Jenny took his hand and Erik felt tears prickle his eyes.
It can’t be this easy.
Can it?
“I’m so glad we found a house that feels like home for you, Gael,” Sloane said fondly. “Anyone else have thoughts to share?”
“It’s perfect,” Jenny said simply.
Sloane turned to Erik, and he nodded.
“Well, buying a home is a big decision,” Sloane said. “I’ll send you the disclosures, Erik, and if you have any questions let me know. If you decide you want to move forward, that’s great. But we can also just plan to see more homes like this one as they come on the market. It’s natural to want to see more than three homes.”
“Thank you,” he told her.
“Shall we look upstairs?” she asked.
“Definitely,” Gael said, hurrying back into the house.
They all followed him up to the bedrooms, which seemed just as perfect as the rest of the house. Even the attic and basement, when they got to them, were in pretty good shape.
“This is the house for us,” Gael said with certainty as they all stood on the front porch, watching Sloane close up the lockbox again.
Jenny put an arm around him and Erik felt another wave of pain.
“There we are,” Sloane said. “I’ll email you, and I’m here for whatever you need. Meanwhile, have a wonderful wedding and honeymoon. And congratulations again.”
“Thank you,” Erik told her. “Truly, thank you for everything.”
“Thanks for working with me,” she said with a warm smile.
They headed down to the SUV. Once they were headed back out of town, he stole a glance in the rearview mirror.
Gael’s eyes were fixed on the window, a slight furrow in his brow as he watched the houses fly past.
Jenny was silent in the seat beside Erik’s, her eyes on her hands which were foldedin her lap.
Is she angry with me for putting her though this?
Or is she wishing it could be real too?
Are we all sad for the same reason?
As the SUV crunched along the drive past the lake and up to the inn, Erik knew to his bones that he had to find out for sure.
Just not in front of Gael.
12
JENNY
Jenny was feeling so exhausted after looking at houses that she was relieved when Gael asked if they could stay in for the afternoon and watch a movie. It wasn’t that the day had been physically taxing, but the emotional side of the whole thing had taken a toll.
She called down to Trudy to see if they could eat lunch in their room, and of course, the sweet lady said that she and Ward would bring up a tray for them.
After a wonderful lunch of homemade meatloaf sandwiches with mashed potatoes and a spinach salad on the side, they settled on the sofa to watchGhostbusters.
It was a favorite of Gael’s, but the boy was nodding off by the time the movie was half over. Jenny pulled athrow blanket over him and just watched him sleep for a little while.
