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"Did you really say that?" I asked.
He nodded. "I did. And I meant every single word of it."
I grinned, unable to hold myself back from kissing him. I pressed my forehead against his, rising up on my toes and bouncing with excitement.
"I want to go see the house," I said.
He laughed. "Let's go then." He looked at Carmella. "Thank you again. I really appreciate all your help with this."
"Of course," she said. "You're like a big brother to me, too. I'm really glad I got to be a part of this. And I can't wait to see what you make of that big old house. I'm sure it's going to be wonderful. Just be sure to save a reservation for opening night for me."
"You've got it," I said. She came around the desk and opened her arms to me, gathering me in a tight hug. "Thank you."
Ryan took my hand, and we hurried out to the car together. As soon as we climbed in, I leaned over and kissed him again.
"I know you don't want me to thank you, so I'm just going to say you are amazing," I said.
"You are, too."
"Let's go see the house." I put on my seatbelt and prepared for the excitement of finally getting to go inside the house that had filled my dreams for so long. But a sudden thought put a dent in the thrill. "Wait. Is it safe? I know nobody has lived in it for a really long time. Can we even go inside it without the floor collapsing or the roof falling on us or anything?"
Ryan laughed and nodded. "It's safe. I got it fully inspected during the purchase process. It's solid. There's a lot to be done to make it into a usable home and a bed and breakfast, but it is perfectly sound and has really good bones."
"I am fine with it having a lot to be done," I told him. "I'm ready with a big bucket of elbow grease."
"And maybe a little bit of experience fixing things," he said, giving me a playful wink.
I grin. "Yes."
"Then let's see what we're working with."
He drove back toward the house, and my stomach filled with more and more butterflies the closer we got. We pulled up in front, and I stared at it, a completely new feeling in me than what I had the last time I looked at it. Before I had been heartbroken, thinking I had been rejected and someone else had scooped up the beautiful house out from under me.
Now I was looking at it as the owner. It was mine. I could do anything I wanted with it. And right then, what I wanted to do was open the front door.
The keys still clutched in my hand, I jumped out of the car and ran up the driveway. I could barely contain myself as I rushed up the steps onto the sprawling front porch. Stopping at the top, I turned around and spread my arms out to my sides.
"Can you see it? Rockers all the way down. Tables. Maybe gliders on the ends. In the fall we'll fill the steps with pumpkins and bales of hay. Then at Christmas we'll cover the whole house with lights and put wreaths on the door. Candles in the windows."
"It's going to be gorgeous," Ryan said.
I turned back to the front door and walked up to it. When we’d first gotten to the house, I didn't think I could get inside fast enough. Now I paused at the door and gazed at it, wanting to preserve the moment and make it last. Finally, I reached forward and put in the key. It turned smoothly, and I pushed it open, feeling like I was literally opening the door to my new life.
25
RYAN
It took only seconds before I lost track of Allison as she zoomed through the house, awash with ideas and excitedly shouting out plans for different spaces. She had seen pictures before, but they were dated from years back, and were from a time when it was lived in by one family. As she toured the home at her own pace, a bit faster than mine as I carried Leo around with me, she was positively overflowing with new and exciting ideas for the spaces.
“Oh my God, Ryan,” she said as she reappeared behind me, having completely circled the bottom floor and ended up lapping me. “It’s so much better than I even dreamed.”
“I’m glad,” I said. “So now that I have you here, tell me what you would like to see. Starting with this room.”
She stopped, almost as if she was seeing the room for the first time. I watched as her eyes darted back and forth in the way someone would if they were seeing a slideshow. That was probably how she saw it. Slideshow presentations of the room as she would want it to be.
