It was another few minutes of Holden inspecting everything before they retreated upstairs to get changed. It was Cord’s night for dinner, but he’d lucked out that SueAnn had made a casserole. They probably only had a few minutes before the boys came back downstairs, and she wanted to hear Jonah’s thoughts about what she’d done. She walked to the corner of the room where he was standing in front of the Christmas tree, looking at the ornaments.
“Do you hate it?”
The corner of his mouth hiked, and he shook his head. “Cord and Holden don’t remember, but my mom used to decorate a lot for Christmas.” He angled his head, smirking. “Not to this extreme, but it reminds me of how it looked our last Christmas with her.”
This had completely backfired. The last thing she wanted to do was to have this serve as a reminder of what they’d lost.
“If you want me to get rid of some …”
He reached out, hooking his arm around her waist and kissing her.
“I don’t want you to change a thing.” He muttered against her lips. “And I want you to do this every year, alright?”
“I can do that.” She smiled. “I can do even more next year.”
Jonah laughed and hugged her tighter.
Perfect!
****
Jonah stood in the doorway of the master bedroom on the first floor. He hadn’t been inside since the final walkthrough at the closing. It was easy to bypass in everyday living. It was tucked in the back corner of the house, only accessible from the small hallway off the den.
“Jonah?” Her tone was soft and uncertain.
He glanced over his shoulder to find Roxanne a few feet behind him. He turned slightly, and she crept closer.
“What are you doing?”
He looked back into the room. It was double the size of his bedroom upstairs, and had a small sitting area with bay windows overlooking the yard and a private bathroom.
A warmth spread through his veins when her hand gently rested on his back. This was a long time coming and perfect timing.
“Thinking about redoing the room. Add a tray ceiling, switch out the crown molding and refinish the floors.” He grabbed her hand and led her into the bedroom. Jonah felt her hesitation, and he tightened his grip.
“It’ll be beautiful, I’m sure. Are you thinking about using it as a guest bedroom?”
He turned slowly, staring down at her. “It’ll be our room.”
Her mouth fell open, and her eyes widened.
“Figured it’ll give us more privacy, and you won’t have to share a bathroom with Holden.”
She snorted. “I wouldn’t miss that, but are you sure?”
Jonah had never been more sure of anything in his life.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against his chest.
“Yeah.”
It was time to let go of the past and move on to his future.
With her.
Epilogue
Years later…
