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My mother placed her hand on my cheek and gave me a sweet smile. “I really would like to rip that boy’s balls off.”
I laughed. “Me, too.”
“Okay, let me get going with Liliana, keep me up to date on the delivery.”
“Will do,” I said as I kissed her on the cheek.
“Sweetheart, I am sorry I read part of your journal. And even though all I had planned was the playhouse in the beginning, I did have other ideas after I saw your confession.”
I shook my head and kissed her once more. “It’s okay, Momma. Everything turned out as it should. Y’all have fun.”
“Oh, we will!” my mother called out as she got into the car. “A-shopping we shall go!”
There was something about watching Truitt work. He was commanding yet kind. He was a perfectionist and wanted everything to be just so. I knew it wasn’t simply because this was for Liliana; no, he had to be like this for every playhouse he built.
We stood in front of the giant castle. Truitt’s cousin Lee was inside adding all the interior touches. The yellow exterior of the castle was perfect, and Liliana was going to die when she saw it. Off to the side of the playhouse was a swing set with two swings, a seesaw, and monkey bars. I covered my mouth and nearly cried. It was stunning. It was over the top. It was the castle I had drawn when I was a little girl. Truitt had recreated it perfectly.
“You know, if you’re looking for a job, I could really use someone who knows how to draw up the designs.”
Truitt’s voice from behind me caused me to spin around.
“You didn’t say anything to me about this design starting with my old drawing,” I said.
He laughed. “Your mother asked me not to. The original drawing is in the playhouse. Lee had it framed and is hanging it up in the bedchambers.”
I hit him on the chest. “The bedchambers.” Looking back at the playhouse, I sighed. “Truitt, is it obnoxious? Too much? I can’t believe this is scaled down.”
He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me to him. “Confession: I didn’t really scale it down as much as I told you I would.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
“Well, someday it might not just be Liliana playing in it. I tried to keep that in mind.”
My stomach did a somersault and I turned to look at him. “I like the idea of filling it with one or two more little ones.”
A wide smile grew over his face, and when his dimples came out on display, my knees went weak.
This man…oh, this man.
“I’m glad you like the sound of that.” Truitt went to kiss me, but we were interrupted by someone clearing their throat.
Lee gave us a smile that said she knew what she had just walked up on. “The house is done. Ready to see the inside?”
I shook my head. “I want to wait until Liliana sees it for the first time. I want us to see it together.”
Lee smiled. “I think that sounds like a great idea. Well, I’m done here, so I’m going to take off. I want to get home and finish wrapping up a few things.”
“Oh, Lee, thank you so much for doing all of this and giving up your Christmas Eve,” I said as I gave her a hug.
“Don’t be silly! Most of it was done. It was just a matter of fixing up things that shifted in the transport and bringing in all the goodies we bought. I already staged it all at the warehouse, so I knew where everything was going. I really do hope Liliana likes it.”
I looked back at the castle and then to her. “She is going to love it.”
“Great! Listen, I’ll talk to y’all later. Let me know if you don’t like something, and we can change it around.”
I nodded and watched as she walked off toward the driveway.
“I feel so bad that so many people had to work on Christmas Eve to make this happen on time,” I said.
Truitt took my hand in his. “Nah, don’t. They’re all getting holiday pay for today.”
I leaned into Truitt’s body. “That is sweet of you to do.”
“It’s not sweet, it’s the right thing to do.”
My phone beeped, and I pulled it out. I had sent my mother a photo of the finished playhouse, or playcastle if we wanted to get technical. There still needed to be some landscaping around the castle, but Truitt had told everyone that could be done after Christmas.
“It’s my mom. She loves it and cannot wait to see it in person.”
“What time is the big reveal in the morning? I’d like to be here,” Truitt said.
My head jerked up. “Where else would you be?”
Truitt laughed. “Home.”
It felt like my heart dropped straight to the pit of my stomach. “Home? You’re going home?”
