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My house.
Our house.
Grinning from ear to ear, I took it all in. The double iron doors led to a foyer that showcased a massive wood staircase. I imagined little kids running down the stairs to the formal living room in search of their Christmas presents.
Walking farther in, I made my way into the formal dining room. The massive fireplace was flanked by two bookshelves with glass doors. The paneling on the walls was beautiful, as was all of the wood trim. All of it original to the house.
The guys had pretty much moved all of the furniture in. The only thing left was the new washer and dryer we had bought.
My hand moved lazily over the old hickory wood table. It was beautiful. A large bench sat on one side, with four chairs sitting on the opposite side and two at each end.
“I think Christmas is going to be here at your place,” Harmony said, setting Presley in her little walker.
I smiled as she took off across the 126-year-old wood floors. Wes, Preston, and Finn had refinished all of the wood floors in the house and they looked beautiful. The only way to know the wide-plank floors were old was to see the wear patterns.
“That sounds like an awesome plan to me!”
Harmony walked up and warmed her hands by the fire. “There are so many fireplaces in this house. It’s amazing.”
“I know,” I replied. “The fact that the baby has a fireplace in his room scared me at first, but Finn promised to baby-proof it.”
Harmony laughed. “And if he is anything like Preston, he will adult-proof it as well.”
My mother walked into the room and set a box on the dining room table. “Darling, I’m going to see if Clare needs any help in the kitchen.”
I nodded, then asked, “Mom?”
She stopped walking and faced me. “Yes?”
“Has Dad said anything, about me or the baby?”
Her eyes filled with sadness as she slowly shook her head. I nodded and forced a grin.
After she left the room, Harmony walked over to me and wrapped me in her arms.
“He’ll come around, Rory.”
My chin trembled as I took in a deep breath. “I hope so.”
“Right now he’s living on that same island as my parents.”
Drawing back, I gave her a questioning look. “What island is that?”
She winked. “The I’ve-got-my-head-up-my-ass island.”
Laughing, I walked over to the grandfather clock that had been left with the house. I wasn’t going to let my father ruin this day, so I changed the subject.
“Why do you think the owners left this clock?” I asked while winding it up.
“I don’t know. There has to be a story behind it. Did you ask them?”
“No, but I left a message with the agent to ask her if she had the number for the previous owner. It was a single woman, and this house had been in her family since the day her great-great-grandfather built it.”
Harmony signed. “It’s kind of sad to think she sold it.”
I came back to the table, reached into the box, and took out a frame. I walked over to the mantel and set the picture of Harmony, Preston, and Presley on it. Smiling, I placed my hands on my bump.
“You’re getting bigger. How do you feel?”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Amazing.”
Harmony giggled. “The morning sickness?”
“Is all day, but is starting to taper off. It’s really more of just a feeling of nausea.”
Presley let out a screech of pure happiness as she chased Flash all over the place.
“I still can’t believe you guys stole Flash.”
Attempting to hide my smile, I replied, “We didn’t ‘steal’ him. My father was being ridiculous. We simply snuck into the firehouse after Finn quit and asked Flash if he wanted to come with us or stay there.”
Harmony crossed her arms over her chest. “Uh-huh. That’s how it went down, huh? You left it up to the dog to decide.”
With a nod, I replied, “Yep. Totally up to Flash.”
She rolled her eyes. “Is that why you guys spent six hours in jail until your mom came and bailed you out?”
“Minor misunderstanding.”
The guys came walking into the house, laughing and stomping snow off their boots.
“Who’s hungry? I made a lasagna,” I said with a wide smile. “Oh, and Clare is finishing the salad and homemade dessert.”
I’d never seen a whole group of guys stop what they were doing and turn to head in one direction before.
“Wow. Is my lasagna that good?”
Harmony laughed. “No, Clare is that single. Look at the two who stayed behind.”
A warmth filled my chest as I watched Finn and Preston running from Presley, and Harmony locked arms with me.
The road to this moment hadn’t been all that long, but it had been bumpy at times.
I hadn’t even had to worry about going back to work, even with us purchasing a five-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath house on ten acres outside of Salem. Between Finn and me, we had saved twice the amount we needed for the down payment. Clare teased us for being overachievers.
