“I ordered breakfast.”
“Thank you,” I say, and I open the top box to find an omelet with two sides of bacon. I pass that container over to Ford, and I open the second one to find waffles and sausage.
The man knows me well, I’ll give him that. “This was really sweet of you.” I grab a sausage from the box and take a bite, and I tip my head back in ecstasy. Something about the salty goodness of breakfast sausage just can’t be beat.
He shifts a little, and he shoots me a wry look. “You sure know how to torture a guy.”
I make a little show of it, moaning loudly with my second bite. “You’re the one who wants to wait.”
He chuckles. “I’m ready.”
My lips lift into a smile. “I know. So am I. But I get it, Ford. We’ll give it a little time to be sure it’s going to work. After all, we have an investment together to consider.”
“There are no guarantees it’s going to work no matter how much time we give it,” he points out.
I open the syrup container and dump it all over my waffle. “I’m just saying, we have the manor to consider. And as a friend…I can’t lose you.”
“So you’ll never be ready?” he asks. “Or am I worth that risk?”
I glance up at him, and a heated beat passes between us as our eyes connect. I think of his lips on mine last night. “You’re worth the risk. When you’re ready, we’ll jump together, okay?”
He nods, and I hope he’s ready sooner than later.
We spend the rest of breakfast talking shop about Winston Manor, and then we head out to the place itself to get ready for our first couple’s site visit.
It’s exactly as we left it, and my chest fills with excitement as we walk through the front door. I don’t think that feeling will ever go away. This isours, and that’s pretty damn exciting.
Ms. Winston moved some personal effects out but left mostly everything. We find a manila envelope sitting on the little table in the corner of the kitchen, where we’re set to meet with our first potential clients in a few minutes.
As we get closer, we both see words written in small handwriting on the outside of the envelope.To the New Owners.
Ford and I exchange a glance, and he picks up the envelope and turns it over in his hands before he offers it to me.
I shake my head. “You do it.”
He tears it open and pulls out a sheet of paper. His eyes move over the words on the paper, and they widen at one point as his breath hitches.
“What is it?” I ask.
He shoves the paper toward me, and I grab it and start reading.
Ford and Tatum,
Thank you for agreeing to my terms about the manor. Selling it was never about making money. I don’t have anybody to leave the money to, anyway. I thought about a charity, or splitting it among the workers who have been with me for decades, but ultimately I wanted it to go back to the manor. To that end, the money has been put in a trust in your names. The money will be released to you upon the conclusion of your wedding ceremony here at the manor. The only requirement is that the first wedding at the manor after ownership has transferred is between the two of you. There are no other strings attached to this. You don’t have to stay married for a certain amount of time or anything like that. I already know you will be together forever based on the way I saw you interacting the day I showed you around the manor. You share a bond that’s rare, but it’s obvious to anyone looking for it. I’ve searched for it in the couples who wed here in the sixty years I planned weddings, and I hope that you’ll find it in the weddings you plan, too.
Here’s to forever love and the future of Winston Manor.
-Edith Winston
“She’s leaving her money…to us?” I ask.
His eyes are wide. “If we get married.”
“Holy shit, Ford. We could invest inmoreproperties. This is incredible!” I fling my arms around him without thinking about how maybe thisisn’tso incredible.
She thought we were a couple. We’re not. We’ve talked about it, sort of. But marriage? Thefirstwedding here at the manor now that we’re the owners?
That’s when we hear a knock at the front door.
