Chapter Miles
MILES
· NINE MONTHS LATER ·
“How did he even find this place?”
“I have no idea, but he seemed really excited about it over the phone,” I reply to Hanna as we make our way down an old dirt driveway.
We’ve driven forty minutes beyond the city limits and are surrounded by old oak and willow trees on either side of us.
Long strands of Spanish moss hang low, grazing the top of my truck as we make our way towards the location Carter shared with me earlier this morning when he invited us out here.
When we pull up and park, I duck my head lower to take in the structure in front of me.
“He can’t be serious,” she says apprehensively beside me.
She glances at me nervously before cracking a disbelieving smile.
Carter must have heard us pull up from inside and he comes limping out, waving at us like an excited child.
I turn my truck off and hop out, rounding the hood of my truck to open her door.
“Good morning!” he calls out from the front porch.
He unfolds the collapsable cane he carries with him and slowly descends the front steps.
The man has made major gains in his recovery, but even with three days of PT and another surgery to help him regain more mobility in his leg, the doctors said he will more than likely never get back to where he was before the accident.
That doesn’t seem to slow him down though.
“Morning, dude,” I call back with a wave.
“Is this the place?” Hanna says kindly even though I can hear a hint of doubt in her voice.
“This is it. Isn’t she beautiful?” He folds up his cane once he’s at the bottom of the front porch steps and walks towards us. When he spins around, Hanna and I glance up at the structure. I’m not even sure you could consider it a house.
It has to be at least a hundred years old and has sustained enough water damage over the years to cause most of the structure to rot all the way down to the studs.
The roof is old and rippling in spots and half of the wrap around porch is falling in on itself.
It has cracked paint and busted windows and lacks a proper driveway.
But with all of that, it has a view that I’m sure only gets better during sunrises and sunsets.
It sits right on the river and has a full dock that takes you right out to the water.
The yard is massive, giving it a picturesque, quaint aesthetic that filmmakers would spend a lot of money on to recreate.
“It’s…a big project,” I comment, trying not to take the wind out of his sails. I know he’s been looking for property but I didn’t think he meant something this worn down.
“I know, right? She’s going to keep me busy which is fine since I’m not going back to work anytime soon.
” He made the decision to take a leave of absence from the fire station once he was released from therapy.
I think he still believes that one day he’ll be strong enough to go back, but I know that isn’t the truth.
Even if he did somehow manage to regain the strength needed to be fit for duty, the mental trauma alone might be enough to prevent him from ever returning.
“You’re doing the work yourself?” Hanna asks. He’s moving back towards the porch and we follow closely behind him. With the help of his cane, he pushes himself up the few stairs and walks towards the front door which he left open when he came out to greet us.
“Yep. I have a structural engineer coming out to look at it so we can talk about where we can take it and if we can make the plans I have for it happen but it should be doable. I might hire a few guys to help me with certain projects but I plan on doing most of it myself,” he confidently explains.
“Maybe I can get my brother out here on the weekends to help me.” He laughs, smacking me on the chest.
I shrug. “Just tell me when and I’m here. I’m not afraid of a little manual labor.”
“Only if I get to come and watch you work without a shirt on,” Hanna mutters under her breath as Carter walks away, leading us deeper into the old house. I smack her on the ass as she follows behind him causing her to giggle.
“This is my favorite part,” Carter turns over his shoulder to say.
I feel my jaw go slack as we make it to the end of the hall and see what he’s talking about.
Hanna gasps and her eyes go wide, taking it all in.
The back of the house is floor to ceiling windows looking out over the marsh.
With it being just before sunset, the glow off the water paints the landscape in warm yellows and oranges which refracts into the house.
Varying wildlife coexist along the water and a low chirping of frogs echoes over the water.
“Holy shit.” I sigh.
“Yeah, that was my reaction too,” Carter says calmly. I glance over to look at him and find his eyes set on the water, a peaceful smile across his lips. Blinking a few times, he continues, “Okay, there’s more to see, come with me.”
He starts to move through the room but Hanna and I stay where we are for a beat. When she reaches for my hand, I pull her into my chest and she loops her arms around my center. We both take in the landscape for a few extra moments, our breath syncing up and slowing down as we soak it in.
“It’s so pretty,” she murmurs.
“Just like you,” I reply easily.
She tips her head up to look at me and smiles.
“While I don’t think I have a complete home remodel in me, I would like it if our place was near the water like this. I’ve always found the water to be very calming.”
I press my eyebrows together. “Our place?”
Her smile grows wider. “You heard me, fireman. Our place.”
I press my lips to her forehead and smile. “I guess we better decide where we want our place to be then, huh?”
“We have the rest of forever to figure it out.” She smiles up at me and shrugs.
“That we do, beautiful, that we do.”
THE END