He wasn’t complaining about the way he’d grown up. His mother had loved them, and that was more important than any amount of money. They’d gone camping and fishing, and she’d taught them how to take care of themselves. No, they hadn’t taken any trips to Disneyland, but he didn’t care all that much. Because she’d tried her best to bring the adventure to them in their own backyard. That spoke a lot of her character and who she was.
“It’s good to see all of you again!” Joseph’s booming voice pulled Finn from his thoughts as they stepped inside the massive den filled with a fireplace Finn could have walked straight into and several couches and chairs in a circle.
“Sit, sit,” Joseph continued as he stood in front of a chair that looked like it should be a throne for a king. Of course, Joseph had been described as royalty, so it was actually pretty fitting.
“Thank you,” Crew said, taking the lead since Finn appeared to have lost his voice. That was something new for him.
“Did you read over my proposal?” Joseph asked after they were all settled. Finn’s brothers looked to him, and he sighed.
“I want to know why you’re doing this?” Finn asked instead of answering Joseph.
“I don’t understand the question,” Joseph said.
Finn knew Joseph wasn’t a stupid man. He’d had far too much success in his lifetime. So he clearly wanted to know what Finn’s thoughts were before he answered a question like that.
“You don’t know us. You don’t owe us anything. Why are you creating this massive project that just so happens to fit all of our careers?” Finn said. He couldn’t spell it out any better than that.
Joseph smiled as he leaned back with a lit cigar in one hand and an amber-filled crystal glass in the other. He took a sip and sighed before setting it down. Then he looked Finn in the eyes.
“I believe in family. I also believe in hard work. I didn’t just pull this project out of the seat of my pants. It’s something very special to my Katherine. When I discovered I had five nephews, I knew there was no one better for the job,” Joseph told him.
“I’m sure there are people out there with a lot more experience than us,” Finn pushed.
Joseph chuckled. “You can check into my many businesses, son, and you’ll see I have a special place in my heart for the underdog. If no one ever gets a chance, then how do they get to prove themselves?” he asked.
“We prove ourselves with our actions,” Finn told him.
“And I’ve done my research, boy,” Joseph said with a wink. “You are Andersons, whether you like that or not. Not only have you served in the military, which is noble and honorable, but you’ve worked hard your entire lives. That deserves respect.”
“This is a big task,” Noah said. “What if we don’t do it justice?”
“I have no doubt how hard you’ll work on this,” Joseph told him. “But you all have to be in agreement. You all have to be in on it, or no one is. Family should stick together, and I want this to be a family project from beginning to end.”
Finn looked at each of his brothers. Yes, they were all independent, but he could see they wanted to do this. He also knew that if he walked away, they’d go with him. But was he truly going to let his anger over his father—and his own pride—make him take something this huge from his siblings? No, he’d never do that.
“Okay, Joseph, I think we’re up for the task,” Finn said. “Tell us more about it.”
“That’s the attitude I like to hear,” Joseph said with a smile.
They spent the next several hours going over Joseph’s vision of what he wanted. Finn was surprised by how much he agreed with him. Maybe Finn didn’t want a new father figure in his life. But he definitely had a new direction he was taking, now that he couldn’t finish the career he’d loved.
Whatever was going to come next might just blow him off his feet again. But this time he was going to be ready for it, and he was definitely going to have his guard up.
CHAPTER THREE
Brooke Garrison wasn’t your typical anything. Never in her life had she been described as average. She’d been called many things in her time, but never boring, never ordinary, and never girlie.
She took pride in who she was, in what she had accomplished, and what she was capable of still achieving.
She’d grown up tough—had to grow up that way, with an older brother she’d idolized. A pang of sorrow ripped through her at even the thought of her big brother. Three months. It had been three months since she’d lost him, and she still had days she couldn’t breathe she missed him so much.
But at least she had the knowledge that he’d been proud of her. Just as she’d idolized him, he’d always encouraged her to live her dreams and had never stopped telling her she could be anything she wanted. He’d made her promise to never compromise and never back down and never settle for anything less than she deserved.
And because of him she hadn’t. The two of them might’ve had a completely worthless father, who’d walked out on them without so much as a glance backward, and a mother who was too busy looking for her next fix to be a good mother, but it hadn’t mattered. Because the two of them had each other, and at the end of the day, that had been all that mattered.
She was now lost. She wasn’t sure how to survive in a world without her best friend, her coach, her family, her heart and soul. She wasn’t sure she wanted to be happy in a world he didn’t exist in anymore.
For a month after the soldiers had shown up on her doorstep to tell her Jack was gone, she hadn’t done much of anything. She’d barely survived that horrific visit she’d prayed she’d never get. She’d collapsed in their arms. Then she’d been in denial. She was still in denial. She kept his phone active and called it at least once a day just to hear his cocky greeting. She cried every single time.
A tear rolled down Brooke’s face as she moved down the street in her sleepy little town of Cranston, Washington, which was just outside of Seattle. She’d never leave her hometown. Only three thousand people lived there on a good day, but Seattle was less than an hour away if she needed anything from the city, which she rarely did. It was a slice of heaven in an otherwise busy metropolis kind of world.
But the town boasted three bars (of course), a medical clinic, a small theater, a martial arts studio, several small restaurants, a great grocery store, and a heavenly coffee stand. What more did a person need? Nothing, in her opinion.
But if the rumors were true, her town was soon going to become a media circus. She had severely mixed feelings on that. It appeared the Andersons had bought the huge parcel of land to the north of town and were beginning a massive project—for veterans.
This was a two-hundred-acre parcel of land that the rumors were flying around about. The town mill was saying it was going to be several buildings with all sorts of services for current and past veterans. The sky was the limit when Joseph Anderson put his backing behind something.
She didn’t want the circus, but she was all for doing anything involving veterans. There was no way she couldn’t be involved. Maybe it would help her feel closer to her brother; maybe it would help the pain of his loss dim just a little bit. She didn’t see how that was possible, but miracles did sometimes happen.