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Chapter 32
To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
“Idon’t want a project,” I complain to Cole as we climb the stairs to the inn after viewing yet another house. “I think I have enough of a project right now.” I stroke my belly, which is now reaching epic proportions. I don’t know if my skin can stretch any further if this baby continues to grow.
“But you loved the structure of the house,” Cole insists.
“I loved the outside of the house. I didn’t love the orange shag carpet or the green tiles in the bathroom or the linoleum in the kitchen.” I huff as I collapse on the porch swing. “I don’t want to time travel to the 1970s every time I walk into our home.”
Our home. The idea still makes my heart seize and my feet itch to run far, far away. It wouldn’t do me any good. Cole has made it perfectly obvious he’ll follow me wherever I go. And I love him all the more for it.
Yes, love. It’s been weeks since I told him I loved him after my baby shower, but I’m still feeling cautious. A part of me expects everything to fall apart at any minute. But whenever I notice Cole smiling at me, I can’t help but want to offer him my heart on a platter.
He settles on the swing next to me and draws me near. “I guess we keep searching.”
I cuddle into his side. “Too bad we can’t afford the first house we viewed.”
I thought having a child with someone was difficult. Ha! Agreeing to a budget for a house is the real difficulty. We argued for days. First, Cole didn’t want me to contribute. I told him where he could shove his male chauvinistic ass. Then, he wanted to design and build the house. I had to remind him of the imminent arrival of our baby.
When we finally sorted out all the bullshit and agreed to a budget, we began our search. Naturally, the first house we saw was it. Wraparound porch, big yard, recently renovated interior with a brand new kitchen, hardwood floors, and a master bathroom to die for. To. Die. For. The bathtub was large enough for our baby to learn to swim in it.
But the owners wouldn’t come down on their asking price, which was more than fifty-thousand dollars over our budget. I was devastated. I still am. But I know better than to bring it up with Cole. He already said he’s willing to go over budget for the house I love. Not happening. We have a budget for a reason.
Time to change the subject. “Have you thought about names for the baby?”
He grunts. “It’s hard to come up with names when you don’t know the sex of the baby.”
I roll my eyes but refuse to engage in yet another argument about this. “There are plenty of gender neutral names. America, Arrow, Briar, Canyon, Cove, Freedom, Haven, Lake…”
He chuckles. “Did you buy a hippie baby naming book?”
“No.” But I may have gotten one as a present at my baby shower. “Do you have a problem with hippie names?”
He shrugs. “I don’t mind the names Arrow or Briar, but America and Freedom? I don’t want our child to be bullied about her name.”
“Cole, Cole, Cole.” I tut. “Have you learned nothing about Winter Falls? The poor kid will only be bullied if he shows up at school with Jim or Stan or Tom for a name.” I shiver. There will be no boring names for our child.
“I imagine the first time I lay my eyes on our baby girl, her name will come to me.”
I want to correct him about the baby being a girl, but he caresses my baby bump and I get all tingly from the affection he’s always showing our baby.
Whack! I sit up at the sound. “What the hell is that?”
Cole stands. “Stay here. I’ll check it out.”
He prowls across the porch and down the stairs. I wait until he’s out of view before I follow him. I round the corner of the inn to discover him squaring off with my baby sister.
“What are you doing here?” I ask Ashlyn.
At my question, Cole whips his head around. “I told you to stay on the porch.”
I roll my eyes at him before stepping forward to figure out what Ashlyn’s up to now. “A shovel? Are you digging in my yard?” I’m going to kill her. “This is private property. You can’t go digging around without the owner’s permission.”
She waves away my concern. “It’s fine. I know the owner.”
I growl at her. “It is not fine. I expressly forbade you from digging here.”
“Which is why I planned to do this when you were away, but you came home early.”
