Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“I do believe they are the originals. It’s beautiful in here.”
Harper dropped her bag, visibly excited. “Let’s explore!”
Her enthusiasm to see the rest of the house eased some of the tightness in my chest. She grabbed my hand and pulled me along. First, we entered into a large formal dining room. A wooden table sat in the middle, with plenty of room for a buffet or some other kind of furniture on either side.
“Look at that chandelier. Oh my. And the ceiling! Oh…wow.”
“It’s gorgeous.”
“What’s in here?” Harper asked, as she opened French doors to reveal a sunroom.
“It keeps getting better!”
We made our way out of the sunroom and into the huge open kitchen. “Look! The old stove is in the corner, how precious that they left it!”
“The wood cabinets look new, but they did a good job sticking with the same style as the house.”
“Declan, look at the six-burner stove! We have to go back into town and get more food. I want to cook on that.”
All I could do was laugh.
We made our way upstairs and looked at each bedroom. The colors were beautiful, with soft, creamy yellows, blues, and whites.
“Almost every room has a lake view.” Harper shook her head. “How lovely.”
I watched her as we moved from room to room. I wondered if she could see us living in a house like this and raising our kids. When we got to the master, Harper let out a small scream. “It has a balcony! Oh, Declan, look at this view!”
We stepped out onto the large balcony and took in the view of Moose Lake. There were two oversized lounge chairs, a table that seated four, and an outdoor sofa.
“I have a feeling we’ll have our coffee out here in the morning.”
She spun around and smiled. “Did you not see that huge back porch?”
Laughing, I nodded. “I did.”
After returning downstairs, we walked through the breakfast area attached to the kitchen and out to the back porch. It was huge, and definitely made up for the lack of a front porch. Harper slowly walked to the rail and stared out at the gardens.
“Jesus,” she whispered. “I’ve never seen such beautiful gardens at a home before. This is something I would expect to see at an English estate. Declan…I’m not going to want to leave!”
“Should we go down and look at them up close?”
She jumped with excitement and started down the steps, then we walked the brick path that led to the gardens. In the middle was a beautiful water fountain. Two short benches sat on the north and south sides of the garden, with two long benches on the east and west sides.
“I’ve never seen anything so lovely,” Harper whispered, gazing beyond the gardens to the lake. “It’s beautiful. I wish this were mine!”
Standing behind her, I pulled out the ring box and lowered to my left knee. I opened it and drew in a deep breath before exhaling slowly.
“If you want it…it’s yours.”
She laughed and turned. Her eyes widened and hands flew up to her mouth as she stared at me, then down at the ring box.
“I know it hasn’t been much time since we’ve gotten together, Harp, but I think I’ve always known you were the one. If you’d do me the honor, I would love to officially make you mine…and give you this house as a wedding present.”
Her eyes filled with tears as her hands dropped to her sides. When the tears spilled over, she dropped to her knees and threw her arms around me. “Yes! Oh my gosh, yes! Yes! Yes!”
I hugged her back and we stayed that way for a few moments before she drew back and asked, “Wait. Did you say you’ll give me this house as a wedding present?”
Winking, I replied, “Or a prewedding present, depending on when you want the wedding to be.”
She looked around. “Is the house for sale?”
I nodded. “Yes. Kian told me about it. He knows the family that owns it, and they want to sell fast. There is a divorce involved and they want out from under the house. He asked them to hold off on listing it because he might know a buyer. Once he saw these gardens, he immediately thought of you.”
Harper’s eyes went wide. “We could actually own this house? Could we afford it?”
“If you want it, yes.”
She threw herself back into my arms and nearly knocked me over. Laughing, I held on to her and stood, taking her with me.
“Yes! Yes, I want it! The entire time we were walking through the house, I kept daydreaming about it being ours. And that one room with the windows would make a beautiful nursery and playroom!”
My heart tripped over itself in my chest. “I was thinking about how amazing it would be to raise a family here, as well.”