Chapter 11 Caleb
ELEVEN
CALEB
“The keys,” Bryce Fletcher grumbles, handing over the start to my new life with Cassidy and the kids.
I take them with a smirk as I look around his office. “See you in six months.”
He says something under his breath as I leave, but I ignore him. Clutching the chain of keys in my hand, I smile. It isn’t forever, but it’s a damned good start.
For now, at least, it’ll give the kids some stability so they can start school.
It’s the middle of the school year, but thankfully, they’re caught up enough that there’s not only room in one of the middle school classes, but they aren’t going to be too far behind their peers.
We just needed an actual house, and not the cabin.
Leaving the realtor’s office, I meet Cassidy and the twins at the cafe next door. The smell of freshly ground coffee, as well as cakes and lunch, hits me as soon as I enter. I find them in the back with drinks waiting, including a milkshake for me.
“So?” Cassidy stands, twisting her fingers. “How did it go?”
I hold up the keys, dangling them as I join her. Gently, I press a kiss to her temple. “We’re good.”
She blows out a shaky breath as I pull back. “Thank you for going in there.”
“Yeah, he’s lucky I didn’t come with you.” Arlo puffs out his chest, brows drawn in a frown. “Otherwise—”
“Nothing,” Cassidy interjects with a pointed look. “Thank you, though, for being so protective.”
“We could always leave shrimp inside their couch cushions,” Cleo whispers, clearly the actual mastermind between the pair, because a smile immediately replaces Arlo’s frown, a smile that should have everyone around them worried. “Just like we did with—”
“Did with who?” I ask, sitting down.
Cleo whips towards me with the sweetest smile. I don’t get any of her shy looks anymore. Neither of them bat an eye at my presence, and now, I think they might actually like me.
“No one,” Cleo says with a smile.
I look towards Cassidy, who just shakes her head. “So, after this, we’ll go to the new house?” she asks, sipping her coffee.
“Yep.” I set the keys down and slide them towards her. “Home for the next six months.”
From the corner of my eye, I catch Arlo’s nose crinkle. “I’ve never built a house before, but will it actually take six months to build?”
Cassidy and I share a look. Turns out, when Cass got the deed to the cottage and land, there’d also been a letter with it claiming both would look after her and the kids. She’d almost tossed it away, but apparently the night she found me, I’d been on to something going to the storm cellar.
I still don’t know what had possessed me to check it, but I’m glad I did, because the next day, we’d ventured into it and realised the bones of the actual cottage were in even better shape than I’d ever thought possible.
No leakages in the basement had been a good sign, and although I don’t know much about construction or houses, I know plenty of men who do.
One phone call to someone I knew on the mountain who works construction, and he came out to take a look—mostly out of curiosity than anything. He’s lived in town long enough to know the story behind the cottage and its land.
Well, he confirmed what we wanted to know.
The cottage is, despite everything, in good shape.
No asbestos in the walls, and although some of the subflooring has mould, it isn’t enough for us to be worried.
Just certain areas need to be torn up and replaced.
The pipes are little fucked, especially after so many winters not being used, but in some areas of the cottage, they’d already been replaced.
There’s still work that needs to be done. New drywall, some extension, and we’ll need to replace the bathrooms and kitchen. But overall?
It’s not too bad.
Especially because out of habit, I like to check the walls. And in the basement, there were treasures.
Some old jewellery worth a pretty penny sold at the antique shop in town had given Cassidy just enough to pay the deposit on her own storefront. My younger sister, Candace, is going to work with her on their own real estate. About time Bryce had some competition.
So, not only is Cassidy going to be starting work soon, but there will be income to rebuild the cottage once spring comes and the snow melts.
It also helps that Birdie Graham had been a bit of a hoarder during her years there, and we’d found two full coffee cans stuffed with cash she must have forgotten about. Not enough to do the work for us, but a damned good start.
The smile forming on Cassidy’s lips makes my chest warm with so much damned love. “We need it to be finished by then,” Cass says, sipping her decaf coffee. “You don’t want to be living in a rental forever, do you?”
Arlo shakes his head while Cleo shrugs. “Better than mould.”
I snort. “You’re not wrong about that.”
“And we don’t all fit in the cabin. No offence,” Arlo adds with a smile.
Cassidy’s first real customer will be me.
I plan on renting the cabin out once we get the house settled and her business is up and running.
I also know plenty of people who are more than willing to transfer their management over from Bryce to her.
Hell, even his own business partner is ready to jump ship if what I’ve heard at work is anything to go by.
The man pissed off the wrong family.
“None taken,” I reply with a groan, taking Cassidy’s hand under the table. “But leave the worrying up to me. We’ll get the house ready.”
Then we’ll have the fresh start we all need. And the home to make it work.
“It’s cosy,” Cassidy murmurs as we finish building the last bed. Arlo and Cleo already have their rooms mostly done. Except for the damned shelves they want built.
At least they each get their own room. It’s not like they’ve been fighting, but when we showed them the house, we could both tell they were relieved to be having their own space from here on out.
Cassidy leans back against the wall with a groan, her hand moving to her belly. “You’re going to need to help me up. Oh, my god, I forgot how tedious these things are.”
I smirk, eyeing my partner hungrily. All I want to do is get the mattress from the hallway and finally have her again. We haven’t had any privacy in weeks. We went from the cabin at Sterling Ranch back to my cabin, and with there only being one bedroom, there hasn’t been a chance to do…anything.
Between hunting for this house, getting Cassidy’s storefront, and everything in between, we’ve been too busy to do more than just survive.
My girl raises a hand, wiggling her fingers. I help her up and immediately pull her into me, enjoying the way she fits snugly against my body. I can’t wait to see how these curves get reshaped over the next nine months.
“Maybe we should have told them today,” she murmurs, meeting my stare, her dark eyes full of worry. “I mean, it’ll be another huge change.”
“One I think they’ll be excited for,” I reply, cupping the side of her stomach.
Cassidy chews her lip as she covers my hand with hers. “Wait until the end of the first trimester,” she decides. “But I’ll need to get a feel for where they’re at.”
“They probably already sense something is up since we’re extending the cottage.
” The kids know the plans: three beds to five is the goal for now, since there’s enough space and land to do it, and we don’t want them sharing rooms again.
They’ll be teens soon enough, and they’re at an age where being more independent is crucial.
The other room is a guest room for if Olivia ever travels to Colorado.
“Yeah, but they won’t guess I’m pregnant,” she whispers, eyes shining. “God, I can’t believe you knocked me up on the first try.”
I brush my nose against hers before kissing her. It’s long and slow, an exploration of one another. I taste every inch of her mouth with dedicated strokes, just enjoying how good it feels to finally be together.
Having this.
It definitely wasn’t easy getting here, but I’ll do everything in my power to keep it. Keep them. Sure, a surprise pregnancy definitely wasn’t in the cards for either of us, and it might be yet another disruption in the chaos that is our life, but like everything, we’ll handle it.
Together.