Miles for Love Series Box Set, page 102
“Yes, we had one made up shortly after we got married. It’s old, but we have one.”
“Then unless he left the house to someone else, it’s yours. You’re off the hook for everything.”
She draws in a deep breath and looks up at the ceiling. On exhale she says, “Thank God. I knew there was a silver lining in there somewhere.” Her voice cracks. “I think…I think I need to get out of this house anyway. Too many memories here. I want a fresh start.”
“Can’t say I blame you there, Ripley. Do you want to stay with me at my house for a while?”
“I’m sure Grant would love that.” She’s facetious. “His ex-girlfriend’s best friend living under his roof.”
I shake my head. “Grant’s not like that. He won’t care. Besides, they parted amicably. It’s not going to be a problem.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” She sighs. “I can’t…I can’t decide anything right now. My head is swimming.”
“Nor do you have to, baby. It was just a suggestion. No pressure here at all.”
She searches my eyes, and then snakes her arms around my neck, burying her face in my neck. I hold her tight to me. No tears are shed. She just wants to be held, and I’m happy to oblige her. My hands caress her back, and then I kiss her neck tenderly. “Anything else I can do for you, baby?”
“You might think this is odd, but I’m so hungry right now.”
“It’s not weird. Could be stress eating, or you could just be hungry…you are human, after all.” I kiss her neck again. “You want me to order a pizza? Chinese? Anything you want.”
“Oh, you know what? I would love a grilled cheese sandwich and French fries.”
“You got it.”
Ten minutes later, we’re eating dinner together. Ripley is literally wolfing down her meal, and then she scrapes the bottom of an ice cream container, eating it right out of the freezer. “If you want, I can go get you some more.” I offer.
“Then I’ll eat the whole damn thing.” She says with her mouth full. “Thanks, but no thanks.”
“Babe, if this is the way that your body is reacting, let it be.”
“No, I’m fine.” She says, putting the spoon in the sink, and shoving the empty container into the garbage. “I need to think about what else I need to do.”
“Is his mother making the funeral arrangements?”
She nods. “His brother said that they would. I told them that I had filed for separation, and they said that they didn’t blame me. They understand entirely that I want to be removed from all this. It’s too bad that Paul wasn’t as kind-hearted as his family.”
“That’s sometimes the way that it is, sweetheart.”
“I know.”
“So what now?” I ask, readying myself to team up with her.
“Do you know a good realtor?” she asks.
“As a matter of fact, I do.”
“Tyler, I want this house sold as quickly as possible. I want out of here.”
In an instant, a thought occurs to me, and I go with it, despite my inner demon begging me to bite my tongue. “You want to buy a house together?” I give her a second to digest, puke, faint, or react in whatever way that she needs to. I know it’s a lot, but what the hell…I love her. “I actually know a friend who is selling his house right now. I know the house. It’s beautiful. You could sell this one or keep it as a rental property. We could move in as soon as we want. The house is vacant. He’s in Afghanistan and his wife divorced him. Jason’s actually looking after his settlement; that’s how I know about it.”
Her eyes widen, but the ghost of a smile is on her face. She barks, almost laughing. “Are you serious?”
“Well…yeah, I’m serious.” I nod but my face is straight. “I wouldn’t joke about that.”
“You want to buy a house…with me…” she repeats as though it’s ridiculous.
“I know it sounds crazy, Ripley. But it also seems like perfect timing. There’s a house ready to be moved into now, and you want out of this house now.”
“And you want to…live with me?”
My head tilts. “Well…I love you. Why wouldn’t I want to live with you?”
She scrapes her hands down her face. “Holy…fuck.”
I snort a laugh, unable to help it. That’s the first time I ever heard her ‘f’ bomb. It’s hilarious.
With her hands still covering her face, she slaps me, and I can see her smile. “Shut up.”
Another laugh. “You’re hilarious, baby.” I take her hand from her face. “Look, you can keep this house, just in case. Rent it out. We move into the new house and see how it works out. If it doesn’t, you’ve kept this house for insurance. If it does work, then it does.”
“And how much is this other house worth?”
I tell her and her eyes bulge. “I don’t have that kind of money, Tyler.”
“Baby, don’t worry about that.” I kiss her lips. “Please, don’t ever worry about money with me. I don’t want to go down that road with you. Especially you. I want you to have all the things that you deserve, and nothing less. We can discuss money some other time, but for now, let’s look after what you need.”
“I…I don’t want to…make you feel like you’re supporting me financially. I’ve always supported myself. I paid half for everything with Paul, and it worked.”
“Well, baby, I’m not Paul. And I have enough money to support anything that you would ever need. Don’t look at it as me supporting you financially. Look at it as we’re spending our lives together. You can cover whatever you like, whether it be groceries or bills, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re happy.”
“And what about you?”
I crane my neck. “What about me?”
“Well, what about your happiness?”
I search her eyes and drag a finger down her cheek. “Baby, as long as I’m with you and there’s a smile on your face, I’m happy.”
Her eyes are on my lips. I lean in and kiss her sweetly. “I love you, baby.” I say softly.
“God, how did I get so lucky.” She whispers, leaning her forehead on mine. “How did I know that the night Paul hit me would be a turning point…it’s like…it’s like you’re my guardian angel.”
What do you say to that? That’s like…the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me. I kiss her forehead and lean mine against hers. “Whatever it is I’ll take it. I love you more than anything and it seems impossible because we’ve only known each other for a short time, but here we are.”
Tucking her head inside the crook of my neck, she snuggles into me. We sit on the couch together, cuddling, drinking each other in, when her head lifts, and she looks blankly at the wall. “You okay?” I ask.
“I…I just realized something that freaks me right out.”
A stray piece of hair rests on her shoulder, I slide it down her back. “What’s that, baby?”
“I’m a widow.” She shudders. “Makes me feel sick.” She rises. “I can’t…I can’t stay here. It just…reminds me of him. That wall where he bashed my head in, the floor where all my blood was…” she shudders again. “I just…I can’t.”
I rise and go to her. “Then let’s get out of here. Don’t think about that, Ripley. It’s not healthy.” I take her hand in mine. “Let’s go get you some things and get out of here.”
She doesn’t need to be told twice. We head upstairs and I help her get some things for overnight. Then I have an idea. “I’ll be right back. I just need to make a phone call. Grab enough stuff to get you through a couple of days.”
She nods, focused. All she wants to do is get out of here. To be honest, I’m surprised that she could even stay here after what he did to her here. She’s right. She needs to get rid of this place. I head downstairs and to the front porch again, dialing a friend’s number. Mike answers on the first ring.
“Tyler, buddy. Long time no talk.” Mike is a mechanic. He helped me out for the first little while when I opened the shop.
“Yeah, sorry about that. How’s it going?”
“Good. Can’t complain. You need a hand over at the shop?”
“Na, I’m good, thanks. Hey, I’m interested in buying Jeff’s house. Is it still vacant?”
“Err…yeah. You want to move there? What about your pad with Grant?”
“Something’s come up, man. I met a girl. She needs a place.”
“You like…moving in with her?”
“Yeah.” I pause. “I know it sounds crazy. You’ve got to meet her. You’ll understand.”
“She banging hot?”
“Not just that, man. She’s…it. I love her. She’s in a bad way and I want to get her out of her house. It’s a long story. I’ll tell you over coffee tomorrow or something, when things calm down.”
“Sure. I get it. It’s cool.” He sniffs. “Err, yeah…Jeff gave me and the realtor a copy of the keys while he’s away. Man, I wish you’d have known you were going to buy the place before he left. It would have been so much easier. Now we have the realtor involved.”
“It’s okay. No big deal.” I pause. “Is the place set to go? Like furnished and utilities on?”
“Yeah, he left it as is.”
“Can I stop by and get the keys? I’d like to get Ripley out of this place tonight.”
“Sure. Yeah. You want to call Jeff and let him know?”
“Yeah. I just want to get her out of here. That’s my first priority.”
“Gotcha, man. Hey, I want to meet her. What’s her name again?”
“Ripley. Ripley Baker.”
“What’s she do?”
“She’s a teacher. Beautiful. Intelligent. Heart of pure gold, man. I love her.”
“Wow. I never thought I’d see the day.”
“Me neither. Listen, I’ll stop by in a half an hour. Just getting her stuff together.”
“Sounds good. I’ll see you then.”
When I go back in the house, I hear Ripley upstairs, and I trot up there with her. “Need a hand with anything?”
“Um…” she looks around, as if trying to place something. “Are we going to your place?”
I shake my head no.
Her head tilts.
“We’re going to our place.”
Chapter 22
Ripley
Even though my head is reeling, my heart is full. It’s like I’m being guided to a better place, to a better life, through Tyler. Call it divine intervention, call it what you want. My heart tells me to go with it, and I am. After putting together enough things to get me through for about a week, Tyler tells me that we’re going to go stay at this house that is available for sale. My heart leaps, and, I’m sorry, but after the roller coaster ride of emotions that I’ve had lately, that joyful feeling is welcome. Dammit, I deserve it.
After getting the key from his lovely friend Mike, we pull up to the house. My jaw drops. The place is so beautiful I don’t even have the words to describe it. It’s modest, which I like. Not huge and gawdy, like I was dreading. The man who lived here has taste. Good taste. It’s a ranch-style bungalow, with a double-car garage, winding concrete driveway, maintenance-free garden with manicured greenery flanking a huge patio, large bay window out front, matte red door painted to match the garage door, soffit, fascia and steel roof, and a chimney for a wood fireplace at the apex of the roof.
“Oh, Tyler, this is gorgeous.” I whisper in awe.
“Wait until you see the inside.” He wiggles his eyebrows.
We grab our bags and go to the front door. Inside is a porcelain tile foyer, which leads to a family room on one side and a formal dining room on the other. In the family room, centered, is the wood fireplace. The walls are cream and appear to be freshly painted, on the floors is mahogany plank-style laminate throughout, and the kitchen is galley-style with lots of wood. “The kitchen’s new.” Tyler says. “And wait until you see the backyard.”
I’m in love already. I’ve seen enough. The house even smells like home. “How long ago did he leave?”
“A week. He’s thrilled that we’re taking it.” Tyler comments, setting our bags down. “It’s fully furnished. He’d just finished buying everything new when he was deployed.”
“Oh, he must have been so upset.”
“No, actually. He had to buy everything new because his ex-wife took everything. He has to sell to appease her, unfortunately.”
I hate to say it, but I’m going to. “I’m so glad that I don’t have to go through any of that.”
“That makes two of us, baby.” He winks.
Something occurs to me. “Oh no…what about Grant?”
Tyler shrugs. “What about Grant?”
“Well, isn’t he going to be upset that you’re moving out?”
He scoffs. “No. Not at all. We never agreed to anything when we bought that place. Neither one of us have ever been under any obligation to stay. He won’t mind. Besides, with the pool out back, as long as we invite him over for pool parties, he won’t care.”
My eyes brighten. “There’s a pool?!”
He smiles. “There is. And a hot tub. And it’s big enough to have huge parties. Believe me, Jeff had plenty of them.”
I smile and keep looking around. The eat-in kitchen is way nicer than mine, and it’s brand new. Skating my hand down the granite countertops, I shake my head. “This is so beautiful.”
Tyler takes my hand. “Come. Let’s go see some more.”
I don’t expect the house to be as big as it is. The outside is very deceiving. There are five bedrooms, three of them functioning bedrooms, one is an office, another is empty, and Tyler explains that this was Jeff’s workout room. “I’ll put my workout gear in the basement. There are two other bedrooms down there.”
“Is the basement finished?”
Tyler nods. “Wet bar, games room, family room, you name it.”
“I’m in love.”
He pulls me close. “So am I.”
We kiss tenderly and then he pats my bottom. “Come, I’ll show you the basement.”
He’s so excited it’s contagious. “How long have you wanted to live here?”
“To tell you the truth, when Jeff told me he was selling it, I had an itch. But I don’t like to live alone. So I put it out of my mind.” We’re walking down the basement stairs. “And then I met you, and…” he trails off.
I’m about to respond when my mouth opens wide. “Holy shit, this is even more beautiful.”
Paul and I held our wedding reception in a convention hall. We paid twenty-five thousand dollars to entertain one hundred and fifty guests for six hours. All the amenities that that boasted can’t hold a candle to this place. You could easily have a small wedding down here. The pot lights shine perfectly, highlighting the wet bar, the seating areas and the fireplace. The floors are the same style laminate, only they’re done in honey-colored wood to lessen the darkness of the space.
“Nice, huh.” Tyler comments.
“Nice?” I squeak. “You call this nice? This is the most beautiful basement I’ve ever seen.”
“You haven’t been to my brother Christopher’s place yet, or Daniel’s, for that matter.”
“I suppose I haven’t.”
The leather couch is white. I’ve never seen a white one before. There is a lipstick red afghan hanging off the back of it. “His wife must have had a say in the décor of this place.”
“Yeah, she did. But Jeff’s got good taste, too. And his sister is an interior designer.”
“That explains it then.”
His arms snake around my waist. “So, what do you think?”
I rest my hands on his shoulders, staring into his eyes. “Well, I haven’t seen the backyard yet.” I say, feigning that I’m not impressed.
He smiles his cute, quirky smile. “Let’s go.”
We walk upstairs, and Tyler sneaks a quick pat on my bottom. I squeal in surprise and delight. He picks his moments perfectly. He also has a knack for making me forget about all the other stuff that’s going on in my life. The French doors off the kitchen lead to the patio. It’s made of wood plank, and the patio snakes all around the pool on one side, and the hot tub on the other side. There is a wooden barrier about six feet tall behind the hot tub. “That’s so you can bathe in the winter…and if you want to bathe naked.” He winks.
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah,” he clears his throat. “We should probably change the water and sanitize that hot tub before we use it.”
I giggle, smacking him.
The grass extends long enough that I almost can’t see where the fence is. “How much land does this house sit on?”
“There’s a farm behind it, and this place sits on a couple of acres.” He explains. “As you saw, the neighbors are nicely spaced apart.”
I smile.
He mirrors me, and then leans in to kiss my lips. “So. Do you like it?”
“I love it. But don’t you think it might be a little bit big for just two of us?”
Another kiss. “Well,” Kiss. “We can grow into it. Fill it up over time.”
“We can have like…theme rooms.” I smile, teasing him.
“We could do that, too.”
My face sobers slightly. “Well, what did you have in mind?”
He kisses me again, letting it linger. “We don’t have to worry about that right now.”
I whine. “Well, I’m curious. What kind of ideas do you have? I know you’re into cars, and if Drake had extra bedrooms, he would certainly be filling them with car memorabilia. Is that what you have in mind?”
“I have one of those at the shop.” He purses his lips into a smile. “It’s called ‘my office’.” A wink.
“You’re too cute for words.” I grin.
He leans in and kisses me again, this time deepening it slightly, making my toes curl. I don’t know if he’s trying to change the subject or not, but his kisses are lethal, and I give in. Tilting my head, I slide my tongue inside his mouth, craving his touch now more than ever. His hand skates up my back, cradling my neck, as he slides his lips over and over mine, giving me a kiss that is literally making me weak in the knees. Fingers grasping his hair, pulling him close, I take him in. All of him.
