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Amelia

The next day, Chase and I go see Levi’s apartment after school. It’s small, but it’s very cute, with exposed brick in the kitchen and all wooden furniture. It’s also available right away.

We spend the rest of the week moving in. I still have a month left on the rent for the studio, but Chase needs his space.

Luckily, June is a great month for the agency. Not only is it the start of summer, but Nina posted all of the pictures she took in town on her social media, and the hotel has been packed with tourists who want to spend their vacation where Georgina has been.

The sudden boom allows me to hire Dana, a local, to help me run the agency.

During the weeks when Chase is at Ethan’s, Blake and I spend every waking moment—and sleeping moment—when we’re not working, together. And when Chase is with me, Blake spends most of his time working on his project for the brewery. We do try to have a couple dinners together during my weeks with Chase. We want Chase to get comfortable with the three of us being together.

It’s a warm Saturday, and Chase is at Ethan’s when Blake asks me to come look at the property again.

No actual work has begun yet, but he leads me to the steps of the farmhouse.

“What do you think?” he asks.

“I already told you that I think the brewery is a great idea.”

“The brewery would go over there.” He points to the center of the property. “And it will take a few years. I need to get everything approved before I can even start construction, and it will be a big project to finish.”

“And I’m sure there will be delays along the way. That’s alright. I know it’s nerve-racking starting from scratch, but it’s also exciting.”

“True. But I talked to Luke, and he says that if I want to renovate the farmhouse, it could be done in a year. There’s a lot less paperwork involved with a renovation, and he gave me his word that he would see to it personally.”

I give the farmhouse a better look. It’s true that while it looks awful, the structure doesn’t look too badly damaged. The roof will need retiling. The doors and windows will have to be replaced. And I have no idea what the inside looks like, but I’m sure it needs to be completely redone. “But the farmhouse isn’t big enough for what you had planned. Why are you in such a hurry?”

“No. Not for the brewery. For you—us.”

“For us?”

“To live in. Our house.”

Now, I really look at it, but this time through a different lens. All the flaws disappear and I see the potential. I notice the big porch with the amazing view of the mountains. I notice the sound of the birds and the peace and quiet. Even with the brewery being built where Blake pointed out, it’s still more privacy than most homes have in Dogwood Grove. It’s only a five-minute drive from the agency. And maybe most importantly, I notice that Blake wants to gift me a house, his house.

“I will have to get my brothers to agree, but I think they’ll cave if I tell them it’s for you. They like you.”

It took Bryce and Brody a while, but once they realized that Blake and I are serious, they’ve been nothing but supportive and excited for us.

“If I say it’s for Chase, they’ll be volunteering to do the work themselves.” He puts on an outraged voice, but it’s only an act. He’d be the first one to go out of his way to help Chase. And lately, the two of them have really been getting along. Chase actually looks forward to spending time with Blake. And that’s the best gift Blake could have ever given me. I don’t think I could force Chase to move in with someone he doesn’t like.

“Do you like it?” Blake asks. “Unfortunately, Luke said that if we want to keep to the one-year timetable, we can’t make any major changes to the structure of the house.”

“I like it from here. Can we go inside?”

He takes my hand and pulls me up the steps to the porch. The front door is crooked, and Blake has to practically lift the door off of its hinges to pull it open.

“Watch your step,” he says as I walk in. “Some animals have been in here.”

There’s a dropping just in front of my foot. Thankfully, it’s fairly small, and dry. I doubt it was left by anything bigger than a cat.

I step over it and walk into a small entrance hall with stairs in the middle.

“It’s best not to go up there. I don’t know how safe those stairs are. There are three bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. The master bedroom is on this floor.”

He takes me through the archway on the right. It’s dusty and smells of mold, but that’s not what draws my attention. Beyond the broken furniture, there are huge windows that probably double as patio doors. One of them is boarded up, but the other, with the broken glass, looks out to the mountains.

It’s a beautiful view.