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They were all too damned curious about him and just randomly showed up at Anna’s dinners.
Anna patted his shoulder. “The third place on our route has a sweet, little greenhouse in the backyard.”
Greenhouse? Greenhouse?
They should have made a list of things they both wanted in a place before setting Jude’s mom loose on Cincinnati.
He knew the first place wouldn’t work when he saw the size of the garage, though he didn’t have the heart to say anything because Anna grabbed his hand and didn’t let go as she dragged him from room to room.
Jude’s mother was…confusing. He still didn’t know how to take her. His experiences with mothers hadn’t been great. His mother had loved him, but she’d died when he was so young, the good memories were barely there and fuzzy. He’d been around Lucas’s mother some, but she’d always been tired and frazzled with everything coming out of her mouth containing an irritated undertone—as if she couldn’t believe her children weren’t self-sufficient enough to handle things themselves. She hadn’t been someone he wanted to know. Hell, Lucas hadn’t even spoken to her in twenty years. Anna was different and she’d made it plain she planned to be a part of his life whether he liked it or not.
“I’m not so sure about this setup,” she muttered, letting go of his hand and wandering ahead.
The house was set up strange—with the bedrooms at the front and the living room and kitchen in the back. The realtor babysitting the open house followed them, droning on and on about the positive selling factors, but Snow didn’t listen. He was too busy paying attention to Jude’s expressions, wondering if this was what he wanted. Why hadn’t they talked more about this? Anna disappeared down another hall and he met Jude’s gaze in the small master bedroom. Jude wrinkled his nose—much like his mother had earlier—and shook his head.
“Good,” Snow said, curling his lip. “There’s nothing I like here.” He stalked through the house to find Anna.
She’d already reached the kitchen and she stood in its center, turned a full circle, and huffed. “This won’t do at all. You can’t cook a proper meal in here and the family certainly won’t fit.” With that, she turned on her heel and left the house.
He couldn’t stop a laugh. Okay, then. He caught Jude’s gaze, unable to keep his amusement from showing. Jude just shook his head and followed his mother.
Feeling overwhelmed and unsure about the whole process, Snow followed them, deciding he’d better tell Jude that fitting his family into a home was not a first on his priority list.
Jude turned down the next place and Snow didn’t even want to go inside the third because the houses were so crowded he’d be able to watch the neighbor’s television from his own living room. But they filed through it anyway.
At the fourth, he kind of liked the open floor plan, but the master bath would never do. He asked to see the stack of printouts, looked at the price range, and decided they did have to talk before this went any further.
“Excuse us a moment, Anna.” Snow snagged Jude’s leather jacket and tugged him back to the master bath. He shut the door, turned and crossed his arms. “Look around.”
One black eyebrow rose. “It’s too small. Thought we’d agreed on that when we went through.”
“There are certain perks I’ve worked damn hard to earn.” Snow waved one hand at the shower. “One is that big-ass shower I talked about. I get that we’re going to have arguments over money. Probably lots of them. But I also understand how much you help your family.” He stepped closer and frowned. “We just jumped into this idea without any preparation and this thing with you and me is…is…like a minute old. We’re not ready.”
Jude nodded, gaze locked on his. “It’s too early for us to be house hunting.”
The hint of hurt, of worry, in those dark, brown eyes made Snow’s chest ache. He shook his head fast. “No, that’s not what I meant. And that’s just it. It should be too early. But it’s not. This may not work in the long run—you and me—but it’s what I want right now. More than anything else in a damn long time. I want to give us a shot. And I want us to live together in a place that’s ours. Not Lucas’s and not that ridiculous apartment.”
The corner of Jude’s mouth lifted. “Oh General, it’s gonna last.” He closed the last of the space between them, pressing Snow into the bathroom door. “I have no doubts.”
Snow placed his hands on Jude’s hips, anchoring his body against his. “Then let’s put a stop to today’s tours, take your mother to lunch at Rialto to thank her, then go back to your place. We’ll sit down and figure out exactly what we want. What we both want.”
