Noah's Adventure - 33. The 3 Bee's

I didn’t understand why Uncle Brody was laughing until I came around the corner.

Sitting behind him and Uncle Matt were two blue Super Bees.

I put the truck in park, and Shiloh and I climbed out.

“Two of them?” I asked, staring at my uncles.

“eBay,” Uncle Brody said.

“eBay,” Uncle Matt echoed, and they both looked at me knowingly.

I sighed. “Well… now I know who I was bidding against.”

“Carlisle,” I replied.

“You went to Chryslers at Carlisle?” Uncle Brody asked in surprise.

“Yeah. We got up early and made the trek. We wanted to spend some time together before Shiloh goes home.”

My uncles shared a look, and apparently my face gave away more than I intended.

“It’ll work out in the end, bud,” Uncle Matt said, pulling me into a hug.

“Come see my room!” Little B announced, tugging on my hand.

He dragged both Shiloh and me into the massive house.

“Wow,” Shiloh and I said in unison as we took in the breathtaking view.

Through the back windows, you could see the Severn River stretching into the distance, with the Naval Academy beyond it. Since it was summer, boats crowded the water everywhere you looked.

“The back doors open all the way,” Uncle Brody said proudly as he slid them open.

“This is insane,” Shiloh whispered.

I completely agreed.

We stepped out onto the enormous deck, complete with an outdoor kitchen and a pergola. Damian and Dominic were sunbathing while Shawn and Shane wrestled around in the pool.

“Those four have been inseparable lately,” Uncle Matt said, rolling his eyes.

“Maybe they’re in love,” I replied with a grin.

The look of horror that crossed Uncle Matt’s face was immediate and absolutely hilarious.

I knew he didn’t care whether the boys were gay, straight, or bisexual. He just clearly wasn’t emotionally prepared for any of them to date. Grandma always joked that Uncle Matt wanted them to finish college before even thinking about relationships.

What a hypocrite.

Little B continued our tour, proudly showing off the theater room, home gym, two large offices, and even a sauna.

It was a good thing Grandma and Grandpa were humble people because I could never picture them living somewhere this massive.

The final stop was Little B’s room, and honestly, I thought we’d accidentally wandered into the master suite.

The room was several times larger than mine, and my room was already huge. Little B even had his own bathroom.

Shiloh looked just as stunned as I felt.

“Sit,” Little B commanded, pointing us toward a pair of chairs.

The moment we sat down, a man suddenly appeared in the chair beside Little B.

I froze.

I recognized his face immediately, but I couldn’t place where from.

“Hello, Noah and Shiloh,” the man said warmly.

“Uh… hi,” I replied nervously.

Little B immediately started giggling.

Shiloh gave a small awkward wave.

Before the man could say anything else, the bedroom door opened and Uncle Matt stepped inside—only to stop dead in his tracks.

“Grandpa Jaxson?” he said in shock.

He hurried over as the man stood, and the two embraced.

“It’s good to see you, Matty,” Jaxson said warmly.

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to speak with the boys,” he replied, gesturing toward us.

“Mom mentioned your visit, but I assumed it would be at her house. That probably explains why they’re on their way here.”

Jaxson laughed softly.

“I’ll let you talk with them and stall her as long as I can.”

“I appreciate that, Matty. Though I’ll still see her before I leave.”

They hugged once more before Uncle Matt left the room.

Jaxson turned toward us.

“Alright, boys. Let’s talk.”

I won’t bore you with every detail, but he asked a lot of questions about the last few weeks, my upbringing, and Shiloh’s life.

Finally, Jaxson sighed.

“Your grandmother is practically climbing the walls waiting to come up here, so before she does, there’s something you both need to understand.”

Little B grinned like he already knew exactly where this was going.

“When my brother-in-law—your grandfather—started taking an active role in what happened to your mother, the Elders became concerned. Mainly because of T3’s history… and because he’s taken Little B under his wing.”

Little B looked ridiculously proud of that.

“I need to assure both of you that everything happening now was always supposed to happen. You both have long lives ahead of you. You may break up once or twice along the way, but you’ll always find your way back to each other.”

“That’s kind of weird,” Shiloh admitted.

“What part?” Jaxson asked.

“That you already know we’re going to break up.”

“You’ll learn difficult things about each other as time goes on,” Jaxson said gently. “But it’ll never be because of cheating. It’ll be hidden truths.”

My stomach twisted immediately.

I already knew too much. I had a feeling learning more about Silas’s death would probably be the first thing that tore us apart.

Grandpa Jaxson looked at me knowingly and gave a small nod, confirming he understood exactly what I was thinking.

“No relationship is perfect. Heck, when I met TJ—” a huge smile crossed his face, “—we were at Juilliard. He was auditioning for acceptance into the school and while I was leaving the theater, and I accidentally hit him with the door.”

“I guess he didn’t see it coming,” Little B said innocently. “Did it make an impact on your relationship?”

Jaxson blinked once… then burst out laughing as he realized the joke.

“I suppose I found him rather a-door-able,” he replied.

The room erupted into laughter.

Right then the door opened, and Grandma stepped inside just as we were wiping tears from our eyes.

“Hey, Grandpa,” she said warmly, walking over to hug him.

“It’s good to see you, Megan. Thank you for allowing the change of venue.”

“I had no idea until last night that Noah was driving all the way to a car show or buying a car.”

“Ah,” Jaxson said with a grin, “so that’s why there are three nearly identical cars outside.”

“Before you ask,” Grandma added, “the Mustang and Barracuda are both doing just fine. Nathan took them out the other day.”

“Mustang? Barracuda?” I asked.

“They were restoration projects,” Grandma explained proudly. “I restored the Mustang with my boys and your great-grandfather. The Barracuda I restored with your grandmother.”

“You’re a car person?”

Grandma smirked. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me yet. But yes. Your great-grandparents made sure all of their children learned the basics—cleaning, cooking, home repair, car repair.”

“You know how she met your grandfather, right?” Jaxson asked.

“No,” I admitted.

“They were doing renovations on the family house in Potomac,” Jaxson began, already smirking, “and your grandfather was there working construction. This one walks up to him and says, ‘You’re doing that wrong.’”

“That sounds exactly like Grandma,” I said, laughing.

She immediately gave me the look.

“She then explained every code violation he was making and told him how to fix it,” Jaxson continued. “Your grandfather looked at her and said, ‘Lady, you wouldn’t know how to build a wall. Go back to your Pinterest board.’”

We all lost it.

“Needless to say,” Jaxson added, “he asked her out the next day.”

“And the rest is history,” Grandma finished.

“Wow,” I said. “I had absolutely no idea.”

A little while later, Jaxson left, and we headed downstairs, where Uncle Nathan and Uncle Luca had arrived with my grandparents.

“So what are you doing with the car?” Uncle Brody asked.

“He’s keeping it,” Grandpa interrupted immediately. “A beauty like that deserves to stay in the family. Besides, you don't need three of them.”

“Well…” Brody said with a grin, “if Matt and Noah drive it, I just might.”

I shook my head. “I wreck your car once, just once.”

“Car problems,” Uncle Matt corrected proudly.

Shiloh stayed quieter than usual through the rest of the evening, and I knew our conversation with Jaxson was still weighing on him.