Page 124 of Crimson Love

I’ve actually been looking forward to this appointment.

We’re officially looking for a place to live and put down roots. A place to make a life together. And Jett made sure I have a new coat and boots for the occasion.

“What do you think?” Naomi is one of two realtors in town. She is also Blake’s aunt, so she already knew everything there was to know about Jett and me before we showed up today.

I’m not sure if it’s comforting or disheartening, but that’s small-town life for you. It is what it is. At least we didn’t have to go through the whole introduction thing. In fact, when we introduced ourselves, she waved us off and said, “Save your breath. I know all there is to know. You’re gonna need it for house hunting and property peeking. You’ll see things today that will blow you away.”

Naomi is sweet but talkative. She made sure we know everything there is to know about everyone who lives on the same streets and intersections as the first three houses we toured.

Who’s married.

Who’s divorced.

Who has kids.

Who doesn’t.

And who doesn’t like dogs.

We decided we didn’t need that kind of negativity in our lives, so we skipped that house quicker than the next round of snow expected to hit our neck of the woods.

Now we’re standing in the middle of the forest. There’s a clearing toward the back of the property that overlooks the town. If you look across the valley, you can see The Manor at Winslet peeking through the tips of the trees on the next mountain range that flanks the town. It’s not as much property as Harlow and Devon have at her grandmother’s old house, but it is private. The drive to get to this part of the property is long and there’s not another house in sight.

Jett stands next to me with his hands stuffed in his coat pockets contemplating the landscape like it’s not twenty degrees with the wind blowing thirty miles per hour. “I can see it. The back of the house faces the clearing. Lots of room for Shadow to run. A sunroom for Panther. Eventually, some play equipment. We don’t need a mansion, but we need some room to move, you know?”

Naomi claps her mittened hands, and now everyone in town will be talking about how many kids we’ll have. “You have it all planned out. I love that!”

Jett turns to me. “Do you like it?”

“Of course I like it.” I look back out over the landscape where the winter sun is falling on the horizon. “What’s not to like? But I’ve never lived in a forest. I feel like it might be creepy at night.”

Jett doesn’t care about it being creepy. “It will give us privacy. I think there might be a time when we’ll want that.”

“Privacy is always good,” Naomi interjects in our conversation. Jett and I glance at her and frown. That’s odd coming from someone who just spilled the beans on a quarter of the residents of Winslet proper.

I turn to Jett. “I like privacy. You asked me once about fences last week. What do you think about a security fence?”

Jett mulls that over. “Like a gate at the main drive. I like the way you’re thinking.”

“There are only a few properties in town with security gates. The Deacon estate has had one as long as I can remember.” Naomi’s eyes widen as she leans in and lowers her voice, as if she’s afraid the winter forest critters will hear. “Mrs. Deacon, Payne’s mama, is a different breed. Old money that goes back generations. Not as deep as Madison money, of course—” she motions to Jett “—need I say more? You are in a class all of your own.”

Jett is quick to correct her. “I’m not in any class. I’ve got my retirement from the Army and a new job. We’re not new or old anything. We just are.”

“That’s not what Blake says,” she spouts. “Sounds like there have been lots of high-level meetings over at the manor.”

I mentally add a large home office to the house plans for Jett so he can work from home within the confines of our gated property so no one will talk about him.

I turn to Jett. “I don’t know anything about building a house, but I can see us here. I say we go for it.”

Jett reaches the small distance for me and tags me behind the neck. His lips land on mine, and it’s all I can do to ignore Naomi’s sigh. I’m not sure if she’s a romantic or calculating her commission.

When Jett finally lets me go, I smile up at him and don’t care who sees us. “Thank you.”

He brushes my cheek with his cold thumb. “For what, baby?”

I press myself to him. “I could thank you every day for something. But today, more than anything else, thank you for sharing your dream. I see it. And I can’t wait for it to come true.”

His lips meet mine again for a sweet, light kiss standing here on our property where our future house will stand, where our kids will grow up, and where our countless foster animals will live out their happily ever afters. They’re not much different than us, after all—lost souls desperate and yearning for love.