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They moved together in a kind of harmony she’d never felt before. And when she came, a burst of intense sunlight filling her, he came too.
A little while later, Zack rolled off of her and held her close. Her cheek against his chest, one of his hands playing with her hair. “I love you, Laurel.”
I love you too.
But she didn’t say it.
*
The following Mondaymorning, Zack called one of the real estate offices in town.
“Whiskey River Realty. Megan Clark speaking. How can I help you?”
Zack knew Megan from going to many of the same events. She was a pretty, petite brunette who had a very good rep as a Realtor, which was the main reason he’d called her. While she wasn’t a complete stranger, they didn’t know each other well.
“Hi, Megan. It’s Zack Bannister. I’ve got a problem I’m hoping you can help me with.” He went on to explain what he wanted and made arrangements to look at a few houses that afternoon and more the following day. Then he went to the airport and buried himself in paperwork, doing his best not to think about babies and houses and the woman he loved who wouldn’t marry him. Marry him, hell, she would probably be pissed if he bought a house—assuming he found one—and wanted her and the kids to move in. But he’d worry about that later. First he had to find a house he wanted to buy.
If Laurel had been less intractable about marrying him, he’d have included her in the house hunting. But talking her into moving in with him was going to be hard enough. Presenting her with a done deal would work better. He hoped.
That afternoon, he met Megan Clark at the Whiskey River Realty office. “It’s good to see you, Zack,” she said, shaking hands. “I’ve found three we can see this afternoon, four if we have time. But I’ll have more to show you tomorrow.”
“Great. I was afraid there weren’t that many houses that meet my requirements.” He’d told Megan he wanted four bedrooms with an office or five bedrooms so they could convert one of the bedrooms into Laurel’s office. He wanted her to have an actual office instead of having to claim a corner of her living room. She’d told him she tried working in her bedroom but it was so small it drove her crazy. Zack tried hard not to consider Laurel’s probable reaction. But damn, the woman needed help to get out of her apartment and he was the logical person to do that.
“I’ll warn you right now, some of them need work. But since you didn’t specify that it had to be new I included a variety of houses from different eras.”
Meaning a mix of old and new. Since he hadn’t considered what style of house he wanted, only the size, that was probably a good thing.
“Do you have a big family, Zack?” Megan asked as she drove them to their first appointment.
“Not yet. But I’m about to. Well,” he qualified that, “in a few months I will.”
“Oh, you’re expecting a baby. That’s exciting.”
“Twins. My fiancée,” he said, figuring a white lie wouldn’t hurt, “already has two kids. So I’m looking for a place that will hold all of us.”
Megan laughed. “That is a big family. When are you getting married?” She stopped in front of a bland-looking house near the middle school.
“As soon as I can convince her,” Zack said, deciding to confess the truth after all. “Technically, she’s not my fiancée yet.”
“Will she want to see any of the houses?”
Zack shrugged. “Since she has no idea I’m looking, I’d say no.”
Megan bent to open the lock box on the door, but she wasn’t quite quick enough to hide a smile. She pushed open the door and stepped inside. “I’ll let you go through and if you have questions feel free to ask me.”
It didn’t take long for him to know this wasn’t the house. “I’ll be honest. This house is boring. Everything is neutral except the carpet, which is hideous.” Brown carpet. Not beige, not a pretty brown, but blah, yucky brown that had a number of stains on it. “And I don’t know why they took a chunk of carpet out of one of the bedrooms and then did a really crappy job of replacing it.”
“I wondered about that too. Still, keep in mind that paint and carpet are easy to change. You’d be surprised at the difference that can make.”
“If you say so.”
The next two houses were in the same neighborhood and similar to the first property, though not quite as boring. Zack began to think the kind of house he wanted didn’t exist.
“We have a number of properties to see tomorrow,” Megan said. “I’m hopeful you’ll find something you like.”
“Me too,” Zack said. But he wouldn’t bet the ranch on it.
