She’d been staring out the window, admiring the scenery. But, as if she’d read his mind, she turned to him and said, “I thought you’d just get a place on Tybee Island or something.”
“Why would I do that?”
“I don’t know. It’s so close and you could have found us something cheap there.”
She obviously had absolutely no idea he was trying to make this weekend special. For her. For them.
Keeping a casual smile on his face, he said, “You said you liked the idea of mountains on a lake, so that’s what you’re getting.”
“I just said it would be nicer for a vacation than Vegas. Not that you should go to so much trouble for a fake honeymoon.”
“It’s not fake.” Before she could interpret this statement in a way that made her uncomfortable, he added, “We’re actually taking the trip. We might as well enjoy it.”
She smiled at him, straightening one side of her glasses. “It’s nice of you to try to find a place I like.”
“What else would I do?”
She was still smiling, but she glanced away, as if she were self-conscious. Then her posture changed as she saw something out the window. “Oh, look! It’s another place for sale. I bet that’s another big old house.”
Peter glanced over and saw the sign, planted next to a long driveway that disappeared into the woods. “It’s getting late. We can’t stop to look at every house for sale on the trip. We’ve still got at least another hour.”
“Okay.”
He checked her face and, since she didn’t look crushed, decided he wasn’t going to cave and turn the car around. Kelly loved old houses as much as he did, and they’d had a really good time at the previous places they’d stopped—mostly old farmhouses in the middle of nowhere. They hadn’t been able to go inside, of course, but they’d parked and walked around a few places that were obviously unoccupied.
But the sun was starting to set already, and Peter didn’t want to make an idiot of himself, trying to find his way to the bed and breakfast on backroads in the dark.
The road made a wide curve, so he focused on driving for a minute. The road followed a line around a lake, which they could see as the trees on one side of the road started to clear.
“Peter!” Kelly breathed.
He turned his head at the sound of her voice.
She was staring out the window, something almost awed on her face, and she pointed across the water of the lake. “Look. Do you think that’s the place that was for sale?”
He slowed down and ducked his head slightly so he could see what she saw. It was huge, picturesque Victorian house, built next to the lake, framed by the trees of the woods behind it. It could have been an oil painting. The light and shadow came together perfectly, making it look like a house from one of his dreams.
He’d slowed down instinctively so he could stare, until a car roared up behind them and laid on the horn, obviously annoyed by how slowly he was moving. He pulled the car over onto the shoulder and put it into park.
Kelly immediately climbed out of the car and stood gazing at the house.
“It looks huge,” she whispered, when he got out and walked around the car to join her.
“It is huge.”
She wrapped her arms around her stomach, as if she were hugging herself. “I want it.”
Peter wanted it too. Viscerally. There was nothing in the world—other than Kelly—that he could remember wanting so much.
But it was probably mostly a trick of the light. Up close, it wouldn’t be so perfect.
“Can we go back and look to see if that’s the one for sale?” Kelly turned to look up at him, her expression hopeful.
So what if he looked like a fool, getting lost in the dark as they tried to find their B&B? He wasn’t going to disappoint Kelly, not when she was looking at him that way. “Yeah. We better.”
He knew this was mostly a game to her, checking out houses for sale and acting like there was any possibility that she might buy them in the future. Peter wasn’t deceived into thinking she was serious about making a purchase. Even if she’d had the money, she would never leave Savannah. She would never leave her family. It would go against everything she was.
But Peter couldn’t help but think about his savings account. It wasn’t particularly flush, but he had enough to make a down payment on a place.
A house like that would be perfect for a bed and breakfast.
Kelly was visibly excited as they turned down the driveway, and she made a little squeal as they saw that the big, lovely house was indeed the one for sale. Up close, it was clear that the house had seen better days. It was obviously unoccupied, and the grounds hadn’t been kept very well. Piles of dead leaves covered the driveway, and one of the outbuildings had literally fallen down.