“I only realized where it leads a few weeks ago. This has been my secret project.”
“You have an entire ranch, Kade. Do you really need another project?”
He looks back at me, ducking under a low hanging pine branch. “I have a feeling you’ll like this one.”
When the trees clear, an old house sits in front of us. Thewhite paint has seen better days, and the black shutters are hanging on by a thread.
“What is this?” I ask.
“You’ll see.”
The boards of the wraparound porch creak under my feet. “Is it safe for us to be in here?”
Kade pushes open the front door. Dust mites hang in the air. “It’s fine.”
“Whose place is this?”
“It used to be Verne’s,” Kade says. “It’s mine now.”
“Yours?”
I spin on my heel, taking everything in. Old furniture is covered in the living room. A half-wall separates the kitchen and living room. Stairs at the back of the room lead to the second floor, and a hallway in the back no doubt leads to more rooms down here.
“Well, I’m hoping ours.”
“Wait, what?”
Kade takes my hand and leads me down the hallway. A wide open room, in good condition, looks out to the mountains at the back of the ranch.
“Look, I know it’s not much,” Kade says. “But I’m working on it. That day in the office? When you found the old pictures? Verne had plans to fix this place up. I want to bring his vision to life. Make this place ours. There’s a few rooms upstairs. Poppy can do whatever she wants in her room, but I’ve painted it pink for her. There’s a great space for a nursery. Even a play room.”
“You want to live here with us?” I ask, stunned.
“Only if you want to. I love you, Presley. You and Poppy, and if we’re going to tell her I’m her father, I want us to be together. Not me at the ranch and you in town. I want all of us to live here together.”
“Wow.”
I head back down the hallway, peeking in every room. Itake the stairs carefully and find the room that looks the best, ready for our daughter. With three rooms upstairs, we have room to grow.
It’s everything I always wanted with Kade.
“Say something, Pres.”
“I love it.”
“You do?” He stops short of the rickety staircase.
“I mean, it needs a lot of work, but there’s room for all of us.”
“I—”
“And there’s a front porch.”
He smiles, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me into him. “Did you happen to notice the porch swing?”
I smile at him. “I did.”
“I made sure I fixed that up first thing. It’s what you always wanted.”
