Page 82 of Off the Beaten Path

“I was thinking…” he says and trails off. “What would you think of tearing it down?”

I blink at him, unsure if I heard him correctly. We worked ourselves to the bone to get this cabin in the condition it’s in. I can’t imagine why he’d want to tear it down, especially when it’s just starting to make a profit.

“Hear me out,” he says quickly, no doubt noticing the confused, hesitant look on my face. He sidles closer to me, fitting in the gap between my knees once more. His hands settle on my neck, lifting my chin up so I can look into his eyes. They’re serious, but…hopeful too.

“We’re getting married,” he says, voice soft, tender.

A smile hitches up the sides of my mouth. “Is that what the ring’s for?”

“I don’t want to start our life together in my house. That house, as important as it’s been to me, was the place I bought for me and June after Mia left. It was a place for us to start over. And,” he pauses, sighing, “it’s been that. It’s been everything we needed. But we need something different now. We need a home with you.”

His words fill me up, full to bursting, and I want to cry because of them. I want to cry for all the times over the last year that Holden has been everything I didn’t know I needed or wanted. I don’t know how I got so lucky to find him and June, how I ever lived without them.

“I thought we could build one here. Like the cabin we went to on our first date. You loved that cabin.”

Tears brim behind my eyelashes as I look down at the blueprints, the shape of the building now familiar. It’s similar to the cabin we visited, although not exactly the same. There’s a large living room with what looks to be a fireplace, and a kitchen that looks out on the space. I can imagine the three of us there, making dinner together, June and I sneaking chocolate chips from the pantry when Holden isn’t looking.

There are bedrooms and bathrooms too, more than the three of us need, and when I look back at Holden, his eyes have gone soft. He points to one of the bedrooms, a smaller one beside what looks to be the primary suite.

“I thought this one could be a nursery.”

We’ve talked about kids, how we both want more, but this is the first time I’m seeing a way for that to happen. Holden’s house has a third bedroom that mine does not, but really, it would be hard to have more kids there without all of us being on top of each other.

This cabin would be plenty large enough, though, and suddenly, I want it more than anything. The life in this cabin. The one I can picture perfectly. The three of us sitting on the Adirondack chairs, June holding her little hand to my belly to feel her little brother or sister kicking. I want it all. I want it all with them.

“Let’s do it,” I say around the lump in my throat.

“Really?” Holden asks, and I don’t miss the hopeful tone of his voice.

I nod, just as sure about this decision as I was when he asked me to be his wife.

With Holden, I’ve never been more sure of anything.