Page 53 of Living at 40

“I promise I won’t let anything happen to her.” Caving just a little on his request, I find it not so difficult to admit. I’d never let anything happen to Autumn, and I’ll keep in touch, wanting to know how things are proceeding. The idea makes me sick, though. Her with another man. Her eventually pregnant all alone. Her being a mother by herself.

“And I love you, too.” The words are thick in my throat. I agree that the phrase should be said more often, and not just from the fear of never saying it again.

Tipping back my head, the weight of these two weeks crashes down on me, and I’m almost ready to go home. Almost.

+ + +

When we arrive at our destination, it’s thirty minutes north of Lakeside. I don’t recognize the area, although there’s a lake before us.

“What’s this?” I ask as I exit the SUV, and Mason stands next to his vehicle, waiting for Ben and me.

“It’s Lake Liberty.”

“Never heard of it,” I admit, glancing over at Ben, who looks equally confused. Mason tips his head, and we follow him. It’s a quick walk down a gravel drive to find a clearing with a shit home on the property.

“What do you think?” Mason asks.

“What do we think of what?” Zack questions and then yells at his boys. “Don’t go in the water!” The two race to the edge with such speed there’s little doubt they’re about to project themselves into the clear liquid. Surprisingly, they stop short of the edge.

“I want to buy this property,” Mason says.

“O-kay.” Zack drags out the word.

Mason draws his focus from the lake to face us with a beaming smile. “May I present the first investment of The Four Points?”

“What?” I choke.

“This is it. It’s time we join our collective knowledge and invest together.”

I blink at Mason, uncertain I’ve heard him correctly. “We don’t even live near here.” None of us do, not even Ben when he moves to Lakeside in a few weeks.

“We don’t need to be close. We can just take turns overseeing the portion of the process that belongs to us.” Mason is not deterred as he turns back to the decrepit house.

“I can build it if you’ll design it.” Mason waves a hand at the currently collapsing structure. “Zack can handle the legal stuff, and Ben can make the outside beautiful.”

“I can’t work the land,” Ben mutters sadly.

“I don’t know the first thing about designing houses. I design buildings and high-rises,” I retort but my heart races. What is this? What’s happening here?

“You’ve mentioned in the past how you’re overworked. Plus, how much commercial building is really happening where you live? Who needs another high-rise, stacking people on top of one another? This would be a home. A permanent residence or maybe a second house for someone. It can be affordable living with sustainable products. You could be creative.”

“Mason, I can’t design a home.” However, the idea is tempting. It’s not that I can’t. It’s that I’m out of practice. Structural engineering is different for a house, but renewable energy sources could be the same. I’m creative with my current projects, but I understand what he means. There’s a different level of artistic design here.

“What’s the investment?” Zack asks, surprising me that he’s even minutely interested in this suggestion.

“I was thinking a quarter apiece. All the properties I’ve looked at are in foreclosure. It’s not the house, but the land we seek.” He sounds like a pioneer, and I don’t miss the pride in his voice.

“Properties? As in, more than one?” Zack doesn’t miss the particulars.

“I have five locations scoped out at the moment.”

“Five?” Ben chokes.

“I wanted a variety of choices. We can even dispense with one and make it so we each invest in only one at first but share the responsibility with each project. Design. Build. Beautify and business.” Mason points at each of us and our perspective role in such a venture.

“Mason,” I groan. “I don’t have that kind of cash.” I’m not a rich boy like the rest of these guys. I didn’t grow up with daddy’s money like Mason. The comparison isn’t fair to Zack as his father eventually lost their wealth, but he’s still spoiled in his own right. Ben has Anna’s prestige backing his name, but I don’t. “I can’t. I’m out.”

“We can’t be The Four Points without all four of us. Come on, man. This was our dream,” Mason pleads, swiping a hand through his artful curls. His freaking model looks make him appear too polished to actually do any demolition on a place or understand the meaning of hard work.