On his phone’s screen was a photo of a two-story house. Modern design, palatial, and grand.
“Wow,” she exhaled, lifting his phone to get a better look at the photo. “It’s beautiful.Huge, too.”
Xander leaned in to swipe to the next few photos. “This is the neighborhood it’s in.”
He showed her a school, a sunrise over the park, and the half-finished firehouse that had seen more construction since he last visited three months ago.
“This is Greene Gardens,” he revealed. “Remember when I said I was going out there to help with their local firehouse setup?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I remember. Bryant Greene’s village. You know Lennox was close to Bryant.” Rylee smiled this time, Xander’s eyes falling to her dimples which he loved seeing. “That man never saidanythingabout doing anything like this back then. I know Lennox would have been so beside himself had he known. Would’ve definitely supported the project.”
Xander nodded, feeling a bit more assured. If Lennox would’ve supported it, that meant Rylee would approve of the village…and Xander’s plans.
She jerked her head back, eyes moving off the phone and onto Xander.
“Wait, why are you showing me this?”
“Because I bought it… for us.”
Rylee blinked hard. “Bought what?”
The moment Xander got back into the department’s SUV after visiting Greene Gardens three months ago, he knew he wanted to buy a property there. Though he didn’t reveal that to his friend Jamal while they were at the firehouse construction site, Xander was definitely interested in learning more about the village, and that program Levi Weston mentioned.
After that first visit to Greene Gardens three months ago, he hadn’t been able to shake it.
One call to the contact Levi gave him turned into pre-approval paperwork, then weekend showings, and finally this house—family-friendly, close to the future firehouse, and in a neighborhood that just felt… right.
Last week, he’d signed the papers and walked out with keys in his palm and a stupid grin on his face, already picturing Rylee and the kids here.
Though he planned to travel the distance to bring the children to the school they knew in Brooklyn and to continue to work from his firehouse in Park Slope, Greene Gardens just seemed like the right choice.
That’s why in early September, he made an offer and negotiations followed but moved quickly, so that by late September the offer was accepted and he entered into a contract.
In that time, he scheduled inspection, appraisal, and a final walkthrough.
A week prior, he’d closed on the house and got the keys. As he and Rylee spoke, light prep inside the house had started—which included the setting up of a nursery and getting everything in order for the surprise reveal he was doing that night, next to Rylee in their bed.
Rylee shifted in her spot on the mattress to face him. “Xander, whatexactlydid you buy?”
He swallowed hard at her reaction.
Xander knew it was risky doing it like this. A conversation first would’ve probably sent her spiraling before he even got the words out. Anything new had Rylee panicking, and he understood why…
He just hoped that if she could see it first—feel it—she might believe what he was still trying to convince himself of… that a new house could be good for them.
He exhaled, steadying himself. The panic he’d hoped to sidestep was already flickering behind her eyes.
“I want to raise our family there,” he got straight to it. “It’s peaceful. Safe. Has a lot of room to grow.”
“Xander—”
“There’s five bedrooms, an en suite, and two baths,” he listed over her, getting completely in bed to face her. “This isn’t me trying to move you. This isn’t me asking you to leave your home. Your brownstone is sacred, Rylee. Iknowwhat it means. I wouldnevertake it away from you.”
Rylee’s bottom lip quivered. “But, Xander, baby?—”
“I bought this because this program for first responders made it possible and because… I wanted to give us a maybe. A future to choose from… not a future to run to. You said it yourself. It’s beautiful, right?”
“Itis, but...” She shook her head. “I can’tjustleave this brownstone, Xander. I can’t just make a home somewhere other than here. Lennox bought this for me. For Nova. To be ouronlyhome.”
