Chapter 9
Thane – POV?
I knew that it was going to become a mission in my life to hear her laugh – several times a day for the rest of my life. It was beautiful to see the way her face transformed into complete joy and when she smiled; God, I’m a goner.
“Coco!”
We both jolted at the sound of Ava excited shouting.
“I think she wants you to see something,” I said, watching her eyes brighten.
She licked her lips, before she pushed her hands against my chest, “I can’t wait.”
I groaned, flexing my hands on her soft body, forcing my feet to take a step back so she could get out of the truck. I didn’t move far, so she had no choice but to slide her body down mine to reach the ground.
“Coco, come look!”
Her feet touched the ground, and she stilled for a moment, and I closed my eyes behind my sunglasses just to soak in the feel of her.
“Come on, big bear,” she patted her hand against my stomach, “show me what you got.”
“Don’t tempt me, honey,” I growled out, slamming the door closed and grabbing her hand in mine to lead her around the area we cleaned out.
The yard was massive but with Devin’s equipment we were able to get the majority of it done. There were still places that needed attention, but he couldn’t get to it with the mower, so I’ve been put on weed-eater duty, and it was slow going.
The grass was so tall and thick in places, I had to go over the same spot multiple times to get it to cut.
Not to mention that there were areas along the stone wall that had fallen over, and the grass covered the stone blocks, making it so I had to step carefully to not break an ankle or the equipment.
Dad and Sean tackled the wrap around porch. It was completely rotted and according to Sean, would cause major damage to the stone wall if it collapsed, so they made the decision to tear it down.
Having seen Courtney’s sketches, I knew that it would have to come down anyway and if it meant taking it down now was going to save her in the long run, I didn’t think she would mind the decision.
I felt her slow down to a snail’s pace, taking in all the changes; the view of her yard now that she could see it, the stone wall that surrounded the front and backyard, a large building a short ways away that had been partially hidden by the tall grass and overhanging tree limbs.
Devin had somehow managed to get his lawnmower in and out of the tree so that he could cut the ground of the wooded areas, opening the space up even more.
There were several rotted trees that would have to come down and countless tree limbs, but at least she now had a view of her usable land and could see what she had to work with.
“Oh, my God, Thane! You guys …” she stopped and did a full circle, “… you’ve done so much already.”
I stepped back and watched her take it all in. The awe and wonder on her face as she looked at each new spot, discovered something that she couldn’t see before, made comments about how beautiful the land was, the trees, the stone wall; everything.
This was the spark that I had been missing. I loved being an architect. Loved creating something with a few strokes of ink on paper, but when had I felt this much emotion over an idea, over a completed project, over an award?
Never, I realized.
Ava had come running over, talking a mile a minute about Devin’s super machine that ate all the grass and how much she wanted to go and find treasures that were hidden in it.
I listened to Courtney talk to her about what an amazing job we all did, and that they could look for treasure after her nap, because apparently ‘magical fairies loved fresh cut grass, and they are the ones that leave treasures as a thank you.’
Ava’s eyes widened as she started looking around, carefully stepping on the ground looking for fairies.
Magic, I thought with a smile. These two were pure magic.
“Do you feel like walking around?” I asked, coming up to stand behind her. She slowly stood from her crouched spot and looked at me with a confused expression. “There is a stone wall border that marks the yard, would you like to see it?”
I held out my hand, not sure if I was asking for her to take it or simply gesturing for her to move forward, but I was pleased that she took it without hesitation.
“That’s perfect, son,” my mother said, tying Ava’s shoe, “why don’t you show these two all that you boys did, and we will get the tent and things set up.”
“Oh,” Courtney immediately turned around, letting go of my hand. “I can help with that, please –”
“Nonsense dear, Sean and Patrick are already moving towards the truck to get the heavier things. You go on and take a look at your new home.” She and Megan moved off without another word, leaving the three of us standing there.
She snorted, “well, I guess that settles that.” She smiled and looked back to me, “lead the way.”
I was about to turn when I saw the blonde hair, hazel eyed troll peek around her leg. I had knelt down with my arms open like last time. “Hey there Poppy girl,” I smiled, “remember me?”
Her eyes grew and a smile spread across her face as she nodded. “You’re Mr. Bea- … that man.”
“I wanted to say ‘I’m sorry’ for calling you a troll. That wasn’t very nice of me, even though I didn’t say it to be mean it’s still not nice to call people names,” I said, remembering the lesson Courtney was teaching her, “but if it’s okay, I’d like to call you Poppy as a nickname.”
“I’s like Poppy.”
“And you can call me Bear.”
Geez, you’d think I just gave the kid a bucket of ice cream going by the happy look on her face. She looked at Courtney, who smiled and patted her on the head. “If he says it’s okay, then it’s okay.”
“Yeah’s!” Ava squealed and threw her tiny little arms around my neck, nearly toppling me to the ground.
I chuckled and stood up with her in my arms, breathing in the scent of strawberries and sunshine.
“Coco! He said I’s can call him Bear!”
“I heard, that’s so amazing,” she said, reaching across me to hold onto her hand. “You made another friend.”
Ava gasped loudly in my ear, “we’s friends?”
“Yes, Poppy girl, we are friends.”
She squealed again and buried her face in my neck, kicking her little feet in happiness. God, I felt like I was on cloud nine.
I held her close, my other hand instinctively reaching for Courtney’s as I walked them along the perimeter of the stone wall. I would say they had about a solid five acres of enclosed space with a good balance of shade trees and open land that she could have her vegetable and flower garden.
We walked around to the building that had been hidden before, and I explained that my father thought this was an old barn or perhaps a workshop as there were several pieces of furniture inside. Whether the items were still in good shape, I had no idea as we hadn’t gone inside to look at things.
“No, that’s okay,” she said, peeking around an open door, “I don’t think I want to know right now.”
I must have looked confused because she laughed and patted my stomach, pulling me away from the barn. “I don’t want to get ahead of myself or start another project, so if I don’t know about it, I can’t do anything about it.”
“Hmm, and here I thought you’d be a curious little cat,” I smiled at her.
She gasped and looked shocked, “me? Never. I am a content little bunny.”
I growled, or maybe it was a groan, I wasn’t sure, but it made her giggle so I couldn’t be upset. I slung my arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to my side, pressing my lips to the top of her head as Ava pointed out pretty flowers and birds flying by.
“Did you guys find the well?”
“Actually, we did,” I said as we moved away from the back wall, closer to the house. “It’s in a good location for your gardens. It’s in the middle of you back yard.”
“Oh,” she said, confusion laced her voice. “Then what was that in the front yard?”
I set Ava down as we got closer to my parents and siblings who were now relaxing around a table filled with food and drinks in the tent the girls brought. She went running full tilt, screaming for Megan, talking about all the things she had seen.
I pulled Courtney around to the front of the house, telling her that we tore the porch down because it was in such bad shape and Sean was worried that it would damage the house, until we stood in the middle of her front yard.
There, finally uncovered after years of nature taking it over, was a small ground pool with an ornate fountain in the middle.
“We think it ran off the water from the well in the back, but we are not sure,” I said as I walked with her to inspect the structure.
“My God,” she whispered, “look at how ornate it is, the carvings and details are insane.” She carefully knelt down next to the wall, her fingers lightly tracing over the intricate details. “It’s just like the doors,” she muttered to herself.
We hadn’t gone inside as we had enough work to do outside, but I was definitely interested in seeing what the house looked like inside. If I were to judge by her sketches, then it would be something spectacular.
“Come on, honey,” I said, holding my hand out, “let’s get something to eat and find out what everyone else has done and make plans for the rest of the day.”
Without thought, she placed her hand in mine and pulled herself up. “Thane,” she whispered. “This is more than enough; you all have done so much more than I expected. I don’t know what to say.”
I gathered her up in my arms, pulling her body flush to mine, not an ounce of space between as I placed my forehead against hers.
“Listen, sweetheart,” I rumbled. “I told you I was all in and that means helping you with something you care about,” I straighten up to my full height, towering over her, “and you care about this place, yes?”
I waited for her to nod, her hands twisted my shirt at my waist, “Then I care about it too. Besides, my family would be the ones to help you anyways as we are the go-to handymen of Once Again.” I smirked at her, before I kissed her forehead and moved to pull her to the tent.
I glanced back at her to find her face burning red, her hand pressed softly over the spot my lips had kissed. I chuckled to myself; she was so damn cute!
As we moved back towards the tent, Ava squealed, “Coco, Bear! We have cookies!” Her tiny little body was holding up what I assumed to be cookies in both hands like she had won trophies.
“Save me one, Poppy!” I called out.
“Hurry,” she yelled back, “I’s hungry!”
I smiled as my family started laughing and I felt an answering squeeze of my hand as Courtney giggled behind me.
“Come on, honey,” I said, tugging her to walk beside me, “or there won’t be anything left to eat.”
She stepped up beside me and smiled, “yes, Bear.”