Text Order Bride(7)
Stephanie slowed the van down and pulled into a long driveway that was lined with trees. Amanda couldn’t see a house up ahead, but knew they had to be close. “Are we almost there?”
They turned a corner and stopped in front of a large, white, wooden house. The front of the house was covered by a screened-in porch. She smiled as she saw how old it was. This house would have some history.
When they pulled up, Stephanie honked the horn instead of getting out and knocking on the door. “He’s probably in the barn or somewhere on the property,” Stephanie explained at Amanda’s quizzical look.
Jason came from around the side of the house. He had mud splattered all over his jeans and wore an old flannel shirt with sleeves rolled up at the elbows. He smiled down at Stephanie. “Thanks for bringing her. I’ll take her back after dinner tonight.”
“Okay. Have a great day!” Stephanie climbed into her van and drove away.
After she’d driven off, Amanda gave Jason a shy look. “Hey.”
He smiled. “Hi there.” He walked closer and bent down to brush her lips with his. “I’m glad you’re here.”
She wished she felt as confident as he seemed. “Me too.”
He took her hand in his, and pulled her toward the house. “You can leave your purse in the kitchen. You won’t need it while we wander around.”
He led her up to the porch and opened the door for her, letting her precede him inside to take a look around. There was a wooden porch swing that she immediately dropped into setting it swinging with her foot. She looked up and saw that Jason watching her for a reaction to his home.
“I love this porch! I can see you sitting out here in the evenings relaxing.”
“My parents were out here every evening in the summer. Dad would be bone tired, but he always took the time to sit with Mom, because she loved it so much,” he said. “Are you ready to go in and see it?”
She laughed softly. “I’ve been ready since I got off that plane. I know you said you’re the fifth generation to own it. Did your ancestors build it, or did they buy it?”
“My great-great-grandfather bought the land when he was just a teenager. He built a small log cabin on it, and the rest of the house was added on in pieces. What I use as a mud room was the log cabin. He brought my great-great-grandmother here after they were married. My great-grandfather and grandfather were both born in this house,” he told her.
She stood up and waited for him to open the door. She noticed that he hadn’t bothered to lock it while he was out on the farm. She loved that about living in the country. Even in her small town they felt the need to lock the doors.
Once they were inside the living room, and she looked around. She could see some small changes that she’d make if it were hers. She’d make some curtains and some throw pillows to soften up the look of the room. For the most part, though, she was thrilled with what was there.
He showed her the mud room, which lived up to its name well. He’d obviously not bothered with cleaning the floor in here for a long time. It was an unfinished looking room. It connected to a bathroom, which in turn, connected to the kitchen. “I always come in this way after working so that I can just strip off and shower as I come in.” There was a laundry chute in the bathroom that he told her emptied into a laundry bin in the basement where the washer and dryer were.
There were five bedrooms total, and three baths. Some things could use to be updated, but for the most part she loved it. Jason seemed to be relatively neat. There was nothing just thrown on the floor, and no dishes in the sink, but he obviously wasn’t one for doing a lot of real cleaning. The floors needed to be vacuumed and mopped well. The counters needed a good scrubbing and the oven probably hadn’t been cleaned since his parents had moved away.
“So what do you think?” he asked.
“I love it. I love older houses because they have so much character. You’ve lived here your whole life, right?”
“Except when I was in school in Madison.”
“I’ve lived in the same house my whole life, too. My parents bought it when they were first married.”
He nodded. “I can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
She smiled. She hadn’t talked to him about her plans of leaving Maypearl. She didn’t want him to think he was the reason she was quitting her job, because he wasn’t. She really didn’t think things would work out between them.
“Would you like to see the farm?”
“I’d love to.”
He took her hand and led her out to through the mudroom. The barn was back behind the house and he took her there first. Several of the cows were in the barn, while others were out in the pasture behind it.