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“I know you do, baby, and I hope you love this one.”
“Are we going to the beach?”
I laughed at that. “We’re going to visit Maryland this summer to see Alice’s mosaics. And I’m hoping we can squeeze in a drive to Ocean City.”
“Can we go now?” Maggie asked, and we both laughed.
Alice turned around to tell her, “It’s not warm enough yet for the beach.”
We were on a tight schedule with the B&B. Not just because of the contract, but everyone had grown close to Natalie and her daughter. Protective even. It was clear she was starting over here, and her ex wasn’t in the picture. She needed the B&B to be taking reservations and earning money soon.
There was a sense of urgency. We needed to stick to the schedule and speed it up if possible. Not only that, but locals were excited about the addition of a B&B, and about the opening of Alice’s store.
I reached over to interlace my fingers with Alice’s. As always, a warm contentment filled my chest. Everything was right in my world. I was with my favorite girls. I hoped to have more days like this one, where I surprised them with something special. But it wasn’t just these big days that mattered. The little moments did too. And as I turned off the main road onto a bumpy lane, I hoped this was just the beginning.
“What is this?” Alice asked softly.
“You’ll see.” I smiled, not giving anything away. I parked the truck near the clearing where I wanted to build with the view of the mountains.
“What do you think?” I asked them.
“I don’t know. What is it?” Alice asked, her eyes wide as she took in the beauty.
I’d talked about building a home with Maggie several times, but I wasn’t sure if she’d remember. We talked about what rooms and pets we’d want. Whether there’d be a library or a game room. But we’d never talked about it with Alice.
“Is this our house?” Maggie squealed when she realized what was going on.
My lips twitched. “Not yet. I bought this property so we could build our dream house.”
“You’re kidding,” Alice said, her mouth dropping open slightly.
“It’s been a dream of mine for a long time.” I moved closer to her, hoping I hadn’t made a colossal mistake in not clearing this with her first.
Maggie danced circles around us.
My stomach knotted. “But if this isn’t what you want, I can sell it. We can stay where we are or buy a place in town.”
“You want to build a house here?” Her tone was incredulous.
Clearly, I still had some convincing to do. “This is where our outdoor patio and kitchen would go. With a large fireplace.”
“Bigger than ours now?” Maggie asked, her voice filled with excitement.
It was contagious. “Of course. As big as you want. Then the bedrooms will face the mountains, guest bedrooms in the front of the house. I figured you’d want the family room to have a mountain view, and the living room and kitchen can be in the front or the side of the house. A playground here.”
“Where will the tree house go?” Maggie asked.
I moved to one of the trees in what I was thinking of as the backyard. “I think this one will work.”
Maggie squealed again, like she couldn’t contain her enthusiasm. But Alice was quiet.
Turning toward her, I said, “Do you like it? Is this what you want?”
She covered her cheeks with the palms of her hands. “I think I’m in shock. You want to build a house”—she gestured around us—“on this amazing property. With the mountains in our backyard?”
“If that’s what you want. This is mine and Maggie’s dream, but if it isn’t what you want…” My heart thumped hard in my chest. I wasn’t sure what we’d do if Alice wasn’t on board, but I wanted to make her happy too.
She lowered her hands to mine. “I can’t believe this is my life.”
