Well Built (Book Boyfriend #3)(36)

He'd long ago realized that his mother equated good, delicious food with making people feel loved and cared for-and that's exactly how he felt when he ate her cooking. Whether it was feeding the customers at the diner or preparing special meals for the family they'd once been, it made Patricia Coleman happy to fill their bellies with down-home country recipes and baked goods.

Now that Kyle's dad was gone and Todd was in prison, he knew that his mother looked forward to spending time in the kitchen when he came to visit-which was evidenced not only by his gigantic breakfast but by the peach cobbler she'd made yesterday afternoon so he could have a bowlful of the dessert with vanilla ice cream when he'd arrived from the city last night.

Thank God today was all about physical labor so he could work off the calories consumed during this delicious meal. Hauling trash out of the Piedmont building and gutting the place would undoubtedly burn the extra calories he'd consumed in just a twelve-hour period. He was meeting the guys at the property in an hour-Wes, Max, Connor, and half a dozen laborers who worked for the company were giving up their Saturday to lend a hand with the cleanup and heavy lifting, and he was grateful for their help since he only had his weekends free to work on the renovations, and he wanted the place cleared out as much as possible today.

He felt his belly get fuller with every bite he took. "You really didn't have to make such a huge breakfast for me, Mom," he said, even knowing she'd enjoyed doing so. "I would have been fine with a bowl of cereal."

She scoffed at him from where she stood at the counter, though she was smiling as she piled shaved ham and cheese onto the fresh-sliced sourdough bread she'd made first thing this morning. "You're a grown man and you need to start the day with a full stomach. You've got a lot of work ahead of you, and I don't want you getting hungry in a few hours."




       
         
       
        
There was no chance of that, especially since she was also providing a hearty lunch for everyone. "And you also didn't have to make sandwiches and potato salad for all my guys. We could have gone to the diner or had something delivered."

"It's already done, honey," she said, happy as a clam as she packed the meals into a cooler, along with a container of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies. "This way you all can eat when you want. It's all right here."

With his plate emptied-how in the world had he eaten everything?-he leaned back in his chair to let the food digest for a few minutes. "Thank you. I really do appreciate it."

"I know you do." With a gentle, motherly smile, she picked up his plate and took it to the sink to rinse it off. "It's the very least I can do considering everything you've done for me."

They'd had this conversation many times before-her genuine gratitude for taking care of her over the years. It didn't matter that Kyle insisted he'd always be there for her-something his verbally abusive, alcoholic father never had been-she was always grateful and told him so, while he knew he wouldn't be the man he was today if it hadn't been for her love and guidance.

Somehow, he'd turned out the opposite of Todd, probably because he'd always been keenly aware of how much his father's actions, and Todd's, had hurt his mother. That emotional pain was something he never wanted to put her through, so he'd always been on his best behavior. He strove to be the kind of man who would make her proud, and he'd like to think he'd accomplished that goal.

"Before I head out for the day, there's a few things I'd like to talk to you about," he said, not sure how she was going to take this next conversation that was going to shake up the normal routine she'd been used to for the past thirty years.

"Okay," she said, sitting across the table from him. "And I've been wanting to talk to you about something, too. But you go ahead first."

His curiosity was definitely piqued. It wasn't often his mother had something important she wanted to say. But they needed to discuss the Piedmont building and what it was going to entail for him to get it renovated into an event center and bakery in the time frame he'd allotted.

"So, the next couple of months are going to move fast with the remodeling, and I'm going to need your help with quite a few things to get the place done and open by the two-and-a-half-month deadline I've set for the project."

He knew it was a tight period of time, but he'd already worked out an estimate, and it was definitely doable as long as he didn't have any major problems along the way. He had a crew with a trusted foreman scheduled to implement the work Kyle needed done during the week while he handled business in Chicago, and he'd spend the weekends in Woodmont making sure everything was up to code and precisely how it needed to be.