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I slowed the SUV to a stop and threw the gear into park. “What’s next for you?” Reaching across the center console, I wedged my hand between her crossed legs and gave her thigh a squeeze.
Wren sighed. “I don’t know. Quitting the firm was a little rash in hindsight, but the moment the gala invite came through, I realized there was nothing I wanted to do less than spend my time schmoozing deep pockets. Cora will be great in New York. She lives for that kind of stuff.”
Cora, Wren’s coworker at the firm, had accepted Colette’s offer to run the branch in New York upon Wren’s recommendation.
“Heidi offered me a job with the Reds’ foundation, but honestly, sitting in an office all day sounds miserable.”
“You’d get to travel with the team sometimes,” I pointed out.
She rested her temple on my shoulder. “I think I need a break from football for a while. At least until next season. Then I’ll get my fix once a week from the stands.”
I nudged her off my shoulder and opened the center console, retrieving a thick bundle of papers I had hidden in there before we left Providence.
I set the stack between us. “I have a proposal for you.”
Wren laughed. “It must not be the kind of proposal I was thinking because the one I had in mind involved a lot less paperwork and a lot more jewelry.” Her face turned scarlet, and she clapped her hands over her mouth. “That came out wrong. I shouldn’t have—”
I laughed. “Let me get through this, and then I’ll let you overthink everything you just said.”
Wren cringed, so I did my best to erase her discomfort by leaning over and planting a kiss square on her mouth.
“I had an idea and called Sam to make it happen while I was in Phoenix.” I handed her the first set of papers. “If you didn’t take the New York job…” I sighed. “I wanted to give you a reason to stay. With me.”
Wren cocked an eyebrow, then turned her attention to the page. “You formed an LLC?”
I nodded. “In your name.”
Wren laughed as she scanned the documents. “You named it Wrenovation?”
I shrugged sheepishly. “Thought it was clever.”
She rapidly thumbed through the rest of the stack, and her jaw dropped lower and lower with each page. “I… I can’t believe this. You have everything here. The LLC… Insurance… You even bought the web domain? Tatum!”
“Look at me, Little Bird,” I said, taking her hands. “If you don’t want any of this, we shred the documents and figure out your next steps. But I think it’s time you trusted your talent and took a leap of faith. And I think I have the perfect first project for you to spread your wings.”
She cocked her head. “What the hell are you talking about, Tatum Bryant?”
I pulled one more set of documents out of the console.
Wren’s jaw dropped. “It’s… It’s the deed.” Her fingers touched her lips in utter shock. “Tatum, you… It’s the…” She looked at the sagging, crumbling house in front of us. “You… How?”
Laughing, I tucked the papers away for safekeeping. “After you brought me here, I had Sam do some research. It took some time, and some weed-whacking through a lot of red tape, but the sale went through a few weeks ago.” I cut the engine and jumped out. I didn’t even make it around to Wren’s side of the SUV before she was springing from her seat. I stood at her back and wrapped my arms around her as we surveyed our property. “Congratulations, Miss Porter. We are now the owners of a dump.”
She let out a loud laugh from deep inside her chest. “Tay… I… I don’t know what to say!”
I reached in my pocket and pulled out a brass key—the showy, ornate type used in antique locks. “Can’t give you the real key to the house since there’s no front door, but…” My voice trailed off as Wren snatched it out of my hand, squealing like a banshee as she jumped, wrapping her arms and legs around me like a koala.
“I can’t believe you! You—you bought us a house?”
“An unlivable house,” I clarified with a laugh, spinning her around. “An inspector checked out the place, and it’s wayworse than we thought. It’s gonna be so much work. It’s unsound and decrepit, and he basically said it should be condemned and demolished. The foundation is wrecked, it’s a miracle the walls haven’t collapsed, and everything that isn’t flooring is covered in lead paint. More animals live inside than outside.” I sandwiched her pinkened cheeks between my icy hands and planted a kiss on her mouth. “You picked a shitshow of a property to fall in love with.”
Wren laughed and threw her arms around me.
We walked up the winding path that led to the front door that wasn’t there. Instead of trudging in and possibly dying in a cave-in of asbestos, we stood outside and looked up at the biggest money pit known to man.
When people talk about real estate being a sound investment, this wasn’t what they meant.
“Why…” Wren shook her head. “Why did you buy it?” She laughed. “It’s a mess, and I don’t have a contractor’s license. It will be months—years of work before it’s even livable. It’s going to be so expensive to—”
