Нора Робертс - The Last Boyfriend

“So speaks the man already prepared to be whipped.”

“So speaks the man marrying the love of his life.” Beckett turned. “Good light, good space. It’ll be great to spread out again. There’s not an inch of room left at Clare’s place. I’m always stepping over a kid or a dog.”

“And you think that’s going to change?” Owen asked.

“No.” Beckett thought about it, and laughed. “I’m okay with that, and looking forward to stepping over kids and dogs right here. Barely a month to go till the wedding.”

“It’s cool they’re using the inn for the bridal shower thing,” Owen commented. “It may be another area of revenue down the road.”

“More important. Bachelor party.” Ryder hooked his thumbs in his tool belt. “We’ve gotta send you off to the great unknown right.”

“I’m working on it,” Owen reminded him.

“Yeah, yeah. Why all the work and fuss? Why can’t we just go to a titty bar? It’s a classic for a reason.”

“Poker, cigars, and whiskey—groom’s choice.”

“No strippers,” Beckett confirmed. “It’s just too weird.”

“Man, you’re breaking my heart.”

“When it’s your turn, we’ll have strippers.”

“I’ll be too old to appreciate them. No plans to walk into the great unknown until I’m eligible for Social Security. On second thought, a man’s never too old to appreciate naked women. Make a note.”

Justine, arms full, used her elbow to tap on the glass atrium door.

Owen opened it, took the big insulated bag, the enormous thermos.

“Oh, look at this! Beckett, it’s wonderful.”

“He didn’t do it alone,” Ryder reminded her.

“All for one,” she murmured. “You’re going to have a beautiful home. You’ve all done so much since I was here a few weeks ago.”

“I’ll give you the full tour.”

“I’ll take it. First, I brought lunch. Minestrone, grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, apple crisp.”

“Best mom ever.” Ryder opened the insulated bag.

“I’ll stick with the soup.” Owen laid a hand on his stomach. “I’ve been eating more since Avery’s using me as a tester, and working out less with Beck’s place on the schedule.”

“Interesting you should mention working out.” Justine took paper plates, bowls, spoons out of her enormous purse. “That’s something I want to talk to you all about.”

She set everything out on the plywood currently covering the base cabinets. “I’ve got cold drinks out in the car.”

“We got you covered.” Beckett opened a cooler.

“Any diet in there?”

“Why would there be?” Ryder wondered.

“Oh well, give me the straight shot,” Justine decided. “I’ll work it off soon enough. Especially in, oh, say nine months to a year, when I can put in an hour or so in Fit In BoonsBoro.”

Ryder paused on his way to taking a huge bite of grilled ham and cheese. “Mom.”

Placidly, Justine poured soup into a bowl, offered it to Owen. “It’s come to my attention the building behind the inn, one we currently share a parking lot with, is for sale.”

Beckett sighed. “Mom.”

“And it occurred to me there’s no fitness center in town, even close to town. People have to get in the car, drive, go to the gym, get back in the car. And Hope’s already reported a number of guests at the inn have asked about workout facilities.”

Owen stared down at his soup. “Mom.”

Cheerfully, Justine plowed on. “Currently it’s not a particularly attractive building, not one that affords our guests a nice view from The Courtyard or the back porches. But it could be. We’d also gain parking.”

“We haven’t finished the bakery,” Owen pointed out. “We’ve barely started on the new restaurant.”

“And of all my sons, you’re the one who understands best the value of advance planning. I’m in negotiations. I haven’t bought it yet, and wouldn’t without discussing it with you first. Negotiations take time, settlement takes time. If it goes well, Beckett could start working on drawings when he’s back from his honeymoon.”

“Mom,” Beckett began, “have you been in that place lately?”

“As a matter of fact, I have. It needs work.” She offered him soup. “A lot of work. Aren’t we lucky we know how? And it’s not nearly as complicated as the inn was.”

“Ought to buy it just to level it,” Ryder muttered.

“And you know better. Gut it, yes, level it, no.”

“You already know what you want in there.”

She smiled at Owen. “I have ideas. We’d be on the small side, of course, compared to big, chain fitness centers. But we’d offer everything we could in that setting. A twenty-first-century fitness center with a small-town appeal—a large and varied menu of classes.”

“Even if we could turn that place into what you’re talking about, you’d have to staff it, find trainers, instructors.”

“Leave that end to me,” she told Ryder. “A large classroom on the second floor, and a small child-care area, maybe a treatment room for massages. Fitness area with cardio equipment, circuit training, weights on the main level, a small classroom, and locker rooms—each with a steam room and a sauna. Very spa-like in there, I’d think. We’ll figure it out.” She gave Beckett a pat on the cheek. “Won’t we?”

“I guess we will. If you get it.”

Her smile widened. “Leave that to me, too. Now, how about that tour?”

“Sure. We’ll start upstairs, work our way down.”

Frowning, Ryder watched them go. “Damn it. Damn it, it’s a good idea.”

“She mostly has them. Even if she got it quick, it would be mid-spring earliest, more like early summer before we had the plans and permits. That’s mostly on Beck.”

“Thank Christ. Wouldn’t mind gutting that place,” he considered. “I like me some serious demo. But we ought to get the bakery settled first. We have to get somebody in there, unless Mom thinks we’re going to start baking cupcakes.”

“I might have a line on that. Somebody Avery knows a little. She’s moved up here from D.C., where she worked as a pastry chef. She’s looking for a space for her own bakery.”

“Another city girl?” Ryder shrugged. “What does she look like?”

“Married.”

“Just as well. You figure that part out, Beck’ll figure out what we’re doing on the gym. And I’ll keep the crew going.”

“It’s what we do,” Owen said.

“And she has to run out of old buildings eventually.”

With a laugh, Owen took a sandwich after all. “Don’t count on it, son.”

“A gym?” Hope said.

“That’s the plan. If they get the property.” Avery sat with Hope in The Dining Room, finalizing the plans for Clare’s shower. “Owen says his mom’s all over it.”

“And they’d paint it, right? They wouldn’t leave it that fugly green it is now.”

“I think you can count on that. Owen said Beck’s made noises about raising the roof, getting rid of the flat job, doing a pitched one.”

“It’d be nice for guests. And for me. Just walk across the parking lot to a shiny new gym? Happy days. I’ve been limited to DVDs since I moved here. I’d love an honest-to-God yoga class.”

“I’ve always wanted to take one. Enough stretching, maybe I’d get taller. So, if this is the last of it, I can pick all this up at the end of the week when I do my next supply run.”

“Perfect. It’s going to be lovely. Flowers, pretty food, champagne, a fussy cake—a few silly games with classy prizes. It’ll be Clare.”

“And before we turn around again, we’ll be watching her marry Beckett.”

“Which leads me to ask if you and Owen are thinking about the same.”

“No. No,” Avery said with a half laugh. “We’re in a good place right now. Smooth, which is nice. And you know I’ve never been sold on marriage—for me. Maybe we’ll move toward living in sin one of these days.”

“I hear the words, but I don’t feel convinced. You love him.”

“I love him, and I’ve maybe slipped right along to in love with him.” It was easier to say it, to feel it, than she’d ever imagined. “I’m trying to get used to that, see if it sticks. Like I said, we’re in a good place right now. And we’re both crazy busy. It sounds like that’s not going to end anytime soon. The crazy busy.”

“Avery, I’ve never known you—or him, since I’ve gotten to know him—wanted anything but busy. It’s who you are. Both of you.”

“It’s a plus.”

“I’m not pushing, but I want to say every time I see the two of you, I think, perfect. Avery’s found her perfect match.”

Shifting, Avery rubbed her hands on her thighs. “I think you’re scaring me a little.”

“Toughen up. Take your time, sure, but if he’s not every bit as in love with you as you are with him, I don’t know how to organize an office.”

“Keep it up, I’ll start pairing you up with Ryder.”

“Talk about scary. My lips, from now on, are sealed. Tight.”

Avery gave herself an extra hour in Owen’s bed. He’d been up, dressed, and gone by six forty-five to make a seven o’clock meeting on the job site.

Her job site this time, she thought as she snuggled in to let herself drift in and out. She’d considered going in with him, just to see the next stage, but she didn’t have to be told she’d be in the way, bog things down. She’d just stop in later in the morning, after she’d made her supply run, finished her list of errands. By then, the demo should be well under way.

More fun, she thought lazily, to be surprised by progress.

Lots of progress in lots of areas, she mused. Her best friend would be married in less than a month, and she’d be a part of it. She’d be a part of watching two good friends make promises to each other, make a family, celebrate a kind of miracle.