He checked his phone to see if Beckett had responded to his arrival text. Beckett had stayed in Coronado to close on their new house. The coveted corner lot Beckett had seen without him had turned out to belong to two members of Reservations who had recently expanded their family. Julian had been to the home many times and had negotiated thousands of dollars off the asking price. Beckett was lucky to have him. The crazy man would have shelled out so much extra cash, which was unacceptable since that money could be spent on Julian himself.
He cut the engine, reached into the backseat for the gifts he’d gotten Luke and Logan, and left the car. He tucked his phone in his pocket as he went inside to meet Thane, Levi, Logan, and Luke. He had planned to stay in a hotel while in town, but Thane and Levi were butt-hurt because he didn’t want to stay with them in their new home. Even though that seemed weird, he’d caved and agreed to spend his nights there.
This Walker-Silva family genuinely believed Julian was one of theirs and had only come to town to visit them. Now, the baggage of family obligation weighed on his shoulders.
Julian cast his gaze down, avoiding the bright sun as he made his way inside.
“Julian!” He heard his name shouted before the door even closed behind him. Luke, apparently his new best friend or so you’d think with the daily update emails he’d been getting since Luke had moved out east, lifted his hand, then jumped from his seat, the chair teetering until it clattered to the floor. Luke glanced behind him at the chair. “My bad.”
Everyone in both sides of the place looked at Luke then at Julian. He couldn’t hide his grin as Luke hurriedly righted his chair. The rest of the Walker-Silva family stood. Except Logan who was shoveling the last bit of food on his plate into his mouth.
“Am I late?” Julian asked, sticking out a hand to shake Thane’s, looking at the empty plates on the table.
“We had a change of plans,” Luke said, breaking Julian’s handshake with Levi from across the table. Luke wrapped his arms around Julian, giving his side a full-body hug. “The university can see us early. It’s cool right?” He was a tall, lanky kid, who looked to have grown since Julian had seen him. “I’ll graduate from college about the same time I graduate from high school.”
“I knew you were smart no matter what they said about you,” Julian teased, handing over the gift he’d brought. “I felt like a university guy needs something special.”
Logan finally looked up at Julian, chewing a mouth full of food. The look was very clear. Logan was starting at the university this semester along with his little brother. Where was his gift?
“I got you too,” Julian assured. “Don’t worry.”
“Logan, look. It’s the new Samsung Galaxy.” Luke lifted both boxes from the sack before wrapping himself around Julian again in appreciation.
“Thank you. Thane, look. Julian got us phones. It’s cool to have rich friends,” Luke said unabashedly, tightening his arms around Julian.
“We have to go,” Levi said, chuckling behind Julian. “Let Julian go, Luke.”
Luke did, his smiling face looming over Julian. “Thane said you’re staying with us. I’ll see you tonight.”
He wasn’t sure why Luke liked him so much, but it had been like that since the first time he’d met the kid, and Luke was a kid, almost sixteen years old.
“Thanks, Julian. This is clutch,” Logan said from behind him.
“Anytime,” Julian said and patted Luke on the arm before moving around him. “Get going. I’ll see you later.”
The twinkle of humor lit Thane’s eyes. Julian’s boss was having a great time at his expense. He pushed from his seat and stood. “Why don’t we go into the bar. You can have lunch there, and we can talk.”
“Like explaining why you’d want to buy this place. It seems off brand,” Julian said as Thane swept out an arm in front of him, urging Julian to go first.
“Have you seen their Yelp rating?” Thane asked from behind him. “I’ve never had a place where customers are so devoted. I need that in my lineup.”
“It looks new,” Julian said, not remembering a time Thane had ever talked reviews as a reason to buy anything. He scanned the busy establishment, trying to see what Thane saw.
“Is this someone new to try to talk us into selling?” The bartender asked with a sarcastic quirk of the mouth as Julian took a seat at the bar.
Thane chuckled as he took his seat. “Padraig, meet Julian. And no, I’m done trying to convince you to sell to me. I’ve been turned down enough.”
“Yeah, since we hired Logan as a busboy a couple of days a week. Who buys a bar because a teenager likes it here?” Padraig shook his head as if that was the dumbest thing he’d ever heard as he ran a rag over the bar top.