Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
A iden felt nauseated. It was the same feeling he got before a big test or new rotation during his residency. It was all happening so fast. One minute he was engaged, and the next he was considering a thirty-year mortgage on a new build. Erica was over the moon excited, and he wished he shared her enthusiasm, or even a tenth of it. Oddly enough it was June who seemed to pick up on his reticence.
“Aiden, are you okay?” she asked after she’d shown them the first brochures.
“Fine,” he croaked while Erica shot him the death glare.
“Aiden doesn’t do change well, doesn’t like to leap into big decisions,” Erica explained for him, patting his knee as if he were a toddler. He tamped down his frustration, not wanting to argue until they were in private.
“I understand completely,” June said. “It’s a massive decision, one of the biggest you’ll ever make. You should definitely be ready before you commit.”
It wasn’t a spiel, Aiden knew. She spoke from the heart, wanted them to take due consideration and make a wise choice. Somehow that knowledge cheered him out of his stupor. He trusted June, trusted her not to feed them a line or make the hard sell. She would steer them correctly, he was certain. He let out a breath and took another.
“I guess I’m having a bit of trouble visualizing it,” he admitted. With so many options, how did anyone ever choose? How did they even know where to begin?
“I understand,” June said again. “Would it help you to look at the models? That way we could talk about things in real time. I could show you what adjustments you could make to personalize whatever you choose.”
“Yes, the models,” Erica said, full throttle on her enthusiasm.
June smiled, pleased with her excitement. “Come on, I’ll drive.” She stood and led the way outside to a pickup truck. Aiden brought up the rear, his uncertainty now due to a different reason. Should he ride with June, knowing what he knew about her propensity for disaster?
Erica shot him the death glare again. There was no way to explain that his hesitancy had nothing to do with not wanting to buy a house and everything to do with not wanting to die. June guessed, however. As usual, she found it funny.
“I’m a good driver, Aiden,” she said, tossing him an amused smile.
“I believe you,” he said, tugging on his safety belt to make sure it was properly latched. June saw and, predictably, laughed. Erica elbowed him, clearly terrified he would do something to spook June or hurt her feelings. With effort, he refrained from reminding her that his fledgling friendship with her was the whole reason they were here.
June drove a mile down the road to the company’s three models. They varied in size and grandness, resembling the Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear of legend. “Let’s start here,” June said, wisely starting with the smallest so they could work their way up to the blatant luxury of the McMansion.
She led them around, explaining what was customizable—basically everything for an upcharge. Erica was quiet, taking it all in. Aiden only saw dollar signs. More debt. Eternal enslavement. Unending servitude to the hospital. Zero chance of ever opening a private practice.
They moved on to the next size up. Erica was more vociferous in her praise. It was lovely. It was beautiful. It was nice. June may have heard good things there, but Aiden knew better, realized she was saving the big guns for the McMansion.
Three steps into that one, she let them rip. Gorgeous. Amazing. Extraordinary. Perhaps June wasn’t totally oblivious because she caught Aiden’s eye after the fifth exclamation of delight and smiled. To Aiden, it seemed tinged with sympathetic understanding. Of course they weren’t her first couple. She was probably well versed in everything, had seen it all. In the scheme of things, they were likely a stereotype. The woman who wants it all, the man who only sees the price tag. Though he knew sometimes the roles were likely reversed. He had known men who liked to spend money as quickly as they made it and women who could pinch a penny and turn it into a dollar. What was odd to him was that Erica was usually one of those women. She had never been the sort to blow a paycheck on a pair of shoes, to wear a path to Sephora’s doorstep, to get hundred dollar highlights and gel sculpted nails every four weeks. That was mostly what held Aiden in reserve because if Erica was acting this way over the house, it must be vitally important to her on a level he didn’t understand.
After the tour of the models, they returned to June’s truck. “I know that was a lot of information to lay on you in a short amount of time,” she said gently. “But there’s one more thing.”
This time Erica and Aiden both braced themselves.
“Have you given thought to where you want to build?”
Aiden and Erica looked at each other in dismay. Somehow in all the talk of building a house, it hadn’t occurred to either one of them that they’d need a place on which to build.
“Let me show you something,” June said when both of them failed to answer. She diverted to a gravel roadway, drove a winding path, and landed on a plot of land that stretched as far as she could see. She parked, hopped out of the truck, and waited for them to follow. She walked a short distance and stopped, turning to face the setting sun. “Here. The house could face this way, giving you access to the road. There’s a stream over that rise, good for little kids who like to play. The sun sets right there.” She pointed to the horizon. “Perfect for a front porch with a swing.
“It’s beautiful,” Erica breathed, a little awed. For once Aiden agreed for her. It was the quintessential piece of paradise, remote without being cut off, clear enough to build without being devoid of trees. If someone had rendered a perfect location for a new build, this would be it. Before Aiden could add his agreement, Erica continued. “Let’s do it. We’ll take it.”
Slightly openmouthed with shock, June turned to face Aiden, waiting for his input. For whatever reason, her expression embarrassed him. He’d never imagined himself being one of those weak men whose wives wore the pants and made all the decisions, and yet here he was. “Erica, don’t you think this is something we need to discuss?”
“What’s to discuss?” Erica said, opening her arms and spinning them wide. “I mean, look at this place. Look at it. It’s perfect for us, it’s everything we’ve ever dreamed of.”
Was it, though? They’d had a lot of conversations about what they wanted their careers to look like, their marriage to look like, even their family to look like. He couldn’t remember one conversation about their future house, let alone the plot of land they’d someday live on. “Honey, this is a monumental decision,” he said, when what he really wanted to say was, “Have you gone nuts? There’s no way we can afford this.”
Erica’s breezy smile fled, to be replaced by instantaneous anger. “This is our life we’re talking about, Aiden.”
“Yes, I know,” he said, working hard to keep a cap on his temper.
June, clearly feeling awkward, decided to intervene. Once again he soothed himself by believing it couldn’t be the first time she’d encountered a couple like them. Somehow that didn’t work to make him feel better this time. “There’s really no need to rush this. I insist you take some time to think it over, twenty-four hours at the least. This is a thirty-year commitment, not to mention a lot of stress when you’re already going to have the stress of a wedding. Please be certain, really and truly certain this is what you want first.”
Erica didn’t reply, but her frosty attitude and crossed arms made Aiden realize she thought June’s words were his fault, that he’d possibly blown it. Trying to make amends he said, “Will anything we talked about change in the next few days while we think about it? I mean, this land, for instance. What if it sells from beneath us?”
June smiled, or maybe she had never stopped smiling. Maybe smiling was her default setting and the smiles changed based on what she wanted them to convey. This one was sweet and maybe a little bit shy. “I promise you this land won’t sell to anyone else.”
“How can you be sure?” Erica said. Aiden hoped June realized her sharp tone had more to do with him than with her.
“Because I own it,” June said simply.
Erica blinked at her, cajoled out of her bad mood by the information. “It’s yours? And you’d sell it to us?”
“Yes,” June said.
“But what if you want to use it someday, to build your own house?” Erica asked.
“I won’t,” June said with certainty. “I’m never getting married.”
“Why?” Erica blurted. The nosy question was so unlike her that Aiden knew it must have arisen from shock.
“Erica,” Aiden chastised and Erica jumped, flushing guiltily.
“I’m sorry, June. Please ignore me. I’m not usually such a hot mess. This house thing has me all off-kilter.”
“It’s fine,” June said, waving dismissively. “I’m not the marriage type.”
Aiden felt a bit crestfallen on her behalf. She was abysmal at lying, and he knew the truth, of course, that June felt too unlucky to ever find love. Erica, her excitement renewed once again, pulled June into a hug that June heartily returned. For a moment, she and Aiden locked eyes and then quickly and studiously forced their gazes to go in completely separate directions.