Annie whipped her head around to look at Shane, seeing the smile on his face. “What are we doing here? Are you looking at this? When did you…”
Before she could fire out another question, he leaned over capturing her mouth. The kiss was gentle. Slow. Soft. Pulling back slightly, he whispered, “Welcome home, sunshine. That is, if you like it.”
Her eyes widened as she turned her head back to the visage out of the front of the truck. “You bought a house? For us?”
“Come on, baby. Let’s take a look,” he said as he slid out of the truck, gently pulling her out of his side. “Sarge,” he called and the dog jumped out of the cab as well, running through the yard.
Another car was in the driveway and a pleasant-looking lady emerged, briefcase in hand as she approached. Introductions were made and she led them up the porch steps where she proceeded to let them enter.
Shane had seen the house before, but found himself nervous over Annie’s reaction. He held her hand but kept his eyes trained on hers to see what she thought.
She was stunned. She had no idea that he was looking at houses. I thought he just wanted to get a bigger apartment. Not a house. But oh my God, this is amazing. Wandering through the downstairs, she discovered the living room was on the left of the entrance hall and was flooded with natural sunlight from a large picture window facing the front side window as well. A brick fireplace stood on the wall opposite of the picture window, and she immediately noted the mantel was large enough for decorating in ‘family’. To the right of the entrance hall, was the dining room, with the same wooden floors that extended from the living room.
Walking into the dining area, she tried to stifle a giggle. The realtor looked over quizzically and Annie explained that where she lived, she ate on the sofa with the coffee table. The realtor smiled indulgently and began pointing out the attributes of the house and neighborhood. Annie was in her own little world by that time, wandering from the dining room into the kitchen. Sucking in her breath, she looked around at the fully equipped kitchen filled with oak cabinets with decorative knobs, granite countertops, and new appliances.
Shane walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her tiny frame, and whispered, “What do you think, baby?”
“It’s amazing, Shane. It’s gorgeous.”
“Come on, let’s look at the rest of it,” he prodded. Leading her by the hand, they continued from the kitchen to the family room in the back of the house where the windows overlooked the back yard, complete with stone patio. Up the wooden staircase, they discovered a large master bedroom with a bathroom that made Annie stop in her tracks.
Shane watched as she gingerly leaned over and ran her hand along the edge of the soaker tub. She deserves this. She deserves all of this.
They explored the two other larger bedrooms and the one smaller one that would be perfect for a study. Or a nursery he thought as he watched his beautiful woman take it all in. I could see her. Standing by the window, the sun shining on her coppery hair, holding their child.
“Shane, are you all right?”
Jolted out of his musings he smiled as he walked back over. “Yeah, baby. I’m perfect.”
They finished the tour standing in the back yard enjoying the view. The realtor, knowing she had a sure sale, began pulling papers out of her briefcase. “Shall we go in to the kitchen where we will be able to use the counter for signing?” she suggested.
Annie’s eyes cut sharply over to Shane’s. “Sign? You’re going to buy it now? But I don’t even know how much it is? Shane I can’t afford much. I can’t…”
Once again, Shane shut her up with a kiss. Looking over to the realtor, he said, “Will you excuse us a minute.”
She nodded and went inside.
Annie turned to him, ready to cut loose with her million questions and concerns, but before she could say anything, he placed his fingers gently over her lips.
“Sunshine, I need you to stop and just listen for a minute. Can you give me that?” She nodded against his fingers so he released them.
“We both grew up in a neighborhood like this. Old homes. Big yards. Lots of room for kids and pets to play. I always knew that at some point in my future I would like the same thing. I never looked before ‘cause I never had a reason to. But baby, we’re an us now. And this us is going to keep going. You with me so far?”
Her green eyes never leaving his beautiful blue ones, she nodded once again as her heart began to pound.
“Money is not a question here.” He noticed her brow immediately furrowed, but he continued. “Baby, my pay’s not shit and I’ve saved most of it over the years. The two years I was under, I didn’t have to use hardly any, and on top of that I received extra for hazard pay. I invested and I’ve got a decent nest-egg. We’ll have about a twenty-minute commute, but you can start looking for vet practices out this way if you want. I’ll stay with the force for a while more then I may decide to take Tony up on his offer of security work. Haven’t made up my mind yet, but his office is on this side of town so that would be good too.