Chapter 56

David
“He’s in there,” Phil said.

David had crashed on the pool house couch after their arrival in Malibu. He heard a thundering herd of little feet as they ran in.

“Uncle David, Uncle David,” Kyle and Mac cried out in unison, giggling as they scampered up to his reclining form.

David played like he was asleep right up until they were almost on him.

“Rawr!” he yelled as he jumped up.

Kyle and Mac ran squealing, wanting their uncle to chase them. Nate, Greg’s youngest, ran right to him. David scooped him up and turned him upside down. When his shirt fell away from his tummy, David gave him a raspberry. Nate giggled in turn and squirmed when it made a loud farting noise.

David set him loose so he could help chase his siblings.

His mom called to him from the second-story window as they fled outside.

“Don’t get them wound up,” she ordered.

“That ship has sailed,” David called back as he returned to the game. “Rah!”

She made a disgusted noise as she shut the window.

“Rat,” David said when he found and slugged Phil in the arm.

“I just figured you wanted to be the favorite uncle.”

“That’s a given. You were just being a brat.”

“I was wondering if I could go to your baseball game tonight?” Phil asked.

USC had a three-game series with Oregon this weekend.

“You do realize that the students aren’t back, which means no jock bunnies.”

“Oh.”

“Still want to come?”

Phil got an embarrassed look.

“My feelings won’t be hurt,” David added.

“Okay, then no. Dad was talking about cooking out on the grill.”

David thought it was for the best if Phil hung out with their dad.

David spent the weekend running back and forth between school and his Malibu home. The Trojans swept the Ducks as the team seemed to get their mojo back. The week off had done them a world of good. David had a great weekend defensively, saving one game and keeping them in another. The Ducks underestimated how good his arm was and got caught trying to pick up extra bases. He also didn’t do all that bad at the plate, batting nearly .650 for the series.

The team was starting to attract scouts from more major league clubs. The biggest group came out to watch Allard pitch a three-hitter. He showed outstanding control for the whole game. David was still impressed that he’d opted to go to college instead of playing pro ball. Now Allard had to wait another two years before he could enter the draft. The good ol’ boy from Arkansas had made a promise to his mom, though, so he was okay with waiting. David, having made a similar promise, understood completely.

After his Sunday morning game, David went to Malibu to spend time with his kids. They needed to be reminded that he was their dad and not Uncle David. Greg and his family had flown out that morning with Phil. So, when he was ambushed by his mom, David wasn’t happy.

She took him to the pool house, where they found Ashley at the computer in the downstairs office.

“We took Joey and Greg to look at houses they can afford to rent. With a couple of them, we were afraid to get out of the car,” Ashley explained.

“The perfect solution would be to move them into the townhouse. Then Joey could walk to work,” his mom suggested.

“If that happens, Precious will move in here,” David said with a raised eyebrow.

He’d promised Tracy, Pam, and Cassidy they could live there while they went to school. David didn’t plan to go back on his word, even if it was for his brother.

“That’s out,” Ashley said with a touch of fear in her voice.

“We can just use your house-fund money,” Mom suggested.

“I’m saving that for when I build my house on the farm,” David said to shoot down that idea.

The downside of telling your parents everything was that they then had more information than a college student, even one like David, would want them to have. Zoe had taken him horseback riding and shown him that incredible, peaceful spot overlooking the river. David had told his parents that at that moment, he’d decided it was the perfect place for his dream home.

“What about the money you’re saving for a plane?” Mom asked.

David’s head snapped around because he hadn’t told his parents about that money. He’d been getting quarterly dividends from his former company, as well as payments for the loan he’d floated Grace when she’d bought it from him. From the time those monies started coming in, David had been putting a large chunk of it away for a small jet. He was looking to buy a Gulfstream G400 or something similar.

The only person who knew about that money was Megan. His dad must have found out when he traveled back to watch Phil play ball.

“Didn’t think I knew about that, did you?” David’s mom said with a self-satisfied grin.

Ashley was smart enough to not comment. She pulled up a listing.

“What would you think about a house in Venice Beach?” Ashley asked.

“Like I’ll go broke,” David said.

Venice Beach used to be an affordable option for buying oceanfront property. In recent years, the wealthy had come in and either torn down or gutted the homes and built multimillion-dollar estates. The neighborhood was changing.

“I found an estate that has been floundering in lawsuits, and the court ordered a receiver to sell it. The only problem is that you have to buy it without being able to get into the house. It’s a four-bedroom, though,” Ashley shared.