Page 31 of Untroubled Heart

“The floors are old, but can’t you sand them back and refinish them? Or replace them with new wood that has a similar natural, knotty grain.” I tilt my head up as I spin in a slow circle. “Remove the wallpaper, give it a fresh coat of paint.” I cross my arms over my chest, giving Mason a curious stare. “I’m sure my brother said your company has worked on plenty of refurbishments.”

“We have.” He nods. “Caleb’s one wasn’t much better than this. It was just old, though, not falling apart. I guess it just feels different knowing I’m looking for me. A lot of the clients we’ve had were renovating homes they already lived in. There was a certain sentimental value.”

“You heard what Carmen said. You need to broaden your horizons.”

I smile and move to the right, into a large family room. Big, picture windows give a clear view of the cosy garden out the front, and the pebble drive we came up, bordered with lavender bushes.

All the small, personal items in the house have already been removed, but the furniture has remained. Two lounges sit opposite each other in the centre of the room, with a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf that spans the length of one wall.

“Love the bookshelf,” I mutter before looking over my shoulder at Mason. “How big is your family?”

“There’s my parents and grandparents, my two brothers, both their girls, my niece, Beth, and me. Within a few years, I’m guessing it’ll be anything over twelve at a time.”

“You’re close with them.” It’s not a question. I’ve seen how much they mean to him, how much they’re in each other’s lives. It’s truly beautiful to see. I love my brothers and my mum, but I’ve always wondered what a big family would be like.

“I couldn’t imagine life without them. They’re everything to me.”

With all the sleuthing I did online, amongst the endless photos of him with various models, socialites, and actresses, he was often seen with his family. It wasn’t hard to deduce that Mason was a man who loved company. His image painted a life full of luxury and exclusivity. Tabloids loved to showcase him as the unserious one in the family, the life of the party, the one who knows everyone, but every photo with his family is when his smile was the biggest, and felt the most real.

I keep moving through the room, following where the open doorway takes me, when a familiar tightening in my breasts makes me glance down at my watch. I usually pump during my morning coffee break at nine, then again at lunchtime, but I misread the time this morning and pumped a whole hour earlier. The longest I’ve gone between expressing or feeding is five hours, which gives me forty minutes. Considering it was a half-hour drive just to get here, I doubt I’ll be making that deadline, but I was put on the spot to come out with Mason, and I felt too awkward to ask if he could wait for me to pump first. I’m sure it’ll be fine.

I come into a kitchen where Carmen is leaning against a bench, hovering over some paperwork. There’s a natural stone wall running along the right-hand side, with a smoky, midnight blue oven standing in the centre. Windows along the back wall show glimpses of more lush gardens. An old supper table sits to the left, beside a fireplace that leads into a dining room.

Mason’s footsteps come to a stop behind me, making Carmen look up. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know why I had to rush over here,” he says, moving past me and running a finger over the counter. “Unless you think the house could fall down any minute?”

Carmen huffs playfully. “For a builder, you have no vision.”

“I think it’s amazing,” I say. “There’s so much character to bring back to life while still making it your own.”

“The place is falling apart. You may as well just start over.”

“No! Then you’d lose all this.” I turn, running my hand along the exposed brick wall, moving around the pieces that have been chipped away over time. “Could you imagine a clean, sleek kitchen, and then this old brick just slicing through the middle of all the other perfection? Actually, scratch that. I’d totally go country glam, shaker cabinets, and gold hardware. And I’d be keeping that oven.” I cross the kitchen, standing in front of it, with my hands held up as if I’m presenting it like some prize on a game show. “It’s blue!” I grin.

“Who even heard of a blue oven?” Mason huffs, with just a hint of a smile pulling the side of his mouth.

“Didn’t you say you wanted a place that felt like your grandparents’? They don’t make houses like this anymore. So big and open.” I move to the little supper table on one side. “A nook would be really cute here. Kids can come in and do homework. And a fireplace in the kitchen!” I’m on the move again, headed to the brick hearth on the other side. “This is so quaint and dreamy. If you knocked out the wall, it would make the two spaces feel more together,” I say, tapping the dusty, red bricks. “So you can walk either side of it to get into the next room.”

“Do I need a fireplace in the kitchen?”

“Oh, you couldn’t possibly get rid of it.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s very happily ever after. Families are always gathered by the fire.”

“Why don’t you two keep exploring?” Carmen says, stepping through the close gap between Mason and me. I didn’t realise we’d gotten so close. Seems to be a thing for us lately. “I think I left some keys in my car for the back door.”

There’s a zing in the air that feels so fragile it might explode if you move wrong, so I smile, careful not to let my eyes linger on Mason’s for too long, and keep moving through the house.

Walking around the open side of the fireplace, there’s a large room that would be perfect for a dining table. Cracking wallpaper that’s gone yellow with age covers every wall, and a long window peers into the backyard.

“You could make this a door to an outdoor area?” I suggest, as Mason follows behind, watching intently as if he’s waiting for my every word and impression.

“For a big house, there’s not a lot of living space,” he muses.

“Oh!” I gasp, spinning so quickly I almost give myself a head rush. “Could you make this window an opening into another living area, maybe a more informal one compared to the front? And then put an outdoor space off that for the kitchen to also look into?”