Page 204 of Sins of Innocence

"I love you Áine Veseli, even if you nag me about it the whole way there."

I don't. I ask him what he thinks about my plan to upgrade the inventory software for one of the businesses under his authority.

We're still debating the merits of bringing in a civilian firm to do the updates (because I'm not a civilian anymore, am I?) when Noah turns down a quiet tree-lined street. The well-maintained homes built in another century are charming and the front yards are lush and green.

One house has a cement pad with a basketball hoop to the side of the driveway and a group of teens are playing basketball. Children ride their bikes while their parents relax on front porches watching, or doing yardwork.

No one living in these houses is struggling to get by, but the street still has a comfortable family vibe. Rich people might live here, but they're not the Allison and Kenneth Shaughnessy kind.

These homes are beautiful, but they're not show pieces. This neighborhood is lived in.

My gaze catches on a pale blue Queen Anne near the end of the street. With its white trim and a round turret rising from one corner, it looks plucked right out of a fairytale. The Disney kind. Not the original Brothers Grimm.

The flowerbeds that line the driveway and walk to the front door bloom with color, completing the fairytale picture.

"What a pretty house," I say a little wistfully.

Kieran looks out the window. "Which one?"

"The blue Queen Anne."

He smiles. Like full on with teeth and everything smiles. "I like it too."

"Someday, maybe we'll have a house like that." Not that houses like it come on the market all that often.

Yes, I do browse real estate listings. Okay, that's a fairly new hobby, but Kieran wants to move into a house and I'm getting closer to saying, "Let's go for it."

If this house had shown up on any of the sites I spend too much time scrolling on, I might have already said it.

Noah slows the SUV and pulls into the drive of the house my heart is lusting after.

I blink.

Then blink again. "What are we doing here?"

Before either Kieran or Noah can answer, the front door bursts open. Joy comes flying down the steps so fast I expect her to tumble headfirst into the flowerbeds.

"Mom!" She's loud enough I hear her through the closed windows.

Sadie and Neeve are right behind her, both of them grinning from ear to ear. Mom's there too, her hands folded in front of her, looking both benevolent and stern.

Her expression says, "Do not ruin this for your girls."

As if I would. Whatever this is. Though, not being a stupid woman, I have a pretty darn good idea. I turn slowly toward Kieran.

His eyes are fixed on me and nowhere else. "Want to see it?"

Questions pile up in my head until I don't know which one to ask first. So, I simply nod.

We get out of the car and that seems to be Joy's signal to launch herself at me like a rocket. "Mom! Mom! We're going to live in Cinderella's castle!"

Laughing helplessly, I catch her before she knocks me backward. "What?"

"The castle!" She points dramatically at the turret. "We're going to live there!"

My gaze lifts back to the house. I can absolutely see how she thinks it's a castle. But live here?

I turn my head to look a Kieran. "You bought a house? You agreed the girls would help us pick one out," I remind him in a dazed voice.