She let him lead the way to the front door and was stunned when he simply turned the knob and opened it.
It was one thing to assume that out here they didn’t have to worry much about burglars. It was another to watch someone just walk into their unlocked home, especially a home as impressive as this one.
Grayson flipped a light switch to reveal a center hall with a ceiling that was practically as high as the one at the YMCA where Evangeline and Rory had gone to summer camp. A sweeping staircase took up most of the foyer. There was an opening to a living room with a fireplace on one side, and a single sofa. On the other side of the foyer, the office had a big desk and walls lined with imposing dark wood bookshelves that didn’t hold a single book.
Grayson headed down the hall, deeper into the house, his footsteps ringing out in the silent space.
If this had been Evangeline’s house, there would be framed photos of the family on the walls, including Grandma and Grandpa’s wedding photo, an art print or two, and maybe even a little case to display Rory’s wrestling medals.
Instead, she passed perfectly empty walls, feeling like she was in a ghost town.
Why buy a big house like this if you don’t have any stuff to put in it?
They passed a closed door and entered the kitchen. Grayson put the sandwiches in the fridge while Evangeline tried not to let her jaw drop.
The kitchen had a huge wall of windows across the back, a giant table, and even a seating area with a sofathat looked like the only lived-in part of the whole house. A handmade quilt had been thrown over the back of the couch. But there wasn’t a thing on the walls, not a curtain or shade to give privacy from the moonlit view, or even a single magnet on the fridge.
The kitchen itself was so well-equipped that it could have been the set for one of the cooking shows she and Grandpa used to watch. What looked like miles of granite countertop stretched from the deep sink to the wine fridge and spanned the massive island. The stainless-steel appliances all gleamed like they had never been used.
“Wow,” she let herself say out loud this time. “You must be a really good cook.”
“Not really,” he admitted. “I got all this stuff because my mom always wanted it.”
“She mustlovevisiting,” Evangeline said with a smile.
“I hope she will,” he replied. “My parents are in Florida now, and they don’t seem inclined to come up.”
“Do you go down there much?” she asked, swaying slightly to help the baby stay asleep.
“Nah,” he said. “It’s not my scene.”
Evangeline frowned, trying to understand how an entire state could not be someone’s scene, especially when their parents lived there.
But she’d spent a lot of time wondering why her friends didn’t treasure or at least appreciate their parents. After a lifetime without theirs, she and Rory would have given anything to know someone had their backs, especially since Grandpa passed.
“Your room is this way,” he said, heading back towardthe center hall and opening a door they had passed on the way to the kitchen.
He flicked on a light and she looked around the biggest bedroom she had ever seen. A massive bed stood in the center, covered with pillows and the softest-looking comforter and flanked by two enormous windows, each with a window seat. There was even an open door that led to a private bathroom.
“Of course, you’re free to get your own place,” Grayson said. “But if you want to live in, then this will be yours.”
“This is perfect,” she enthused before she could stop herself. “Grayson, it’s beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like it,” he said gruffly. “I need to give Leo his bath. Do you want to settle in while I do that, and then we can have a sandwich and make some plans?”
“I’ll help with the bath,” she said. “I need to know where all his stuff is anyway. And after that a sandwich sounds amazing.”
He nodded and they made their way back to the center hall and then up the sweeping staircase. Grayson headed into the first door off the second-floor hall and Evangeline followed him into the nursery.
If the rest of the house was empty and echoing, it only served to make the nursery feel more cozy and beautiful.
A thick, fluffy, oatmeal-colored carpet covered most of the hardwood floor. On one side of the room, there were two pale green upholstered rocking chairs, one on either side of a small bookcase full of children’s books. On the opposite side of the room stood a snowy white changing table, and Leo’s matching crib with a soft green bumperinside. A mobile of colorful butterflies hung over the crib and Evangeline could just imagine how magical it must be for the baby to look at.
There was an overhead light, but Grayson didn’t turn it on, opting instead for a floor lamp that cast a golden glow throughout the space.
“This is the nicest room in the house,” she remarked.
“I’m glad you think so,” Grayson said, smiling again for the first time since they’d talked in the parking lot. “If you want to hand him off, I can just walk you through our routine.”
