Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Hazel propped her elbows on her kitchen table and rested her chin on her hands. She peered down at the paint swatches that she’d spread out on the table in front of her.
She’d purchased paint samples already and dabbed them on one of the living room walls and on one of the upstairs bathroom walls.
She liked all of those paint colors, and she could have been content with any of them, but they didn’t say “this is definitely it” to her.
Ordinarily, she wouldn’t have second-guessed herself so much when decorating her home, but she wanted everything to be just right.
She felt as though she might be more likely to win Jacob’s enthusiasm that way.
She knew that she was free to set up her home however she wanted, but since it was soon to be his home as well, she felt it was only right to choose colors that he liked too.
Besides , she thought with a sigh, I can’t help hoping that I’ll be able to coax some enthusiasm out of him yet. This green is really so nice—it makes me think of the jungle and pine trees and Christmas all at once.
Her eyes roamed to her phone, and she wondered if Dean had texted her back yet.
She’d checked in earlier, wondering if he’d proposed to Noelle yet.
He wouldn’t have had the time to come up with any kind of elaborate proposal setting like the one they’d constructed together the other day, but she had a feeling that Dean would soon realize that all that didn’t really matter.
He’d made it clear to Noelle that he cared about her and that he was willing to put a lot of work into treating her right.
He could propose to her while they were walking down the sidewalk together and she would be happy.
She grabbed her phone and checked her notifications. She still hadn’t heard anything from Dean, and she considered calling him.
He probably hasn’t proposed yet, she thought. Otherwise he would have told me. But I still want to know if he’s got a plan or anything like that.
She dialed Dean’s number, and it rang twice before he picked up.
“No, I still haven’t proposed to Noelle,” he said, without even saying hello.
Hazel laughed. “You knew why I was calling, huh?”
“Oh yeah. And trust me, I’m thinking about it. I just don’t have a plan yet. How are your painting decisions going?”
“Way to change the subject super abruptly, Dean.” She chuckled. “I think I have the right to inquire about your proposal plans after I put all of that work into that dinner with you only to have you chicken out on popping the question.”
Dean sighed. “Don’t worry, I’m still kicking myself about that.”
“Oh, I’m teasing. Don’t kick yourself. It’s all going to work out fine. I know you have the courage to do this. You love Noelle, and you’re going to do what you need to do to have a future with her. And besides, we all know she’s going to say yes.”
“I mean, I hope so.” Dean sounded a little doubtful.
“She’s definitely going to say yes.” Hazel smiled, feeling certain.
“Yeah? Well, no matter how nervous I am about her answer, I still need to ask. And you’re right—I can do this. I don’t know what came over me during the dinner. I think it was because she just looked so beautiful.”
Hazel grinned impishly. “You need to tell her that as soon as you propose to her.”
Dean groaned. “I don’t want to tell her I chickened out. I want her to think that I did all that to make it up to her for missing so many of our dates because of my fatigue.”
“Dean, if you tell her she was so beautiful you were too scared to propose, she’s going to like that a lot more than you making a fancy dinner to make up for lost dates. Trust me.”
Although she couldn’t see his face, Hazel knew her brother was grinning. “Okay, fine. I trust you.”
“As you should. Let me know when you have a new proposal plan, okay?”
“I will. Definitely. I’m going to figure this out—I’m not going to let anything get in the way of me being with Noelle.”
They said affectionate goodbyes and Hazel hung up the phone, shaking her head wryly.
Poor Dean, she thought. That’s just the cutest thing about why he was too nervous though.
She was confident that her brother was going to propose to Noelle soon and that everything was going to be fine.
She smiled as she turned her attention back to the paint swatches in front of her.
She half-shut her eyes, trying to imagine a certain shade of green on an accent wall in the living room, and she had a feeling it was going to look amazing.
She stood up, grabbing her purse from where it was hanging on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. She would go back to the general store to get a paint sample in that color. That would make imagining the shade in the living room easier.
She left the house in a hurry. Samantha was at her friend Willow’s house, so Hazel didn’t need to worry about letting her know that she was leaving.
She decided to drive to the general store, although it wasn’t particularly far away.
She felt impatient because of her excitement, and she wanted to get there as soon as possible.
She arrived at the general store a few minutes later and hopped out of her car.
As she was making her way through the aisles, smelling the interesting aromas of potted herbs and fresh lumber, she noticed a display of tiles.
She stopped dead in her tracks, envisioning the blue and green floral tiles that she was staring at in her kitchen, as a backsplash behind the stove.
Oh, those are absolutely perfect, she thought, her heart beating faster in excitement. That will go perfectly with the colors in the kitchen and fit so well with the cottage vibe we’re going for.
She pulled out her phone and took a picture of the tiles. She knew it was a decision that she wanted to sleep on before making, and she knew that there was someone she definitely wanted to talk to before making the decision.
She purchased the paint sample that she wanted and then hurried back out to her car. She drove to where Jacob’s small office was located and parked her car on the street outside.
She strolled up the sidewalk to the front door, able to see through the window that looked into Jacob’s office that he was there, speaking to someone on the phone. Her brow furrowed with concern when she saw how downcast his expression was.
He didn’t notice her standing on the sidewalk watching him, and he said a few more words into the phone before hanging up. He set his phone down on his desk and rolled his shoulders back, looking extremely sad.
Her heart went out to him, and she knew she needed to ask him if something was the matter. She hoped that whatever had happened, it was something she would be able to help with.
She knocked on the door of his office and heard him call, “Come in!”
When she stepped inside the little room, he was looking down at a stack of papers. It took him a couple of seconds to look up, and when he did his eyes widened.
“Hazel!” he said warmly and hurried over to hug her. “Hey, sweetheart. It’s so nice to see you.”
Hazel felt a rush of relief that he seemed so glad to see her instead of flustered. She hugged him back tightly. “I saw you through the window on my way in,” she said, stroking his hair back. “You looked really upset. What’s wrong, Jacob?”
He looked at her for a few seconds, and it was clear that he was debating whether or not to tell her something. She felt her heart skip a beat as she guessed that what he had been sad about had something to do with the way he’d been acting strangely lately.
Finally, he sighed and sat down on the edge of his desk. He gently tugged her over to the spot next to him so that she would sit down beside him.
“I wanted to keep this a secret from you,” he said slowly, his eyes on the floor. He shook his head. “But that’s becoming impossible.”
He turned to look at her, and he looked so sad that she felt her stomach do a somersault.
“Keep what secret?” she prompted, feeling concerned. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“I…” Jacob paused and took a deep breath. “I put in an offer on a fixer-upper house.”
Hazel’s jaw dropped. For a moment, she hardly processed what he’d said. Then she threw her arms around him and kissed him.
“Oh my gosh! For us? You put in an offer on a house for us?” She was completely shocked but elated.
He nodded, looking sad. “I did, but my offer got rejected. That was the phone call you saw me on just now.”
“Oh, I see.” She nodded, feeling bad for him.
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “That’s okay.
We’re going to find another house. Just because your offer got turned down for this one doesn’t mean you won’t be able to get approved.
We’ll do it together.” She kissed his cheek, feeling elated about the project. “I love the idea.”
“Yeah?” He hugged her tightly. “I really wanted to surprise you. I had this idea that I would drive you up to the house and ask you to close your eyes until you were standing right in front of it—and then you’d open your eyes, and I’d just say, ‘Surprise!’”
Hazel chuckled, loving the way he sounded so wistful about how he’d wanted to surprise her.
“That does sound amazing, but in the long run, I’d rather get to pick out the house with you.
It’ll be so much fun. And I’m so touched that you wanted to surprise me and that you’re envisioning our future together. ”
“Of course.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’m so excited about our future together. I want to give you a big beautiful old house that you can decorate as much as you want.”
She pulled away from their embrace so that she could see his face, stuck with a realization. “Is this why you were acting so weirdly about me wanting to paint and things like that? You wanted me to slow down on renovating my own home because you were planning on getting us a new one?”
He nodded, making a goofy scrunched-up expression. “I didn’t want you to put all that work in if we’re about to move somewhere else.”
She laughed. “That makes a lot of sense. I just couldn’t understand why you weren’t acting enthusiastic at all. And then when you came in here and shut your laptop all of a sudden—was that because you’d been looking at houses?”
Jacob groaned. “Yes. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worried or anything like that. I should have realized that you’d notice me acting strangely like that.”
She grinned at him. “Hey, it was for a good cause. I’m just happy you didn’t totally dislike my ideas after all.”
He shook his head. “Not at all. I loved your ideas—I really want you to decorate our new home the way you’ve decorated yours.
And there are other things I want to do with you too.
I figured we could do things like building bookshelves and changing out the light fixtures.
I love track lights, and I thought we could put some in the living room and kitchen.
I mean—I was thinking that for the one I’d been hoping to buy, but we could probably do those things in whatever house we buy.
I’d love to get some big old house with you.
Most old houses don’t have track lights. ”
“That all sounds wonderful to me. And could we do a tile backsplash in the kitchen?” she asked eagerly, pulling out her phone. She showed him the pictures she’d taken of the tiles in the general store. “With tiles like these?”
He chuckled and pulled her in for a kiss. “Those look beautiful, sweetheart. I would love that.”
Hazel let out a little sigh of satisfaction. Her enthusiastic boyfriend was back. “I’m so glad. They look like they belong in a little French cottage in the countryside, don’t they? Maybe in the seventeen hundreds?”
He laughed. “Yes. And they also look like they belong in our house that we’re going to buy and renovate together. I’m so excited about having a project like that with you. I think it would be so fun to do together.”
“I wholeheartedly agree.” She grinned at him. “Our house is going to be amazing.”
He sighed, looking regretful again for a moment. “The house I put an offer on was perfect. I was imagining Samantha playing in the front yard while you and I sat on the wrap-around porch and sipped tea.”
“That sounds like a good dream,” she told him, sitting on the desk next to him again. “A very good one. And I think it can still come true—and it will—in good time. We just need to find another house first.”
For a moment, they sat there smiling at each other, and Hazel felt her heart lift up in happiness. Not only was there nothing wrong between her and Jacob, but they were going to pick out a home together and fix it up as a couple.
And to think I was so excited about renovating my own house , she thought. This is going to be so much more fun than that. We get to house hunt together!
“Come on,” she told him, grabbing his hand and pulling him around the desk to his chair. She set him down in it and opened his laptop. “Let’s start looking for listings together.”
“Right now?” He laughed. “I have to work today.”
She sighed dramatically. “Can’t you just let those sinks leak a little longer?” she wheedled.
“Unfortunately, it’s not just leaky sinks, it’s also a leaky roof and there’s going to be a storm tonight.” He smiled at her. “But how about tonight we cuddle up on the couch and look online together?”
“Yes.” She immediately made a plan to make them hot apple cider and pumpkin cookies to munch on while they looked. “That sounds absolutely amazing.”
She and Jacob shared another smile, and she couldn’t wait to take this next step toward their life together.