I nod repeatedly. “I’m just…feeling all of it.”
His thumb strokes my shoulder in slow circles. “Yeah. Me too.”
The announcer’s voice cuts in, making the entire room freeze. This is the moment. The end of the last episode—the end of the season. This is where they tell the world if the project was a success.
What began as an old abandoned inheritance for Scottie has turned into a full circle transformation. I say that because it’s more than just the house’s transformation. It was the town and two people brave enough to stop pretending. Scottie didn’t just renovate this home in Bluestone Lakes…she found one. She found her people. She successfully showed us that perfection should never be the goal when it comes to something like this. It’s about working together and putting everything you’ve got into what you want in life.
Along the way, Tucker showed us that the hardest renovations aren’t always structural, but they’re emotional. With honesty, this project became something more than a makeover.
It became a second chance.
Scottie Monroe…you not only found a home, but youNailed It!
Everyone in the room leaps from where they sit, hands in the air, and cheering that we did it. I stay stuck in my seat with Tucker unmoving right next to me. My mouth is open, and I stare in shock as they continue to circle the outside of the house on camera and say more things I can’t process.
But I did it.
I nailed it.
With tears in my eyes, I look at Tucker, who’s already looking at me with glassy eyes himself, smiling down at me. “I’m so fucking proud of you, babe.”
Turning my body, I take his face in my hands and kiss him hard. So hard his body tenses for a moment before relaxing. His hands reach around my waist, pulling me to him. I pull back, a breath away from his lips. “We did it,” I whisper.
“Youdid it.”
“I had areallygood contractor to help me.”
“Hmm. That guy was all right.” Tucker smiles back, pressing another kiss to my lips.
“You two better get married and give me a grandbaby to spoil,” Nan snaps from behind us.
I pull away from Tucker, heat creeping up my cheeks.
Tucker chokes on air. “Nan.”
She shrugs. “I said what I said.
Griffin laughs and Dallas groans. Blair and Lily come up with arms out. I stand, accepting their embrace and words of praise.
I can’t believe we actually did it. I mean, looking around the room and the house, living here since the project was done—it’s home. Bluestone Lakes is home.
For the next half hour, the room buzzes with warmth and noise and the kind of love I didn’t know existed outside of fictional stories. At least the ones Blair and Lily have had me reading lately.
“We should get going,” Griffin says to Blair.
“The show literally just ended,” Lily huffs.
“And you haven’t tried my crockpot dish yet,” Nan adds.
Griffin rolls his eyes. “I know. But I have to be up early to tackle some jobs on the ranch since Levi left to help with that hurricane relief in North Carolina.”
Poppy gasps. “Wait. That’s where you’re from Dallas.”
Dallas nods. “My hometown is more inland. It was the coast that got hit really hard.”
“Oof,” Nan says. “Levi is an angel.”
“He’s a good guy and a damn hard worker,” Griffin sighs. “I’ve been slightly worried about how much I have to take on over at the ranch now. Even if he’s only there a few hours after his construction shift ends, he does a lot of work for me.”
