AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She tilts her head up, resting her chin on my chest as she beams up at me.
“You know, this house isn’t just for rent,” I say, trailing off.
“Is that so?” She asks as we start to walk toward the house.
“It’s also for sale. So, maybe if you liked it, and you wanted to stay here with me, build a life here with me, we could buy it.”
“You want to move here with me? What about your life back in New Mexico?” She asks, pulling me to a stop in the driveway.
“I left New Mexico so that I could have an adventure. But I found you and I don’t want to leave you. You wouldn’t be happy in the desert and I want you to be happy, Andie. I’d do anything to make you happy. So yeah, I’d move here with you and we could have a thousand more adventures together and if we get bored then we can move somewhere new. I can write from anywhere and we can go diving and swimming in the ocean together. What do you say?” I ask and my breath catches in my throat as I wait for her answer.
“I say… YES!” She says, throwing herself into my arms and knocking us both down into the dirt. The realtor pulls up then and laughs when he sees Andie kissing my cheek, both of us grinning from ear to ear.
We sit up and wave at him as he gets out of his little car and heads our way.
“Hey, you two! Ready to see your new home?” He asks as I help Andie to her feet.
Andie nods and we hold hands as we follow after him up the two steps to the front door.
“Ready for another adventure, Andie?” I ask her before we step over the threshold.
“With you? Always.”
I kiss her quick before we step inside and into our future.
12
Andie
Two Years Later…
I hurrydown the sand toward the water. I want to have everything ready before Owen comes out here. He’s in his office writing and he told me five more minutes but he has a habit of losing track of time so I’m sure that it will be more like fifteen minutes.
The mermaid tail is heavier than I thought it would be and I heft it higher in my arms as the sand shifts beneath my feet. I make it down to the water and steps into the tail, shimmying it up my legs and hooking the straps around my waist. I hide the pregnancy test in my towel that I toss further up in the sand before I sit down and scoot into the water.
Owen got me this mermaid tail as a joke for my birthday a month ago but I have yet to try it. I wanted to do something special tonight when I tell him that I’m pregnant and the mermaid tail was the first thing that came to mind. We had decided to wait a little bit before we tried to have kids. We wanted to be a little more settled here and have the business and house set up before we got pregnant. I went off the pill a few weeks ago and it looked like it took the first time.
I sit in the water, letting the gentle waves run up my legs as I test out the tail. It’s a little heavier than I thought it would be and I laugh as I lift it out of the water and then let it fall back with a splash.
Owen and I have been married for a year now. We bought the house on the beach and I was pleased when I saw that it came with its own little dock. Owen signed another book contract and helped me set up my diving classes and a website where tourists could sign up for times to go out on the boat. My dad retired six months ago and came down here to join us. He has his own little house a few blocks over and he’s been helping out with the tourists. He says he would be bored golfing or sitting around and so he’s happy to work for me. Owen and my dad get on great and they’re always going off for card games or guys nights.
Owen has gotten a lot better at scuba diving and we’ve even gone and poked around some of the sunken ships in the area. They were all pretty picked over and I was afraid that Owen would be disappointed that he never got to have that adventure but when I asked him, he told me that he found the greatest treasure of all. Me.
He’s so cheesy and I smile to myself as I think about my husband.
“What are you smiling at? You- OH! You’re wearing the tail!” He says as he hurries across the sand and collapses next to me.
He grins at me, knocking his shoulder against mine.
“Just for you,” I say, leaning over and stealing a kiss.
“How does it feel?” He asks, leaning closer and inspecting it in the moonlight.
“Heavier than I thought it would be. I’m not sure that I could swim in it. Or stand back up,” I say with a laugh.
“Well, let’s fix that,” he says, helping me to my feet.
He trips over his own feet and we both tumble back into the sand. A wave washes over us and Owen spits out a mouth full of water before he reaches out and brushes some of my wet hair out of my face.
