When I stepped off the elevator, all was quiet. Too quiet in fact. Setting my purse down, I walked into the kitchen and it was a disaster. Bottles and dishes were everywhere. Walking to the bedroom, I smiled when I saw Lucas asleep with Scarlett sleeping on his chest. I softly kissed his forehead and his eyes opened.
“Wake her up and die,” he whispered.
Chapter 34
Two Months Later
Lucas
It was hard to believe Scarlett was already three months old. She was growing and changing so quickly. The first month was the hardest. Hell, it was still hard. I wouldn’t lie. My daughter was a very alert child who didn’t seem to need much sleep. But Jenna developed a routine and made sure we both stuck to it. Things were a little easier now that Scarlett was sleeping at least five hours during the night. We never thought the day would come, but it did, and we took what we could get.
While Jenna was asleep with her head on my chest, I reached over and pulled the ring out I had hidden in the nightstand. After I slipped it on her finger, she stirred. My heart was racing a mile a minute and I was nervous as hell. When she opened her eyes, the first thing she noticed was the large diamond ring on her finger. She looked up at me and the shocked expression on her face made me smile.
“Will you marry me, babe?”
“Oh my God.” A wide grin crossed her lips as she sat up and stared into my eyes. “Yes! Oh my God, Lucas. I would love to marry you.”
Wrapping my arms around her, I rolled her on her back and hovered over her.
“You have made me the happiest man in the world, and I love you so much.” I kissed her. “I was going to wait and do it the proper way down on one knee. But then I figured once I got down on my knee, you’d know what I was doing, and I wanted you to be totally surprised.”
“You did it perfectly, and I can’t wait to marry you and call you my husband.”
Suddenly, we heard Scarlett’s cries through the monitor.
“Let’s go tell our daughter the good news.” I grinned as I kissed Jenna’s lips.
While Jenna was feeding the baby, I took a shower and got ready for work.
“By the way, I have to go to Maine for some business for a few days and I want you and Scarlett to come with me,” I said as I put on my tie.
“That sounds fun. We’d love to go with you. When are we leaving?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Oh. Thanks for the notice, Thorne.”
I turned to her and gave her a smile.
“Sorry, babe. It was kind of a last-minute thing.”
“No worries. I’ll just add packing to the list of things I have to do today. Can you take her for me? I need to pee.”
“Of course. Come here, princess. Let Daddy hold you before he leaves for the day.”
She smiled at me and began to coo as I held her. “You are the most beautiful baby in the entire world and I already know I’m going to have problems when the boys start coming around.” I held her up and she vomited all over my designer suit.
“Hey, babe?” I shouted. “Can you add taking my suit to the cleaners to your list? Scarlett just threw up all over me.
“Were you moving her too much? You know she just ate.”
“Uh, maybe.”
“Then you can take your suit in yourself. You know better than that, babe. We’ve talked about this before.” She smirked as she walked out of the bathroom.
Jenna
We landed in Portland, Maine, and climbed into the SUV Lucas had rented.
“Which hotel are we staying at?” I asked.
“We’re not. I got us an Airbnb instead.”
“Ah. Good idea.” I smiled as I reached over and stroked his cheek. “How far is this Airbnb?”
“We’ll be there in about forty-five minutes.” He smiled as he glanced over at me.
The drive to the Airbnb was beautiful as I took in the winding roads and snowcapped trees. Lucas made a right hand turn on a dirt road that led to a secluded home. Beautiful tall trees, trails and a lake made up the surrounding area.
“Wow. This looks great.” I smiled as I climbed out of the car and stared at the house.
Lucas grabbed the car seat while I grabbed a couple of our bags.
“Babe, leave those. I’ll come back for them.”
“I got it.” I smiled as we walked up to the door.
Stepping inside, a peaceful feeling washed over me.
“This is so nice. How did you find this place?”
“Come with me. I want to show you something,” he said as he set the car seat down.
He took my hand and led me to the back of the house and opened the sliding door.
“Look at that view, babe.”
“It’s gorgeous,” I said as I stepped on to the deck. “Wow. It’s so peaceful here.”
“I know. This is where I stayed when I came here for a couple weeks.”
“Here? This exact house?”
“Yep, and I never once stopped thinking about it.”
I looked over at him as he stared out into the lake.
“I bought the house, Jenna. I bought it for our family.” He hooked his arm around me and pulled me into him. “And I’m praying you love it just as much as I do.”
“This is our house?”
“Our house, babe. I thought we could spend a lot of time here in the summer and fall months. This lake house will become part of the Thorne legacy for generations to come.”
“I love it, Lucas. I truly love it.”
“Come inside. There’s something else I want to show you.”
He pulled out what looked like drawings and unrolled it across the kitchen table.
“What’s this?”
“The plans for the house I had drawn up. It’s only a two-bedroom, one bath, which isn’t big enough for us. We are definitely going to need more room. Especially when our family starts growing.” He smiled as he gave me a wink. “I bought the land next door and I want to expand the house. We’ll make the kitchen bigger and add a few more bathrooms and bedrooms. What do you think?”
“I love it.” I reached up and kissed his cheek.
“Are you sure? I want you to really look at these drawings and tell me what you want or don’t want. Because you’re going to be involved every step of the way.”
“We’re not here on business, are we?” I smiled.
“No. I used that as an excuse to get you here and surprise you.”
“You are just full of surprises lately. Was the house up for sale?”
“No.” He chuckled. “I made the owners an offer they absolutely couldn’t turn down. In fact, they didn’t even hesitate when I made the offer in cash.”
“I can’t believe you did this for us. I love you so much, and we’re going to be so happy here.”
“I love you too, babe, and all I want is to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“You’ve got me for life, Lucas.” I grinned as our lips met. “How long is the house going to take?”
“The contractor said three months tops because this is the only project they’ll be working on. I made sure of that. And the timing will be perfect because the warmer weather will be settling in and we can be here in the summer.”