NaughtyBoys Galley Read Online Free

year. It would have a tremendous effect on Bellwood’s economy and housing market, as the plant was planned to run twenty-four-seven in three shifts. That was why Jamie’s company had been busy building affordable places for the workers to live. I also heard that Nate had a stake in financing Jamie’s projects. I supposed once the plant was opened, both of them would make a nice profit.
    “Do you know the real estate value has gone through the roof in recent years despite the recession?” said Jamie as we drove to his construction site.
    Jamie wanted to show me the building he was putting up, and today was the perfect time. I’d finished the laundry and had to go shopping for groceries. Nate was out running errands and nobody was home.
    Jamie’s company had purchased three acres of land about a ten-minute drive from the plant. He was building a two-story apartment complex that his company planned to rent to lower-income workers. The project was only sixty percent finished, but the apartments were eighty percent reserved. Most of the units were studio apartments, anticipating that most workers had spending power. If this project was a success, Jamie planned to build a similar project on another chunk of land he’d just secured.
    “I can imagine that with all developments I saw. Did you buy the land before the price bubble or after?”
    “Luckily before. I thought we wouldn’t be able to secure the loan, but Nate has high-class connections. When the mayor made the announcement about the plant, we’d already closed on the property.”
    “That’s very impressive, Jamie.”
    “Yeah. Speaking of property value, do you know your old house is worth about three-quarters of a million these days?”
    I almost choked on the gum I was chewing.
    He glanced at me. “You okay?”
    I nodded. I discarded the gum on a Kleenex and pocketed it for later disposal. “That’s a lot of money. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. The front yard alone extends to the main street. Plus it shares a fence with the school.”
    “I heard the school offered to buy the old house for expansion. We got more kids coming to Bellwood, and the school wants to build more classrooms and a new gym.”
    “Ah. I remember the gym was kind of run down.”
    “It was rundown. The floor was uneven. The bleachers were a deathtrap. It got worse when I became a senior. One year, the gym floor was flooded, and we couldn’t use the gym for basketball anymore. We had PE on the courtyard after that.”
    “Seems like a building hazard to me. They shouldn’t be using the gym at all.”
    “My sentiments exactly. I don’t know what they do for gym these days. By the way, rumor has it that your Aunt Rebecca has been offered a cool half mil by school, but she flatly refused it. She asked for more.”
    Five hundred thousand dollars for the house where I was born and raised. “I can’t blame her if the home’s value is more than that. Aunt Rebecca has always been a careful spender. I heard she managed mom’s finances after I moved out.”
    “Doesn’t it bother you that your aunt’s taking over your parents’ house?”
    I sighed. “It wasn’t my house anymore. My mom disowned me when I eloped with Sam. She didn’t even want me at her funeral.”
    “But did she specifically cut you out of her will?”
    “I assumed she did. Isn’t that what ‘disowned’ means?” I laughed. “Honestly, when I received the news that Mom had passed, I was financially secure, so I wasn’t thinking about that at all. Aunt Rebecca told me it was my mother’s wish that I shouldn’t attend her funeral, so I didn’t. But a week after that, me and Sam went to the cemetery to pay our respects and also visited Dad’s grave.”
    Jamie’s forehead creased. “You came here, but you didn’t say hello to us?”
    “I was with Sam, and he didn’t seem happy to come here even though his parents also live here. Sam said he was tired of his family bugging him for money. So we made