Watson by Kathi Barton (ebook reader txt) 📕

The house looked good if he did say so himself. He had even gotten some nice dishes that he had put away himself, as well as cloth napkins. He wasn’t opposed to using them, but he also knew there wasn’t a reason to have them while enjoying a slice of pizza. Asking Brandon if he wanted to stay over, he took him to one of the bedrooms that were complete. The bathroom had extras in it, such as toothpaste and other items for guests.

“I have to get myself a washer and dryer, however. I never wanted to get one at an auction. Aunt Holly said if I didn’t use it right away, I might be buying a pig in a poke.” They laughed again, and Booker was feeling better all the time. “The sheets and mattresses are new, so you don’t have to worry about those. So are the towels. I do have a stack of old ones, but I’m going to be using them in the garage or the barn. I’ve not decided what I’m going to be doing with the barn yet, but I’m sure it’ll come to me.”

“There is an auction tomorrow. I’m sure you’ve seen it.” Booker asked him where it was. “About an hour from here. I thought you and I could take a trip there to see about me getting a start on my home that I don’t have yet.”

“All right.” They were going to leave early in the morning and be there in time to look things over. Booker was excited to be spending time with Brandon. “I have a few pieces that I don’t have room for if you want them. You can even store your things in my locked place. Or the barn. As I said, I don’t know what I’m going to be doing out there as yet, and this way, you can get as much as you need.”

“Thanks. I think I’ll take you up on that. Lord knows I have enough boxes at the condo to fill out a couple of rooms. When Dad told me to get what I wanted from the house before he sold it, I did just that. Most of it was from my room, and then the staff packed up things from the attic that I hadn’t any idea was up there.” Booker asked him what it was. “Believe it or not, the staff saved all my baby things. Report cards and whatnot. When I was there to get my clothes from the closet, they told me that they knew Mom wouldn’t have kept it, so they did. Lots of things that brought back lots of memories.”

“That’s nice.” He asked Brandon if he had a house in mind yet. “I did look over the list you sent me about the foreclosure homes. I have to admit, I would never have dreamed there were that many around here. There are two that I’m going to have a look at on Monday. I might not buy anything yet—I’m in no hurry to get something just to get something—but I will have something soon.”

“Take Wats with you. That man can wheel and deal better than anyone I’ve worked with. Just the other day, he told me he got four buildings in the downtown area for a steal. I looked it up. He did. He paid a thousand dollars for four buildings. He told me even though he was going to have to take one of them down, he still made out well. Abby is going to use one of them for a studio for her and Amy to use to take pictures. The other place they had turned out to be a bust. It needed all new wiring, and that was well beyond what the building was worth.” Brandon said he’d do that. “We’re all getting wives. Do you suppose we’ll be in that group of old married people too?”

“More than likely.” He then asked Brandon if he’d met Louis. “I did. I heard that he came home this morning, so I went by and gave him some gifts. The kid was afraid to open the package until Rayne assured him she had no intentions of selling it off.”

“Poor kid. And I have to tell you, I’m completely in love with AJ. Have you seen Uncle Wesley around the kids? He’s in heaven. Having so much fun with the kids that I swear he’s ten years or so younger.” Brandon said his dad was thrilled with AJ too. He loved being a great uncle. “That’s right. I forgot about that.”

They wandered around the house until they ended up in the living room. There wasn’t much on the television this time of night, so they opted to just let it play in the background as they brought up fond memories. Most of them were of when they were all together, and they also talked about how much they were enjoying being around their dads. Booker said he and his dad were having a wonderful time getting to know one another.

“It’s been really comforting to know my dad is trying so hard to be the man he should have been. I didn’t say that to him—he told me that the other night when he was here. Also, and this is something I think all of us feel, our fathers are feeling better just knowing they are free of their ex-wives. I know that sounds terrible, but—”

“No, it doesn’t sound terrible. It’s the truth.” Booker asked him how he felt about them all being gone. “Nothing. I don’t feel anything. It’s as if someone told me that a great uncle I never met has passed away. There hasn’t been any feelings for my mother or the others for a very long time. I think since well before I left home.”

“That is sad. Not on our part, but theirs. If you ask me, they’re the