Page 82 of Flawless

“Patience, beautiful.” He smiled as he cut the engine and jumped out of the truck before opening my door and reaching for my hand. “Come on.”

I was speechless as I followed him to the front door and watched him fit a key into the lock. “Um, did a friend loan you this place? Or is it an Airbnb? Did you rent it for the night?”

He gestured for me to enter first and I closed my eyes as the house embraced me. I’d always heard about some houses having great energy, but I’d never experienced it until I visited Cam’s family home.

This house felt like that. It felt like home.

“What is this?” I asked, looking up the centre staircase.

There was old strip hardwood as far as I could see, throughout all the rooms on the main level. They were re-stained a dark color and polished to perfection. The matching wood doors, baseboards, and trim hinted at the kind of craftsmanship rarely seen anymore.

“This is home,” he whispered in my ear. “Do you like it?”

My heart started pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. “Your home?”

“Yeah, but I hope it’ll be ours someday.”

I glanced into the formal dining room. There was a huge mahogany table with matching antique pressback chairs, and I could imagine holiday dinners with our family. I could even see a fire blazing in the original fireplace that served as the room’s focal point.

“Home?” I echoed. “You bought this home? For us?” The tears were falling again and I wasn’t even trying to stop them. “You mean when you’re here, in Tennessee? It’ll be your second home, like⁠—”

He was shaking his head, smiling. “Nope. I sold my place when I resigned from my job, so this is my one and only home.”

“I don’t believe this,” I said, shaking my head, while laughing and crying at the same time. “You’re really going to be here full-time from now on?”

“I sure am.” He bent at the knees to look me in the eye. “That is… if you’ll have me.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him hard as I sobbed into his chest. “I can’t believe you did all this.” I pulled back to look him in the eye. “You really quit your job? Why would you do that? You love⁠—”

“I did it,” he said, softly. “Because I love you more than I love my work. And I couldn’t stand being away from you. And I knew once our baby’s born, there’s no way I could live in another state, trying to be a part-time dad…” He shook his head. “That would never work for me. This was the only thing that made sense.”

“But why didn’t you tell me?”

I turned into his arms, my back to his chest as I looked into a casual living room.

There was an original fireplace in that room too. With several tall windows that allowed natural light to stream in from all directions. There were sand-colored sofas facing each other with a beautiful antique armoire dominating one wall. A soft storage ottoman between the sofas, and I could already imagine it brimming with toys.

“I didn’t want you to feel responsible for the decisions I was making. I didn’t want you to feel an ounce of guilt because I was leaving my job or my friends or my family.” He released a huff of laughter. “Not that I’m really leaving my family behind, since they decided to come with me.”

“What do you mean?” I looked at him over my shoulder, smiling when he kissed my neck.

“My parents seem to think we might need some help once the baby is born. And they volunteered for full-time GP duty; between all the kids they assume me and my sister are going to have.”

I laughed, slapping his forearm. “Your parents are the best. I can’t believe they’d do that. You know how awesome it will be for our kids to grow up knowing their grandparents and aunt and…”

I couldn’t believe this was my life. That he was my life now.

“This is better than I ever could have imagined.”

“Then you like the house?”

“I love it.” I tapped the forearm he had wrapped around my waist, and teased, “But how are you going to pay for it, now that you’re unemployed?”

He laughed. “In spite of what my sister thought of my last place, it was pretty valuable, and mortgage-free, so I was able to buy this place without a problem. But I’ll have you know I’m not unemployed.”

“But you said you resigned.”

“Yeah, I did. But I was able to get a job as lieutenant right here in Franklin. And there’s another position opening up at the end of the year I might consider. We’ll see how it goes.”