Her eyes flicked down then back to him.
“Yeah, they suck. But Merry, that price? This is a lake house.” She straightened entirely. “Okay, so maybe it’s a really big pond, but that pond is big and it’s still waterfront property. The kitchen is amazing. The floors are incredible. And it’s a lake house. The views are…” she trailed off.
“Needs a new roof,” he shared when she said no more. “A new furnace. New windows. It’s got no air conditioning, so the summer is gonna suck if that isn’t put in with the heating. And, babe, everything they did was cosmetic—that kitchen, the floors, paint. They didn’t get to the bathrooms. There’re two and a half of them, they’re fuckin’ ugly, and gotta go and those’ll cost a whack. They’ve had four offers fall through after inspection. In the shape it’s in, it’s been on the market nine months and they’ve dumped the price twice. Now they’re gettin’ smart with a new price. But still, they gotta dump it even more for me to be able to cover the mortgage and do the work needs to be done.”
“It’d be worth it,” she stated immediately.
He again grinned. “You’re that sure?”
She looked at him, looked to his laptop, reached out, clicked, picked up his laptop, and turned it to him.
On the screen was a picture of the property, a view from the porch that pointed lakeside. In the shot, there were the edges of the arms and seats of two Adirondack chairs, the white wood planks of the porch floor, the vibrant green of healthy grass, and the calm, deep blue of a small lake.
Listing pictures usually sucked, but that one could be on a postcard.
“I’m that sure,” Cher confirmed.
He looked from the laptop to her and grinned again.
“It has three bedrooms,” she told him something he knew. “And a study. And I can see you with a kickass grill on that porch. You got a kickass grill and you wanna fry a burger, you don’t need a skillet.”
She shut up, turned the laptop her way, and again started clicking.
After a couple of seconds, she muttered, “I like thinking of you here.”
Garrett stopped grinning.
“This place isn’t home,” she went on, attention still to the computer. “It isn’t you. This…” She lifted her eyes to him, turning the computer back his way. “This is you, baby.”
On the screen now was the living room. It was huge. Beamed ceilings. Big TV mounted over a gray stone fireplace. Wood floors. Thick rugs. Leather furniture.
His mind’s eye conjured visions of her curled in the couch and Ethan with a controller in hand, sitting in the armchair.
And his gut got warm just as it went sour.
He liked the vision.
But it activated and he saw Ethan’s head turning to the door. Cher getting up from the couch and walking that way.
There were uniforms outside, waiting to give the news, create the hole that’d never be filled, lay down the hurt that’d never go away.
The vision blurred and focused.
The door opened and uniforms were outside.
But it was Garrett getting the news. Garrett and Ethan.
“Merry?”
He focused on her.
The bagels popped up.
He turned to the toaster, grabbed a plate, opened a drawer, and looked inside.
None of his silverware matched. He didn’t even remember where he got it. He left everything they’d had in the home he’d shared with Mia. When he rebuilt his life after Mia, he’d picked up whatever to make-do.
It didn’t matter. He didn’t cook. He didn’t hang out at his place unless it was to watch TV, and all he needed was beer and chips to do that.
He had his Harley.
He had his boat.
He had his truck and a life with no strings, so if he wanted out, a break to take off, to live life, he did it.
And came home feeling empty.
Hell, he was already empty.
Hold On
Kristen Ashley's books
- Holding the Dream
- Dance Upon the Air
- High Noon
- Moon Island(Vampire Destiny Book 7)
- Illusion(The Vampire Destiny Book 2)
- Upon A Midnight Clear
- Son Of The Morning
- MacKenzie's mission(MacKenzie Family Saga #2)
- Loving Evangeline(Patterson-Cannon Family series #1)
- A Billionaire's Redemption
- A Convenient Proposal
- A Dishonorable Knight
- A Headstrong Woman
- A Passion for Pleasure
- Atonement
- Beyond a Doubt
- Beyond Control
- Cavanaugh on Duty
- Colton's Dilemma (Shadow Breeds)
- Conceal, Protect
- Conflict of Interest
- Confessing to the Cowboy
- Dreams Don't Wait
- Explosive Attraction
- Find Wonder in All Things
- Forbidden Fires (Bondage & Breakfast)
- Galveston Between Wind and Water
- Game On
- Gone with the Wolf
- Honor's Players
- Illusions of Love
- Intaglio Dragons All The Way Down
- Just One Song
- Living London
- Lone Wolf (Shifters Unbound)
- Love Resolution
- Lyon's Crew
- Mountain Moonlight
- Need A Want Companion Novel
- Of One Heart
- Once a Bad Girl
- Once a Thief
- Once Again a Bride
- Once and Again
- Once Touched, Never Forgotten
- Once Upon a Kiss
- Once Upon a Prince
- One Desert Night
- One More Kiss
- One More Sleepless Night
- One Night of Misbehavior
- One Night Standoff
- One Texas Night
- Only Love (The Atonement Series)
- Operation Endurance
- Primal Bonds
- Questions of Trust A Medical Romance
- Reflection Point
- Retribution
- Savage Redemption
- Second Chance
- Secure Location
- Someone I Used to Know
- Son of a Preacher Man
- Soul Bonded
- Sunset Seduction
- Sweet as Honey (The Seven Sisters)
- Sweet On You
- Tempting Cameron
- That Carrington Magic
- The Bridgertons Happily Ever After
- The Demon's Song
- The Dragon and the Pearl
- The Lone Rancher
- The Millionaire Cowboy's Secret
- Translation of Love
- Twisted Perfection
- Vision In White
- When Love's Gone Country
- The Lost Tycoon
- Down on Her Knees
- Love, Your Concierge
- A Demon Made Me Do It
- Campbell_Book One
- The Lady of Bolton Hill
- Born to Ride_A Clubhouse Collection
- A Question of Honor
- Blood on Copperhead Trail
- Passion and the Prince
- Top Secret Twenty-One
- Dungeon Royale
- Make Me Bad(Private Lessons)
- My Fair Billionaire
- Writing Our Song:A Billionaire Romance
- Kissed by Moonlight
- Redemption in Love
- The Masterful Mr. Montague
- Diamonds are Forever
- Every Second with You
- If You Only Knew