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“I thought about that,” I admitted. “But I don’t miss it. I think that house represented something different for me at a certain point in my life. I’m excited to see what this house represents for me now.”
She smirked. “Did Tank help you pick it out?”
“No.” I frowned. “He hasn’t actually seen it yet. He’s on his way, though.”
She tilted her head. “You bought this just for you then?”
“Honestly?” I breathed in deeply. “I don’t know. It was time for me to move out of Rachel’s apartment. I’ve been there a while, and I needed to be there while I was, but I’m ready to have my own space again. When the real estate agent said this was just sitting empty because the elderly man moved into assisted living and his kids lived out of town, I jumped on it. It was impulsive, but I know I made the right decision because it feels right.” I twisted my hands together. “I can’t lie, though, and say I haven’t wondered if Tank would want to share it with me.” I shrugged. “I’m just not sure if either of us are ready for something like that. I told him I wanted to take things slow, and I meant that, but…”
“But you want to be with him.” She finished for me.
“Yeah.” I smiled softly. “We’re doing the best we can, but we’ve both been working a lot, so it’s been weeks of just squeezing in time. It would be nice to know that after the day is over, we’d land in the same place.” I put my hand on my forehead. “It sounds crazy to say that, though, after I bought this house without him even knowing.”
She smiled sadly. “Do you think maybe you need to know you did this by yourself? That you had a place that was all yours in case your relationship doesn’t work out?”
How did someone I’d known less than six months know me as well as she did? I hadn’t purposely bought this house without Tank knowing as some sort of backup plan, but looking at it through Bree’s eyes, that was exactly what I’d done. “I think I just need to be sure I can take care of myself.”
Bree studied me for a moment, and I wondered what she was thinking, but I didn’t have to wait long to find out. “Did I ever tell you that my mom is a beauty queen? Like, a real life one. She won contests and everything.”
“No,” I admitted, but I wasn’t surprised to hear that, considering how beautiful Bree and her sisters are.
“She is, and she came from a family who valued beauty before pretty much anything else, except money.”
I snorted. “Sounds like my family.”
“It’s very similar, actually,” she agreed. “She met my dad when she was twenty. She was at a community fundraiser as Ms. Maryland, and he was there unloading trucks for the event. She said there were all kinds of food carts there and one had ice cream. The way she tells the story was that there was a young boy who stood back and watched all the other kids buy ice cream. After she was done signing autographs, she began making her way over to him, with the intention to buy him the ice cream, but my dad beat her there. He talked to that boy for a few minutes, and they both walked up to the truck, and he bought him what he wanted. It was obvious to my mom that my dad didn’t have much money and just buying that kid ice cream was probably a hit to his wallet, but he did it anyway.” Bree smiled softly. “She said he turned, and she lifted her hand in a wave before walking the rest of the way to him. They began talking and were inseparable ever since.”
I tilted my head. “Because he was so kind?”
Bree nodded. “Because she came from a place where people didn’t do that for someone they didn’t know. She saw in him what she wanted to become. She saw in him the values she held but kept to herself.”
“She saw the freedom to be herself.” I nodded when Bree’s smile grew. “I get that.”
“She took a chance.” Bree continued. “She threw away everything she knew to start her own path and she’s never looked back, but more importantly, she’s never regretted it.”
“But what if it hadn’t worked out?”
“Finding my father was a bonus, but if you ask my mother, she’ll tell you that finding herself was the reward. She found her strength and knew that no one could stop her once she broke free of those feelings of obligation and appearance.”
“Did she lose her family?” I asked, but I already suspected the answer.
“Sadly, she wasn’t very close to them to start with. We know our grandparents, but we aren’t close, and my mom prefers that. But she doesn’t consider it a loss because of all she gained. Honestly, Jane, life’s short. We need to surround ourselves with people who support us and encourage us to be our best and let go of those who don’t.”
“That’s true,” I replied just as the doorbell rang. “Oh boy, that’s probably Tank.”
She touched my arm. “I’ll come back another time for the rest of the tour.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
Together, we walked to the door, and I pulled it open, coming face-to-face with the man who had become my biggest supporter.
“Hey, Tank.” Bree smiled and pushed past him. “I’m on my way out.”
“See ya, Bree,” he replied, but he never took his eyes off me. “Wanna tell me why I got a text to meet you here?”
I stepped back and gestured inside. “We can talk inside.”
He walked through the front door, and his eyes scanned the living room before looking down at me. “You thinkin’ about buying this place?”
