Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 37533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 188(@200wpm)___ 150(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37533 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 188(@200wpm)___ 150(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
“Hey! I can’t see that coming.”
I take her hand and kiss her neck as she sighs contentedly. “That’s the point.” She squeals again as I scoop her up in my arms and carry her to the truck.
“Any chance you’re going to tell me where we’re going?”
“Patience,” I say as I drive away from downtown.
It’s a short ride and I turn down the tree-lined driveway.
“I think I might be getting car sick.”
“Good thing we’re here.” I park the truck and lean over to unbuckle her. “Just another second, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Keep them closed.” I jump out and then help her down. Once I turn her around, I move behind her and take off the blindfold. “Open your eyes.”
“Oh my god, Shaw.” She looks around and her eyes widen. “Where are we?”
“Our new home.” She stops moving and stares at me for a moment and only blinks. “I bought it for us.”
“Wait, you did what?”
“I found this cottage on the historical register. It’s been vacant a long time and I reached out to the estate to see if they’d be interested in an offer way over asking.” I shrug as I stuff my hands in my pockets, suddenly second-guessing everything.
“I can’t, I mean, this is insane.”
She turns around to face the cottage again and she’s looking at it like she’s never seen a house before. I had to drive out this way last week to do some work for one of Mom’s friends. When I saw the house in the distance all I could think was it looked exactly like the house in the book Barbara told me about. She said it was her favorite book as a child and the stone house with ivy clinging to the side was what she always pictured raising a family in.
I knew it with one look, the way I knew the day I saw her for the first time. She was it for me and this house was it for her. But maybe now the dream isn’t meeting the expectation and I’ve gotten it wrong. Damn, it even has the tulip garden around the side like she talked about.
“Hey, I can change anything you don’t like, or we can just sell it and find something else.”
“What?” She whips around with tears in her eyes. “Sell it? Are you kidding me, Shaw? We can’t sell this house. It’s our home.”
She runs to me and I catch her just as she jumps into my arms.
“You like it?” I feel some of the worry leave me as she kisses my face.
“Love it, Shaw. Love the house, love you, love life, oh god, I’m just so full of love.”
“I love you too, babe.” I kiss her neck and hug her close as her legs wrap around me. “Want to see the inside?”
“Seriously? Is it really all ours?”
I fish the key out of my pocket and hold it out for her. “As long as I can carry you across the threshold, it’s all yours.”
She squeals as I lift her over my shoulder and carry her like a fireman would. When we get to the door, I turn around and she unlocks it, and then I carry her inside. Once through the door I close it behind us and then settle her in my arms. I’m not ready to put her down as I carry her through the house and show her all the rooms.
“I think this will make a perfect nursery because it’s right next to the master.”
“Shaw, this is like a real-life fairytale. Do you even know how romantic you are?”
“I don’t know if making a major purchase without your knowledge is considered romantic, but I want you to always have your dreams come true.” I kiss her softly and she wraps her arms around my neck. “I knew that I could fix it if it didn’t work out, so I took the chance.”
“I’m glad you did. Now show me our bedroom.”
“Right this way.”
The master bedroom has its own terrace that leads out to a garden. It’s already starting to bloom and the canopy of trees around us makes it feel like we’re alone in the countryside.
The bed is fitted with a white gossamer canopy. The old wood of the headboard has flowers carved into it and it looks like something that was probably made when this house was built. I made sure when I bought it that it would stay with the house, but I had a new mattress delivered this week along with several other deliveries so we could stay the night right away.
“I can’t believe this is real,” Barbara says as she looks around the room.
“Wait until you see the tub.” I nibble on her neck and she laughs. “We can have a soak tonight, after I’m finished loving you on every inch of this bed.”
“We can stay here tonight?” Her eyes widen with shock just like the first time she saw the house.