Page 12 of Shattered Dreams

“Okay, let’s see the rest of the house.”

The bedroom has a half bath attached, but a large full one right outside the room. There are four other rooms up here that could be just about anything—an office, guestrooms, library, whatever we want. From the bannister, you can look down on a good portion of the house. The kitchen is an open concept, mixing with a sort of foyer, or it could be a living room. Though, there is a room off to the side that’s set up as a living room.

The house is enormous, but it isn’t filled with a ton of rooms. I like that. I’d rather have space than a million rooms I don’t know what to do with.

We go back downstairs and check out the rest of everything down here.

Aside from the kitchen and living room, there is a formal dining room behind the kitchen, the master bedroom, a sunroom, and a giant backyard that has a child’s playground and an in-ground pool.

There’s something about this one that feels different from all the other houses. It’s lighter. Maybe because of all the windows and the space, but I really—

“I want this one,” Rylee says as she bounces across the patio and toward the swing set. I go after her.

“You want this one?” I call out.

She climbs up the steps and goes down the slide. I wait for her at the bottom, take her hand, and kneel.

“You want this one?” I ask again.

“Yes, Daddy. That bedroom is sooo pretty, and it has a swing!”

“We can put a swing in any house.”

“Yeah, but this one comes with it, and that’s easier. Can I go down the slide again?”

With a sigh, I nod, then turn to look at the house.

It’s bigger than I wanted, but if Rylee wants it, then we should probably get it.

I speak with the woman at the door who gives me an application. I can tell by the way she’s looking at me that she recognizes me.

“Football fan?” I ask with a laugh.

“Oh my goodness, I am so sorry. I wasn’t trying to stare, but I swear you looked familiar and… I’m so sorry about your wife.”

“Thank you,” I say, a pang of guilt and pain hitting my chest.

Unfortunately, the news is starting to trickle out. I knew it would only be a matter of time before the public found out.

“This is a lovely house,” she says. “Perfect for your daughter to grow up in.”

I hand her the paper after I fill it all out. “Let’s just hope my application is enough.”

She leans in close. “I’ll put in a good word.”

I smile my thanks, but don’t say a word. I don’t condone that sort of behavior. I don’t like throwing my name around to get what I want. But we need a house, and Rylee wants this one. So I won’t tell her not to, but I won’t suggest she do it either.

“The owners are looking to sell immediately. We’re meeting with them at five this evening to go over applications, and we will call people first thing in the morning.”

I offer out my hand. “Thank you so much.” She takes it and smiles.

“Have a good evening, Mr. Taylor.”

“Rylee, come on, pumpkin.”

Rylee skips over to me, waves at the woman goodbye, and we head out to the car.

I’m woken the next morning by my phone ringing with an unknown number. Something tells me to answer it, so I do. The woman on the other end tells me that if we still want the house, it’s ours. I accept, and we make a date to meet and go over a few things.