled the fresh country air as I looked at the house. I pulled out my iPad Pro and took several pics of the outside. I had a program that would let me try on different colors to see how the place would look. I planned on painting the exterior over the summer. “Move it Brodes, I wanna show y’all what me, Daddy and Bubba got done.” Bubba was one of my cousins on my Momma’s side, just another good ole boy. He was a general contractor and more than happy to help family. I followed Dylan into the house and took a whiff, yup, I was home… it still smelled like Grammaw’s house. I was afraid that when we remodeled, the smell would change, but so far so good. We went through the living room then the dining room and finally into the kitchen at the back of the house. “Look at this” Dylan said proudly as he held up his hands and turned around in the kitchen.
“Holy Crap” Max said under his breath. “You’ve pulled everything out.” The place was completely cleared out, all the old, rotted cabinets, the crappy old Formica, appliances, The ugly old broken back splash, that damn asbestos floor… all of it gone.
I couldn’t believe how amazing the floor looked. “Damn Dylan, I can’t believe you got this much done already!” I exclaimed in disbelief. The floors had been stripped and sanded. “Is this heart of pine?” I asked.
“Yup, it was hiding under three layers of linoleum, and it’s in great shape. Once we get the new cabinets in, We’ll stain em’ to match and put a couple coats of polyurethane on. They’ll be just like brand new; It’ll save you a couple of thousand on flooring too.” Dylan said proudly.
“When do the cabinets come in?” I asked. We ordered knotty pine cabinets with sectioned off glass doors. They’d work awesome with the floors.
“They’re in!” Dylan said with a smile, “Just need to take Old Blue down to the lumberyard and pick ‘em up. We gotta little more prep-work to do on the walls and floor. We can crank it out tomorrow morning.” Then he turned and waved his hand “C’mon let’s finish the tour.” We followed him upstairs and into the master bath.
“This is what we got done when I was here at Christmas” I said to Max as we walked in and he inspected it for the first time.
“Oh my god, this is amazing” Max said. “Damn you have incredible taste. Everything works together perfectly” That statement put a proud smile on my face. I worked hard to pick out every tile, every color, every stain, every fixture; Piece by piece I was restoring Grammaw’s house to its former glory. Turning it into a home again.
After the Master bath we went to the second bath. I hadn’t seen it since Dylan finished it. I picked out the tile and fixtures, but he did all the work. “Damn! This turned out great, Dylan!” I aid looking around.
“Yup” He said proudly, “Just needs a coat of paint and it’s done.” I couldn’t believe how far along everything was. At the rate things were going by the time I came home for Summer Break all I’d have left to do is paint and then I could start working on the yard. Max was behind me with his mouth open in awe as he took it all in. “So, what y’all think?” he asked us.
Max spoke first “fuck, Dylan this is amazing. You’ve been working your ass off” Max said, he was truly impressed and Dylan beamed with pride. We finished the tour while me and Max threw a million compliments Dylan’s way. Thank god him, Daddy, and Bubba did all this. I would’ve never been able to afford contactors to do all this.
“I’ll leave y’all to get settled. You up for dinner with me and Kimmy tonight? There’s a new seafood place in Surf City we wanna try.”
Max raised his eyebrows and shrugged “I’m up for it.”
“Cam and Elliot won’t get here until late, so, why not? Sounds like a date” I said. “But I’m Buyin’. Damn Dylan, I can’t believe how much work you put into this place.
“I told you I was gonna make this place saw awesome you’d have to move back. I’m on a mission.” Dylan said as he walked to the door and said goodbye. We agreed to meet at the restaurant at 7:00.
Max and I headed back upstairs to my bedroom to get settled in. It had been a long day of travel and it felt good to be home, it felt even better to be there with Max. We had a couple of hours before we had to meet Dylan and Kimmy for dinner. I unpacked, then kicked off my boots, jumped on the bed, and laid on top of the covers in my jeans, T-shirt, and ballcap. I just laid there watching Max unpack; he looked like he belonged there. Like he was part of the house, part of my life there. Maybe it was a ridiculous dream, maybe it was a foreshadowing of the future, maybe it was just Max visiting Grammaw’s house with me at Spring Break, whatever it was it just felt right. When he was done unpacking, he kicked off his shoes and laid next to me.
“This place is shaping up” he said as got comfortable. “It suits you.”
“it suits you too, Maxwell. You look like you belong here” I said with a big grin. He leaned over and kissed me.
“I’m glad to be here” he said, then pulled off my ballcap and mussed up my hair, not like it wasn’t mussed up already (that’s why I was wearing the ballcap in the first place). He gave me a kiss on the lips, then reached between my legs and gave my crotch a squeeze through my worn out jeans and said, “It’s been a few days, and we got a little time…” he had the grin of the devil on his face. “plus, Cam and Elliot will be here late tonight so we won’t have a lot of privacy.” We hadn’t had a lot of time together in the past couple of weeks, we both had midterm exams, plus I was taking on extra shifts at the art museum and booking more massages than usual trying to earn a little extra cash to pay for all the renovations. Grammaw left me some extra, but it was getting damn expensive to fix that place up. Again… thank god for Dylan, Daddy, and Bubba.
Max’s little kiss turned into a passionate one as we made out and pulled off each other’s shirts. As soon as my chest was bare, Max went to work on my nipples, he flicked his tongue out and lapped at my left nipple while taking my right one between his thumb and forefinger, squeezing it and rolling it. I was enjoying the pleasure when Max bit me hard. Damn, I slapped the side of his head playfully and shrieked “Ow, Maxwell that hurt.”
He looked at me and shot me that devilish grin with a sparkle in his hazel eye, “and you fucking loved it” he growled then gave me a second bite. He went to town on my left nipple with his mouth and my right with fingers then rotated, moving his lips to my right nipple and his fingers to my left. I just sat there leaning against the headboard and let him go, I loved when he got excited like this. Ever since his visit to North Carolina a couple of months earlier, Max had been letting his beard grow out. He had a long shock of red hair on top of his head, the sides were shaved tight, almost like red stubble, and his beard faintly tapered into a nice full, red bush on his chin. It was perfectly shaped and looked good on him, manly and boyish at the same time. It was a gotdang turn-on! He kept moving lower, rubbing his tight stubble against my abs, then between my thighs while the bushy part of his beard tickled the underside of my balls making me snicker a little. I liked that he teased and played with me, he was fun in bed.
He stopped tickling me with his beard, and went to work on my cock, his chin hairs still tickled me as he engulfed my blood swollen shaft with his warm mouth. He massaged my shaft with his supple lips, and it felt damn amazing. My cock was bursting out of its skin within a couple of minutes. He deep throated me until my balls were tight, then pulled off, rubbing his beard on my ball sac and taint to distract me. He was being playful as hell edging me, and it was blissful torture. That little ginger was learning how to push my buttons and he loved doing it. I was doing my best to reach around and play with his hole. “You want that tight little pucker Brody James?” He asked with a growl as he looked up at me with those eyes. Damn that little ginger was sexy.
“Hell yeah, I do” I said in a quiet breathy voice with a smile on my face.
He growled again, “then beg me for it.
I chuckled a little at his request but played along “Please let me fuck you, Maxwell” I said with a little laugh, but then realized I really wanted him and I got more serious and growled back at him. “Please, I wanna feel the hot hole grabbing my hard cock.” That made his cute face smile as he peered up at me with my tool in his mouth.
He pulled off me, told me to lay flat then flipped around and squatted down over my face, pulling his ass cheeks apart as he did. “Get my hole wet and ready for your cock” he hissed as he lowered his hole onto my lips. I grabbed his hips and pulled his hole tight against my face as I darted my tongue into him. My face was covered with Max, his musky scent, his taste, his smooth texture, there was no one else like him. I pulled him down so tight that I was smashing my nose but I didn’t care. I gave his lily white butt a slap making him yelp, then I pushed on the small of his back guiding him down to my cock. We were in a sixty-nine with him Swallowing my engorged cock and me eating out his sweet, pink hole. The room was filled with the noises of slurping, choking and ass slapping as the afternoon sun gleamed through the windows. Just when I thought I couldn’t take anymore, Max flipped around and sat on my steel-hard manhood. He didn’t ease himself onto I like he usually did, he just dropped and pummeled himself on it. He rode me like a damn cowboy on a bucking bronco, bouncing up and down with his hands on my chest steadying him and his head thrown back in ecstasy as he did. ‘Fuck, Fuuck, FUUUCk, FUUUUUCK, FUUUUUUCCKKKK!” He screamed, each word louder and more drawn out than the last.
After a few minutes of wild bouncing, he leaned in and put an arm around my neck pulling my face to his. I’m sure he could taste his own ass as we kissed deeply, his tongue doing its damnedest to reach all the way down my throat. His free hand was stroking his cock and without any warning I felt his hot hole contract around my cock, and his hot seed land on my chest and abs. Max kept bouncing and gyrating as he screamed in pleasure into out kiss. I grabbed his tight little ass and pushed him up just a little so that I could slam into him and pull out over and over like a jack hammer until I was ready to shoot my load. I pulled him down tight as the cum left my churning balls and moved up my pulsating shaft shooting deep inside him. He pulled off my mouth, braced himself against my chest again and threw his head back as he moaned loudly. I couldn’t speak, I just grunted as I unloaded into him. We writhed and moaned as sweat and cum covered us. Finally, we stopped with him collapsing on top of me as we reveled in our sweaty, sticky mess.
When it was over, we had no choice but to jump in the shower and clean each other up. We dried each other off then took a quick nap, me spooning him and feeling his smooth, soft skin against mine. We were home.
After about an hour we got dressed, jumped into Old Blue and headed to Surf City to meet Dylan and his gal of the day for dinner. Dylan’s old truck pulled up in front of the restaurant at the same time we did. I parked my truck behind his on the dimly lit street and all got out. Within seconds this pretty little thing with big hair came running up to Max and threw her arms around him “Brody! I’d know you anywhere” she said.
Max snickered and said “I’m Max. That’s Brody” he said motioning his head towards me as he did. “But it’s nice to meet you, Kimmy”
She looked at him in shock, and In a high voice with a deep southern twang she said “My word! How in the name of creation did you know my name?!”
Max snickered again and said “um… Dylan told us.”
Kimmy laughed and said “I swear, I thought you was one of them clara-voyant, mind readin’ people like my aunt cookie was, rest her soul. She could read minds and can tell the future; people would come from ever-where to see her and get a glimpse into the future...”
As she was babbling on and on, I walked over to my brother and quietly said, “I see you got yourself another homely genius.” He let out a belly laugh. It was no secret that Dylan liked ‘em pretty, but dumb and a little crazy. Like I said, he was way too smart for that and got bored with them after a few weeks. Finally, Kimmy let Max go and came over to hug me as she introduced herself.
“Ya’ll are a Libra!” She gushed, proud of her psychic abilities (nope), “I can tell by how quiet you are, I’m a Pisces myself that’s why I’m so perceptive…” she droned on as she looped her elbow into mine and dragged me toward the door of the restaurant. Max and Dylan were behind us, I looked over my shoulder and saw a gigantic smile on Max’s face… he was loving this. He knew interacting with strangers was torture for me and Kimmy had me trapped. That girl talked nonstop; I didn’t even hear her pause to breathe once.
After what seemed like hours of incessant babbling (but was probably less than five minutes) we were finally sitting at our table. The place was cute and smelled incredible, maybe it was just because I hadn’t eaten all day and was starving, but the waitress couldn’t come fast enough. The service was surprisingly great and she came and took our order almost instantly. As soon as she left, Kimmy leaned over the table, looked around to make sure no one was listening, then said “Dylan told me y’all are um…” she lowered her voice to a whisper “gay.”
Max burst out loud laughing and said in his best fake southern accent for everyone to hear “Dylan was right, bless his heart. We’re gay as Christmas!” Daylan laughed out loud, I just shot Max a shit eating grin and Kimmy looked at him with a serious face.
Don’t’ you worry, your secret’s safe with me.” She whispered as she reached over and patted his hand with sympathy, not getting the irony of the fact that Max just yelled our “secret” out to the entire restaurant. She obviously had never hung out with gay people before. Well, after that was out in the open Kimmy continued to babble all through dinner about all the gay people she had ever met, all the musicals she’d seen, how much she likes rainbows, etcetera, etcetera. Once she was comfortable with Max it turned into Ask The Gay Guy Anything time. “Which one of y’all is the girl?” she asked. Dear lord, why did ignorant people always ask that damn question.
“Well, neither” Max said with a smile, absolutely loving this conversation. “If one of us was the girl, then we’d be straight.” That confused the living hell out of Kimmy so she probed a little further for a few minutes until Max has her so confused, she dropped it and asked. “So, when did you decide to be gay?”
To which Max answered “hmmm… good question, when did you decide to be straight?” Again, he confused the hell out of the sweet little thing.
“Well, I can’t rightly say. I was just always straight.” She answered sincerely.
“Well, I was just always gay.” Max said, then dragged me into it with “What about you Brody?”
“Yup. always gay” I said, then decided to bring Dylan into it. Until now he had just been sitting there with a shit eating smirk as Kimmy grilled Max on his gayness.
“Yep. Always straight.” Dylan said sipping his beer. The whole conversation perplexed Kimmy. It was clear that some of her preconceived notions about gays being ashamed of who they were (keeping it a secret), or choosing to be gay, had been challenged that night. If Max and I did move back, there’s no doubt we’d have this conversation over and aver again.
I had hoped to catch up with my brother over dinner but with Kimmy hijacking the conversation, it wasn’t in the cards. I paid the bill and then the four of us walked out to the car. Kimmy had Max’s arm in hers as she continued to chew his ear off about everything gay.
I shook my head and said with a smirk, “she’s a keeper, Dylan” as I walked with my brother. He just smiled and winked; we both knew what he saw in her. “Cam and Elliot should be here in a few hours, they’re gonna help us for the next couple of days.”
“Elliot?” Dylan asked in confusion “I thought his name was Eric.”
“Different guy” I said. “You aint met this one yet.” Then we talked about our plan for the next couple of days. The next morning, I was going to meet Dylan at the lumberyard early to load the cabinets into the back of our pick-ups, then we’d head back to Grammaw’s and the five of us would go to work on installation. Daddy planned on coming by after he closed up shop around noon. We hoped to get the cabinets installed in one day, that would give us time to paint before they came to install the Formica countertops on Monday. I wanted to get granite but just couldn’t afford it so I ordered cheap Formica that looked like granite and saved about two thousand bucks, we could always upgrade to granite later, after I graduated and had a decent income.
Dylan said he’d help me install the sink. The guys could help us paint the bathroom and the kitchen on Sunday before they hit the road Monday morning. Max and I could put the tile backsplash in after the counters were installed, touch up before we left, and maybe even stain the kitchen floor. If we stayed on schedule, we could almost finish the kitchen before we went back to Milwaukee. That would just leave redoing the hardwoods, painting the rest of the rooms, and the exterior for the summer when I came back. I was impressed with how much work Dylan, Daddy, and Bubba had done for me since I left two months ago. they busted their asses for me and I appreciated the hell out if it! It would’ve taken me years to get it this far on my own and I sure as hell fire couldn’t have afforded to hire somebody to do it for me.
We said goodnight to Kimmy and Dylan, then jumped in Old Blue to head back home. “Oh my god, she’s a trip” Max laughed. “it’s like she’s never met a gay guy before.”
“Welcome to the south son,” I said adding, “don’t get too attached to her” I said. “She’s just a plaything, Dylan will get bored with her soon enough and move on to the next one, like he always does.” Then I shook my head. “He’s such a smart, good guy. I wish he’d find someone special.”
“He will, he’s just having fun for now.” Max added. “Let him. He’ll eventually get bored with the pretty, dumb ones, find the right one, and settle down. In the meantime, let him have his fun.” He chuckled when he said it. As Old Blue roared towards home, we talked a little more about Dylan and the different girls he’d “dated” over the years and before we knew it, we were driving up the dusty driveway. I parked in front of the garage. Although Grammaw’s car was gone, it was replaced by sawhorses and construction materials and the garage was full. I was hoping we could clear it out before we went back so I could store the truck in there until the summer; just another thing on my wish list of shit to do.
We had gotten a text from Cam telling us they stopped to take a nap and would probably pull in after midnight. We were both wiped out but decided to try to wait up for them. We got comfortable on the old couch and started to binge watch True Blood, leaving the door unlocked in case we fell asleep before they showed up. That’s one thing I loved about being out in the middle of nowhere, you didn’t have to worry about locking your doors. It was quiet in the room except for the TV when Max exclaimed out of the blue, “THAT’S who Jason Stackhouse reminds me of.” Jason was a character on True Blood.
“Who?” I asked looking down at him in curiosity as he laid with his head in my lap.
“He’s like a blonde Westin brother!” he chuckled at his realization.
I laughed out loud; he did kind of look like the Westin brothers. “It’s a little stretch, but I see it.” But without a doubt the Westin boys were hotter, and the four of ‘em looked like quadruplets born at different times.
“Yeah, he’s got the Westin face, and body type, but your accent” Max added.
“Hey! Don’t bring me into this” I laughed giving him a playful tap on the top of his head as my fingers stroked his red hair. We continued to watch the show until we both passed out, Max laying with his head in my lap, and me with my fingers tangled in his beautiful hair.
I don’t know how long we had been asleep when someone shook me awake. I opened my eyes and there was Cam. “Wake up sleepy heads! You got any booze around here.” Max catapulted himself off the couch and gave Cam a hug as I shook off the sleep.
“Hey Cam, where’s Elliot?” I asked. Before I got an answer, he walked in carrying their bags. We all said hello and I went into the dining room to the fridge to get us a couple of beers. Damn, I couldn’t wait until I could put the appliances back in the kitchen. We went back into the living room (which like the bedrooms was for the most part in livable condition) and sat around talking about their trip here.
Elliot’s voice was hoarse from singing the whole trip “Well he called it singing” Cam said rolling his eyes, then changed the subject to the house. “Man, you guys are like in the middle of Bumbafuck” Cam said with a laugh. “But this place is cool.”
“It’s a gotdang mess right now with all the construction” I said sounding exhausted. “I appreciate you guys stopping to help us out for a couple of days. You want the tour?” I asked before Max excitedly took over and showed them around. His face lit up as he talked about all the work we were doing; he was talking like he planned to live there… and I loved it.
They carried their bags on their shoulders as they followed Max through the old house. He showed them the first floor, then took them upstairs into my room (hopefully our room), then showed them the remodeled bathrooms, Dylan’s empty room, and finally Grammaw’s room “You guys can either share the queen bed in here, or one of you can sleep on the couch” I offered.
Cam didn’t hesitate, “I’m good with sharing, there’s plenty of room.”
“Yeah, um, it’s a big bed. We can share” Elliot said with his hands in his pockets and a shy look on his face as he blushed. ‘Hmmmm, That was interesting’ I thought to myself, I looked over at Max, he had a little smirk on his face, he obviously had the same thought. Cam put his bag down, and Elliot did the same, then they both kicked off their shoes and sat up on the bed, as far away from each other as they could.
“There’s plenty of room” Cam said looking at Elliot with a grin. Poor Elliot, he just blushed and agreed. He was an introvert like me and I could empathize with him. He was new to our group and was really putting himself out there trying to make friends. Luckily, he found the right group of guys to trust. We hung out in Grammaw’s room and talked about our plan for the next day for a bit, then me n’ Max went to my room for some shut eye. We talked for a bit before we both fell asleep and decided that there was a definite spark between Cam and Elliot but weren’t sure if anything had happened between them yet.
I got up at 6Am while the rest of the house was asleep. The door to Grammaw’s room was opened a crack and I couple see Cam spooning Elliot. They were both still fully dressed; they looked cute together. I walked past the bedroom and headed down to make some coffee, the coffeemaker was set up in the dining room. I had to fill the pot with water from the bathroom and carry down because the kitchen sink was ripped out. When the coffee was ready, I filled my travel mug, jumped in old Blue, and headed to the lumberyard to meet Dylan. When I got there, he was leaning against his truck throwing a stick for Roscoe to fetch. When I got out of the truck, Roscoe went insane!!! He came running to me, jumping up and licking my face, damn I loved that mutt, within seconds I was rolling on the asphalt with that sweet ole’ dawg.
“Good mornin’ sunshine” Dylan said as he extended his hand and pulled me to my feet. “I had fun last night. What’cha’all think of Kimmy.” I just looked at him trying to figure out what to say, but before I could answer he said, “I know she’s dumb as a bucket of spit, but she’s a sweetheart.”
I laughed out loud at his statement and said, “Max thought she was a lot of fun, she seems sweet.” Dylan smiled, we both knew it wouldn’t last long, he had a predictable pattern. “Anyway, where are the cabinets?” Dylan pointed to the building and we headed in with Roscoe following behind. Dylan introduced me to the yard foreman, we shook hands and he led us over to show us the cabinets. We inspected them; they were beautiful. Dylan checked the inventory sheet to make sure everything was there, then the Foreman showed us where we could load our trucks. A few minutes later he brought the boxes to us on a forklift, it took a couple of loads and we filled both trucks, they barely fit. We tied everything down and headed back to the to the house, Roscoe riding shotgun in Old Blue with me. When we got to the house Roscoe ran through the place until he found Max still in bed. He covered Max’s face with dog kisses making him laugh and curl up into a ball.
The guys all got up and we spent the rest of the day working on the house, I was so grateful to the guys, Dylan, and Daddy for all their help. By nightfall we had the kitchen cabinets installed and Dylan had the sink in place, he just had to hook the plumbing up to it, we could take care of that on Sunday. The kitchen looked amazing. “Your Grammaw woulda’ loved this, she begged your grandaddy to redo this kitchen for decades” Daddy said. It was about 8:00 when we called it a day and pulled out the old grill to cook up some burgers, hotdogs, and other stuff Betty Ann brought over.
After dinner Dylan started a bonfire with the old cabinets and we all hung out warming ourselves in front of the fire on a chilly, Carolina Spring night.
Cam and Elliot worked their asses off for the two days they were there. We got the kitchen and bathrooms painted and the place looked absolutely beautiful. On Monday the countertops showed up, Daddy went behind my back and upgraded them to granite. He said Grammaw always wanted granite countertops, so he took some of the money she left him to “give her the kitchen she deserved” as he put it. Dylan and Daddy were on a mission to make this house my home. They succeeded. Before we flew back to Milwaukee, I had made up my mind that I was moving back. I on was on a mission to make this house OUR home.
Yup… I had zero doubt that Max belonged here with me. Now I just needed him to figure that out for himself.
To be continued…
