“It’s a surprise.”
I rolled my eyes. “Can’t it wait until I’ve finished the report?”
“I thought the report wasn’t due until next week.”
“Do you listen to all my conversations?”
“Baby, I hang on your every word.”
“Especially when I’m chatting with Don,” I said, amused, as I turned off my laptop, cleaned up my desk, and grabbed my denim jacket from the back of my chair.
Eli spluttered incoherently for a few moments. “Not true,” he protested.
“Aw, you jealous of her old boss, Eli?” Paxton teased from his corner of the office.
“Give it a rest.” He looked at me. “I’m not jealous of Don, exactly. It’s just …”
“Just what?”
“You never told me how good-looking he was.”
“Is that an issue? Surely you should be grateful that I never thought enough about how good-looking he was to bring it up in the first place.”
“Oh, she’s got you there, Eli,” Paxton teased.
“Shut up.”
“It doesn’t matter if he’s good-looking or not,” I continued. “I think Don has more interest in being my dad than anything else.”
“Kinky.”
“Paxton,” I warned. “You’re pushing it.” For a brother who was known as the town mute, he sure had a lot to say lately.
“Come on, let’s head out.” Eli took my hand, and he led me outside.
We drove in his truck for a few minutes before he glanced at me and asked, “So, how is it working out? Are you enjoying your job? Owen can be a bit intense when it comes to his design work.”
“Oh, no, Owen is great,” I replied enthusiastically. “He’s wonderful to work with and has such good ideas. He implements everything I need as naturally as if he came up with the requirements himself. I’m glad his work is gaining recognition.”
“Should I be jealous of my brother rather than your old boss?”
I ignored his comment. “With Frazier Falls as town zero, I think we’re looking at a pretty successful trial of my ecological redevelopment plan.”
He hesitated before asking, “Do you think you’ll ever want to move back to Los Angeles to help them implement the plan? I mean, this was your idea.”
“I’ll have to go back soon.” I watched his face fall. “To get my stuff. Now that I’ve stayed here long enough to enjoy it, I don’t know how I ever managed to live in the city for so long. I feel much … healthier here. Not just physically.”
Eli’s smile grew bright. “That’s probably because you don’t have to worry about your mother being a thousand miles away anymore.”
“Probably.” I glanced at him. “I don’t think that’s the only reason.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I think a certain someone’s companionship has made me realize how lonely I was in California.”
Eli surprised me by laughing loudly.
“What?”
“You’re only realizing that now?”
“Yeah, why?”
He shook his head. “No, it’s nothing, just … spending time with you made me realize how lonely I’d been after three days. And it took you three months? God, that’s a long time to lie to yourself.”
“You’re right again. Are we close to where we’re going?”
“Almost,” Eli replied as he turned a corner and passed by his house.
“I thought there wasn’t much up this path except another road into the forest?”
“There wasn’t—past tense.”
“And there is now?”
“Wait and see.”
I sat in the passenger seat impatiently as Eli seemed to drive as slowly as possible along the road that hugged the Cooper side of the forest. The large oak trees were beginning to unfurl their spring leaves.
I rolled down the window an inch or so in order to enjoy the sounds of the birds singing, and to feel the warmth from a beam of sunlight shining on my face.
I closed my eyes, thinking about how gorgeous the forest was.
The car suddenly stopped, startling me out of my newfound Zen state. I opened my eyes and looked at Eli.
“We’re here?”
He nodded, grinning, “Yes, we’re here.”
I got out of the car and followed him down a winding path that led into the forest.
“Where are we going?”
“Hold on a minute more. The road isn’t finished yet, we can’t drive all the way in, but in a week, that will change.”
The end of the path spilled into a clearing, where a house seemed to melt into the forest. It was a beautiful, understated piece of architecture. It looked like it had grown from the earth on which it was built.
“Eli, this is … wow. Did Owen design it?”
“Yes. This one is my favorite.”
He held my hand once more and walked me inside. “It’s built using lumber from the forest, and local stone. All the windows act as solar panels. The whole thing is state-of-the-art, but from the outside, it looks like a log cabin. My brother pulled out all the stops for this one.”
I glanced up at him. “Did you bring me here to brag about your brother? Not that I mind …” I walked up the steps. “Can I take a peek inside? I do enjoy peeping inside other people’s houses.”
“You can go in, Emily, because it’s ours.”
I paused with my hand on the door handle of the perfect wooden house. “Excuse me?”
“It’s ours. If you want to be with me, that is. I’ve wanted to sell my current place and move into one of Owen’s eco-homes for a while, and I figured you probably didn’t want to stay in your mom’s house forever.”
He opened the door and led me into the center of the room, where he’d already placed a bottle of wine, a candle, and a blanket.
I turned around to face him, a small smile lifting my lips. “Are you sure you can handle living with someone like me?”
He bent down and kissed me. “I know I can’t handle living without you.”
I looked around at the beauty of the hardwood floors, the pale cream walls, and the forest beyond the windows.
This town had become everything. It was more than a community. More than my home. With Eli by my side, it was my future.
My mom once said I had to make big decisions for love. In the end, I knew that loving Eli was the easiest decision I’d ever make.
Thank you for reading.
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