AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I shake my head. “I want to get on the road as soon as possible. Can I do it when I get back on Friday?” I’ve been primarily working weekends so that Dad can take a break, and because that’s the biggest area of coverage Dad needed.
Dad shakes his head. “I don’t think that it’s going to be available if we wait. You know how fast houses get snapped up in town.”
My eyes narrow on Dad. Yeah, the rental real estate is a little competitive here in town, especially coming up on a summer, but it’s never been that competitive.
“You don’t think that it can wait three days?” My feet itch to leave, to get on the road for the long drive. I plan to sneak into Jem’s apartment, knowing that she likes to sleep in on her days off, and wake her up with my face between her legs. Looking at a possible rental property pales in comparison to that.
Dad shakes his head again and after swiping my keys up off the table, he tosses them at me, saying, “Let’s go. It won’t take more than a half hour. If you like it you can put the deposit down and then ask Kelly if you can do the application when you get back.”
Resigned to losing at least the next hour of my day—an hour that would move me closer to Jem—I stomp my way out of the house.
Dad must be getting tired of me living back home, which I’ll admit wasn’t ideal, but between work, snatching as much time as I can with my girl, and spending time with my brothers, I haven’t had a whole lot of time for house hunting.
There’s a chill in the air as we step out of the house. Mornings in Everette make me question why I ever left home. Crisp air, mountain views, and a big wide sky as far as the eye can see. I slid right back to being here, almost as if I had never left. Mr. Cutter still gets his newspaper from the corner store before heading to the park to read it while he feeds the birds. Dawn is still poisoning people with coffee that she has no business serving, and no matter how many times I recommend she change the grounds she orders, the suggestion goes right over her head. Even my brothers are warming up to me being back home. Our group chat is back to being full of ribbing, town events, and all the shenanigans that we can get up to being in the same place.
The only dark spot on my time home is Jem. I’m seconds away from breaking down and asking her to move here with me. I know that it wouldn’t be ideal, that she has a whole life she built in Felt with her career and friends. And that’s the only thing stopping me from making the suggestion.
We drive through the town square, and there’s a big-ass tarp up in front of one of the storefronts that says “coming soon,” but I drive by it so fast I can’t make out what the rest of the sign says in the early-morning light.
“What’s going on there?” I throw a thumb in the direction of the store.
“No idea. Should be good though. More businesses in the square can’t hurt.” Dad looks out his window, hiding his face from me.
My dad has had his thumb on the pulse of this town for years. Hell, he eats breakfast with the mayor—who’s also a widower—every Sunday morning. If anyone knew what business was moving in, it’d be him.
I turn on Acorn, and about halfway down the street is a house with a “for rent” sign in the yard. Pulling my truck into the driveway, I kill the engine before getting out.
It’s a single-level home on a decent lot. All of the houses in this neighborhood have large yards, and there are a couple of pine trees visible over the top of the house from the backyard.
It looks like a three-bedroom from the number of windows facing the street, and I have to admit that it’s a nice house.
I step up to the electronic lock box and ask, “What’s the code?” Dad recites off a string of numbers and I punch them into the box. The mechanical hiss of the lock disengaging is loud in the quiet morning, but when I push the door open, my heart nearly leaps from my chest.
“Surprise!” My brothers jump out from behind furniture around the house.
“What the fuck?” I shout. I take a closer look at the living room and my mouth pops open. “Is this my furniture?” I ask.
Rhett steps forward. “Yep. We stole your keys for your storage unit and got you all moved in, bro.”
Jedd and Duke are grinning at me like fools. “There are some things we didn’t know where to put, so we left those boxes in the bedroom down the hall, but the major stuff should be in place. We figure that you’ll move shit around as you want it over the next few days.”
The next few days? They all know that I’m going to Felt to see Jem.
The coffee table looks vaguely familiar, but I can’t place where I’ve seen it before. “That’s new,” I say, pointing at it.
Harlan steps forward and says, “There’s a surprise for you in the kitchen.”
I start back through the house in the direction that I would assume the kitchen is. The hardwood floor under my feet creaks lightly, making me think that it’s new and not broken in yet.
The smell of coffee gets stronger, and as I cross the threshold from the living room to the kitchen, my pulse leaps and my heartbeat goes nuts in my chest.
Standing under the warm glow of kitchen lights is Jem.
“Holy shit. What are you doing here?” I ask as my feet eat up the distance between us. One second I’m across the room and the next she’s in my arms, the floral scent of her hair hitting me like a ton of bricks.
Her arms are around my waist, and I squeeze her to my chest. Fuck. She’s here. I feel like I can finally take a full breath again.
“Couldn’t just let you move into our house without being here, could I?”
