Chapter Eleven
Everything was better than just all right in Wyatt’s world. Jillian was sitting beside him in his truck, and contentment replaced the antsy feeling he’d had since she drove away from the cabins.
“Are we going to Dallas?” she asked.
“Nope, the closest town to our destination is Milam. Ever been there?”
“I’ve seen signs for it when I drive to Dallas to the gallery that hosts most of my showings,” she answered, “but that wasn’t one of the places where I lived in when I was growing up. Mostly, they placed me somewhere between Fort Worth and Wichita Falls.”
“Milam is a small town, less than fifteen hundred population, but it has a grocery store.”
“Why are we going there?”
“It’s a surprise.” Wyatt pointed to a green sign like at least a thousand others she’d seen: Milam. Population 1,433. They passed by a grocery store, a dollar store, a couple of service stations, and a lovely park. Just another small Texas town.
“Have you been here?” Jillian asked.
“I wanted to see the place we’re going with you, not before you.”
The tinny voice of the GPS lady told him to make a slight left turn onto Highway 87 and continue for one mile.
“Look, Wyatt.” Jillian pointed straight ahead. “There’s a deer like we saw at the cabins, and that sign says we are entering the Sabine National Forest. Did you rent a cabin back here?”
“In five hundred feet, make a right onto Wisteria Road and continue for half a mile, then turn on Dogwood Lane. Your destination will be on the left,” Ms. GPS said.
“Does this remind you of anything?” Wyatt asked.
“If the road was gravel instead of paved, it would be a lot like …”
He made the last turn, and the road ended in front of a two-story log cabin with a wide porch that wrapped around three sides. “On first sight, what do you think?”
“It’s beautiful,” Jillian whispered. “Is this where we are staying tonight?”
“It’s not a hotel or even a bed-and-breakfast,” Wyatt answered. “We’ll be staying in a cabin close to a nearby lake.”
“Then why are we here?” Jillian asked.
“To look at the place. I want your opinion on it before I buy it,” Wyatt answered.
“I spent all day yesterday on the phone with a Realtor. This seemed to be exactly what I was looking for, but I don’t want it if you won’t move in with me.
Don’t answer me right now. Not until we go inside and see if the pictures on the website are real. ”
Jillian was out of the truck faster than he could get his door open. He snapped the leash around Rascal’s collar, picked up the cat carrier, and caught up to her halfway across the yard.
“Peace. That’s what I feel out here,” she whispered.
“Music to my ears.” Wyatt smiled, set the carrier down, and punched in the code to open the door.
A soft breeze rattling the wind chimes hanging at the end of the porch was the only sound that penetrated the air when Wyatt opened the door and turned Rascal loose.
No sirens. No traffic noises. Not even the faint sounds of footsteps in the carpeted hallway outside her apartment.
Jillian held her breath and strained her hearing, but there was nothing, and then she was inside the house and the door to Molly’s carrier had been opened.
Wyatt wrapped his arms around her from the back and drew her close to his chest. “I will carry you over the threshold when we spend our first night together. First you have to want to leave the city and move to a place like this.”
Jillian turned slowly and locked eyes with him. “No, that’s not right. We both have to feel right about this place.”
Wyatt kissed her on the forehead. “That sounds fair. Look at Molly. She’s leading us up the stairs.”
Jillian tucked her hand in Wyatt’s and pulled him toward the curved steps leading to the second floor.
When they reached the landing, she looked down at the great room from above.
“These past two days, I’ve been as empty as this house is right now.
We can blend our belongings together and fill it as full as my heart is at this very moment. ”
“I’ll take that as a yes, you will move into it with me?”
“Not just yes, but hell yes,” she answered.
“Like the commercial says, ‘wait, there’s more.’”
“Any more and my heart will explode.”
“According to the blueprints on the website, the primary bedroom suite is this way.” He led her down the hallway to an open door and out onto a balcony overlooking the forest. “See that covered walkway down there? The back door in the kitchen area opens out onto it, and it leads to the climate-controlled double-car garage. That is your new work studio. I’ll take one of the other three bedrooms for my office. ”
“Climate controlled?” She gasped.
“Yep, seems the previous owners had a couple of antique cars.”
“It’s perfect.”
“I thought so when the Realtor told me all the good stuff.” Wyatt beamed. “Who would have ever thought we would find happiness away from city life?”
“I didn’t think I would ever find this kind of happiness anywhere, city or country.” She put her palms on his broad chest and lifted up onto her toes. “Kiss me to seal this deal.”
They were well into a heavy make-out session when the door opened and closed and a voice rose to the second floor.
“Yoo-hoo! Are y’all here?”
Jillian took a deep breath and took a step back. “Be right down.”
The short lady was almost as round as she was tall, had gray hair she had cut into in a bob, and wore a flowing blue floral skirt and sweater that blended perfectly with it. “I’m Priscilla, your Realtor. I see a cat peeking down from the railings. Is that yours?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jillian said as she descended the stairs in front of Wyatt. “Her name is Molly, and there’s a little dog around here somewhere. They have given their paws of approval.”
“I brought paperwork in case you are serious about buying. I’ve read every book you have ever written, Mr. Creswell,” Priscilla gushed, “and I have a print of one of your paintings above the mantel in my house. I could never afford an original, but you capture the essence of emotions in your works so beautifully.”
“Thank you,” Wyatt and Jillian said in unison.
“Let’s go in the bar in the kitchen area and work up an offer if you are really serious. Did you see the garage? It could easily be turned into a guest house.” She talked as she headed across the room to the bar separating the living area.
“We don’t need to make an offer. We will pay the asking price,” Wyatt said. “How soon can we move in?”
“If you want to write an escrow check for ten to twenty percent, you can have the keys today and move in whenever you are ready.”
“Yes, I would like that. Our movers might not be available for a few days, but I’d like to get settled here as soon as possible. Jillian has a showing in a few weeks, and I’m working on a new novel.”
Papers were signed and the check written in only a few minutes, and Priscilla handed over the keys. “I’ll text you the date and time for closing, but I expect it to be by the first of next week.”
Jillian’s mind was on a Ferris wheel with thoughts going around and around.
One minute she wondered if all this was going too fast. She had never done anything so impulsive in her entire life, and yet it felt so right.
Tennyson’s quote floated down in one of the seats: ’Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
“I won’t lose,” she whispered.
“Lose what?” Wyatt asked.
“You. I’m going to keep you forever.”
“Have I told you today that I love you?”
“Only once,” she answered. “I want to hear it every day and never have to wake up without you beside me again.”
“Then I guess I had better rent the cabin by the lake until this deal is closed.”
“Yes, please. It can be our pre-honeymoon.” She raised up on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his lips. “Now let’s wander through the house again so I can get a really good picture in my mind. And I want to go see this climate-controlled garage.”
“Pre-honeymoon?” Wyatt asked.
“That’s right. The real one will come after you ask me to marry you one year from this day, and I say yes.”