“He just turned into kind of an asshole,” Aspen finally said vaguely.
Callie frowned. “An asshole how?”
“He just…” She shook her head. “He wasn’t the guy I thought he was, and he certainly wasn’t the guy for me. Sorry, can we talk about something else? I don’t like thinking about him.”
There was more her friend wasn’t telling her…and they usually told each other everything. What made this situation different?
“Okay, but you know you can tell me anything, don’t you?” Callie asked softly. “I’m always here to listen.”
Aspen gave a jerky nod. “I know.”
They were just coming up to a bend in the path when voices sounded up ahead. Men’s voices.
“He’s moving back into his place today.”
Was that Lock’s brother, Kayden?
“They’ll sort things out. He bought a damnhousefor her, for God’s sake. One that she apparently chose.”
And Jace. Who were they talking about?
“Yeah. I’ve never known Lock to be one for big romantic gestures, but obviously Callie changed him. To buy a house for her, keep it for two damn years when he didn’t even know if he’d ever see her again, then fix it up…that’s love.”
Callie’s steps faltered. Lock had bought her ahouse?
The men rounded the bend—abruptly stopping right in front of her.
Jace’s eyes widened. “Callie.”
“He bought our house?” she whispered.
Lock hammeredthe last nail into the railing.
Finished. The deck was finally finished, and the inside of the house was almost there too. He was just waiting on the new oven, which was being delivered later this week, and then he’d have a fully renovated house.
He stepped back and looked up, the phone conversation from that day more than two years ago flicking back to him. Toying with him.
“This is it.”
Lock laughed, phone pressed to his ear as he looked over the online ad for the place. She couldn’t be serious. “It’s a dump, Callie.”
“Our dump. I went to look at it with Dad over the weekend, and he thinks it has potential.”
Yeah, potential to be knocked down. Because that was exactly what whatever unlucky bastard who bought it would do.
“I can hear you thinking, Lock.”
“You can’t hear thoughts over the phone.”
“I can hear yours. You’re thinking it needs to be knocked down. But what you forget is, you are amazing with your hands. All those summers spent with your uncle out of state. You learned how to make any old pile of wood into a home, and you can do that to this one.”
“It would be a huge venture.”
“But after the venture, it would become our home.” There was an almost whimsical note to her voice. Maybe because she knew what he knew. That their future was already locked in, even though they weren’t engaged. They had no kids. But they both knew they were it for each other.
“Lock…I felt something when I walked inside. It was like I knew this house was ours.”
Fuck…how was he supposed to say no to that?Hell, she hadn’t even needed to say it. He would buy this house for her simply because she wanted it. Simply because she asked. “I’ll contact the real estate agent.”
