I stared back. “How…?”
“Your father’s work in photoelectron spectroscopy was groundbreaking and caused a chain reaction of further discoveries that we’re still making to this day.”
“I thought…I thought he’d been forgotten,” I said, my voice wavering.
“Impossible,” Dr. Granger said. “And if I may say, I think he’d be very proud of you.”
I clenched my jaw, trying to hold it together. “I hope so.” I glanced down at Emery. “How long has this been planned?”
“Months,” she said, wiping her eyes. “And can we just appreciate for a second how hard it was for me to keep this a secret?”
I wrapped her in my arms and kissed the top of her head. “Thank you.”
“This wasn’t me. I had nothing to do with it—”
“Everything good in my life can be traced back to meeting you.”
Her smile was radiant. “I feel the same. Because we’re entangled.That’s some science I understand.”
“It’s not science, it’s magic,” I said. “Come on. I want to show you something.”
We drove through Cambridge in our newish car to a little two-bedroom Victorian house not too far from Harvard. It had a drafting room, filled with sunlight, that was perfect for Emery to run her design business from. We’d put an offer on it three weeks ago, but our realtor had said interest was high, and chances were slim.
I parked in front, and Emery’s eyes widened. “Xander…” she said slowly. “Why are we here?”
“Because this morning, before my lecture, I picked these up.” I fished the keys out of my jacket pocket and handed them to her. “It’s all yours, baby.”
“What? I…I thought we didn’t have a shot. I thought there was a lot of interest.”
“I think they liked you the most.”
The owners had loved the house but had outgrown it. They’d wanted it to go to someone they felt would take care of it. So I’d written them a letter about Emery—who she was, and how she’d do more than take care of their house. Writing about my amazing wife was all it took.
Because it’s impossible not to fall in love with her.
She glanced up at me. “Are you saying…?”
“Welcome home, Em.”
“Oh my God!” She threw her arms around my neck, then scrambled out of the car and ran up the steps to the house. “My hands are shaking. I can’t…”
I took the keys from her and unlocked the door. We stepped inside the cozy little house, empty now and in need of some light and life.
“Xander, I can’t believe this…”
“Believe it, baby. I can’t wait to see what you do with the place.”
Emery’s head whipped up to me. “What do you mean?”
“I mean what I said: It’s all yours. To design and make it as beautiful as you want.”
“You want me to design the whole thing?”
“Well, I can help with the handiwork, but yes,” I said, chuckling. “Have at it. I trust you, and I know you’re going to make it perfect.”
“The things I’m going to do to this place…”
We moved through the living room, to the kitchen, to the guest bedroom, Emery’s eyes already full of ideas.
