Page 77 of Untroubled Heart

Her words only confirm how much we both want this, even if there’s fear or uncertainty. I don’t think things are moving too fast because it feels like I’ve waited for her forever.

I draw patterns on her back with the tip of my finger as I figure out where to start to reassure her. “Am I moving too fast for you?”

She shrugs. “Just feels too good to be true sometimes.”

I shake my head, leaning forward so my lips hover in front of hers. “Believe it, Callie baby.”

I move in as if I’m going to kiss her, then shift at the last second, kissing her neck instead. She laughs, so I keep kissing her. Her legs tuck in, and she falls against my chest. Everything smells like caramel and berries, like my Callie, as we sit on the front porch and our future literally gets built around us.

I’m going to sit on this porch with her every day, watching Navie run around on the grass and pick flowers from the garden. Maybe she’ll have some more siblings to play with one day, too.

“What’s happening with custody?”

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve heard Callie mention what’s happening with her ex. I know she’s petitioning for full-time custody of Navie, and that suits me perfectly because I want all their time too.

“Ugh, Derek’s being a pain. He sent back the last order because one line in the paperwork misspelled his name. That got fixed, then he moved and sent it back again, wanting the correct address. He’s purposely drawing it out for no reason other than to irritate me.”

I don’t know why a hint of dread sinks in my stomach. “Has he reached out to you directly?”

She shakes her head. “Nope. He’s just being an arsehole for the sake of it. I dunno. Maybe he’s mad that my life kept moving while his took a shitty turn—of his own making.”

“Hey, Mase.” Andy, one of my carpenters, comes over to us, standing at the bottom of the porch stairs. “Do you have another copy of the window schedule? We’ve got two different sizes listed between three sets of plans.”

“Tristan’s final plan is the correct one,” Callie says, standing from my lap. “But the manufacturer’s schedule should be here somewhere.” She searches through the site paperwork in front of us until she finds what she’s looking for. I love that she’s taken over, treating it like it’s already her house. She still doesn’t realise everything was made with her in mind. Everything.

“Here you go.” Callie hands Andy the papers from over the railing. “You’re… standing on the bottom step?” she says slowly before looking over her shoulder at me. Uh-oh.

“Ah, yeah?” Andy looks at her, confused.

“I thought it was broken.”

“It was. We fixed it weeks ago.” He shrugs with a chuckle, then disappears around the house.

Callie turns on her heels and stalks towards me, slowly, seductively.

“The step was fixed weeks ago?” She braces her hands on the armrests, leaning into me.

“Wow! Fancy that.” My eyes roam over her beautiful, bare face, and the lips that were made for mine.

“How many times that you lifted me over that step was it actually broken?”

“Just the first time.” I lean in to kiss her, but she pulls away with a smirk.

“So needy for me, Mr Heart.”

“I’m fucking obsessed with you,” I say, gripping her chin in my fingers. “Now kiss me.”

She kisses me, keeping it PG since we’ve got a crew full of guys working around us. I miss when it was just us here on our own. Now that things are progressing between us, we could’ve christened every room. I’m sure I can create some opportunities for us later.

“Shall we read another letter?” I ask.

She nods, then reaches for the tin sitting on the table in front of us, picking the first one in the pile. We’ve been mostly reading them in date order, apart from scanning them after they were first found to try to find any names that would help us learn more about the owners. But we haven’t found anything so far.

Callie unfolds it, revealing only a short message.

My dearest Florence, Do not surrender yourself to despair yet. I am steadfast in my plan and shall not stop until I find some means by which we may yet be united. Though your father has accepted the Pennington boy’s offer of marriage, all is not beyond remedy; there remains ever a thread that we will be together. I beg you to hold fast but a little longer.

Yours, Greyson.