Chapter 37
Taylor
“We didn’t think this through.” I puffed a stray strand of hair from my face, my hands otherwise engaged with Mr. Juggles in one, and a lunch bag with Gracie’s afternoon snacks in another.
Wyatt gave a firm tug on the lead in her hand, causing the runaway tyke to strain against the sudden curbing of her enthusiasm.
“It’s too late now, isn’t it?” She sighed, but a hint of a smile shone through. “Let’s just try not to break anything in this one.”
Mr. Michael Keaton bounded up the steps of the fourth brownstone of the day and turned back to look at us.
Like he was hurrying us along. I secretly wished we could.
I wanted nothing more than to call an end to our house-hunting stint and finish the day doing regular babysitting stuff with Gracie.
And by regular, I hoped for calmer, like a six-hour nap or something.
“I wanted to win,” Gracie whined, her bottom lip sticking out in a hefty pout as she clambered up the steps after him.
“You know you’re in trouble when it’s the kid on a lead and not the dog,” I muttered, causing Wyatt to laugh out loud.
“Oh, the way his excitement’s been ramping up, I’m going to have to bring out his sooner rather than later.”
I lifted my hand to knock, but the front door flew open to reveal Susan, the next real estate agent on our list.
“Miss Kane!” Her smile spread all the way across her face.
But was quickly wiped right off again when Michael Keaton dashed into the house, nearly knocking her off her feet. Wyatt and I stared, mortified. Gracie broke into a hysterical fit of giggles.
“Oh, my God, I’m so sorry.” I rushed over to her, inspecting her for any injuries I might get sued for.
Susan dusted off her designer three-piece suit, hiding her embarrassment behind another huge smile. This one was clearly fake, the way she plastered it on.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” she said, clearing the doorway so Gracie had enough room to do whatever marching thing she was doing. “You mentioned the dog, but not this little one.”
Susan looked like she was working really hard not to cringe. She obviously didn’t have much experience with precocious little girls who were all sticky from too much candy floss.
“She’s a last-minute favor for good friends,” I explained.
“But an integral part of our decision-making,” Wyatt added, and both Susan and I looked at her questioningly. She shrugged, then added, “There’ll be sleepovers, of course. It’s only fair that Gracie has a say in what house we choose.”
The mere mention of the word sent Gracie into an excited spin, and she zoomed this way and that, pulling the lead taut, then switching directions until it did it again.
“Yay! Sleepover!” Back and forth, over and over, until Wyatt was absolutely tangled up in the circles Gracie was running. “I want my own room and I want a room for Mr. Juggles, but he gets scared at night, so he’ll sleep with me in my room.”
I covered my mouth with my hand to hide my impending laughter, but at the same time, I was keenly aware of the warm sensation in my chest. A melting, of sorts, at the thought of settling down with someone like Wyatt.
Someone who cared about my people, and who thought of things like sleepovers and kiddie leads.
“She’s an energetic little one, isn’t she?” Susan said, that smile not giving an inch.
I made a mental note to strike her from my contact list. Anyone who didn’t have the wherewithal to deal with me and mine as if we were making their day didn’t deserve to be on it.
“How about you start us off?” I asked, hoping to get Susan back on track. “The living room, maybe…”
The agent’s face lit up as though she only just remembered why we were there in the first place.
“Of course, right this way.” She led us through with a flourish of her wrist.
But no sooner had Susan set foot in the living room than she was assaulted by an overly excited bulk of golden fur.
“Michael Keaton, down boy!” Wyatt scolded, but hung back with Gracie to avoid adding more chaos to the mix.
His tail wagged like a metronome on speed, front paws on Susan’s shoulders. The poor woman was rooted to the spot, fear etched into every line on her face.
“He’s just really friendly.” I offered some help, wrapping my arms around him so I could physically remove him from Susan.
She panted more than he did, hand to her chest as she caught her breath. “Forgive me, I don’t do dogs.”
Wyatt bit her lips together to hold back her laughter, but the moment we made eye contact over Susan’s shoulder a snort escaped her anyway.
Susan spun round to glare at her, and she quickly snapped to military grade attention, mumbling a quick sorry.
I hid my own amusement by nuzzling Michael Keaton’s fur, giving him a solid rub so he’d hopefully calm down.
We were like little kids getting into trouble with the principal. I hadn’t felt that kind of exhilaration in decades, and it only helped bring me closer to the conclusion that had been brewing in my heart all morning.
I wanted to spend my life with this woman. I wanted to live an excruciatingly domesticated life with her, and all the craziness of our worlds melded together.
Susan cleared her throat and smoothed her hair in an effort to regain her composure. “Aside from the hardwood floors, you’ll enjoy the high ceilings here. Intricate molding to give it that little touch of grandeur, don’t you think?”
“I like the fireplace,” Wyatt offered with a small smile. I could tell she was trying her best to not be the worst client Susan had seen all day.
It seemed to work, because the agent pounced on the comment and sauntered over to the fireplace.
“This isn’t just any stunning fireplace,” Susan said with an emphasized flair. “It’s the original installation circa 1840s. The focal point of this room and also a piece of history you can cozy up to on those chilly winter nights.”
I caught Wyatt’s gaze, and something passed through the air between us.
I was still on my knees with Michael Keaton, and she was still trying to not get tangled up in Gracie’s lead.
But for a moment, we were on the floor of her cabin, swept up in each other.
It was difficult to imagine a winter night that would surpass the ones I spent with her there, but I was ready to spend my life trying to recapture them.
From the look on Wyatt’s face, she felt the same.
“Does it have a slide? A house should have a slide, so does it?”
I blinked at Gracie, her question doing a great job of pulling me out of my fantasy.
“Uh, no, but there’s more than enough space in the backyard to have one put in,” Susan replied brightly. “Let’s go through, shall we?”
Susan wasn’t kidding about the backyard being big enough.
Wyatt gave a heavy sigh of relief as she released Gracie from her lead to let her run freely with Michael Keaton hot on her heels.
We stayed on the back porch looking down at them and were about to ask Susan for a moment when her ringing cell phone did the job for us.
“I think this is the first time we’ve been alone together since waking up this morning.” I wrapped my arms around Wyatt’s waist and pulled her close.
She glanced over my shoulder to see how alone we really were, but Susan was on the other end of the porch, talking rather loudly to her assistant about escrow and someone called Amanda.
“I’ve missed you,” she murmured then, placing a tender kiss on my lips. “But it’s been fun, hasn’t it? I’m having fun.”
“If by fun you mean barely holding onto my sanity, then yes, I’m having all the fun.”
She laughed softly, resting her forehead against my chin. I slid my hands up her back, breathing her in. God, it felt like-
“I know we’re standing on the back porch of an empty house we’ve never been in before,” I began, my lips brushing against her hair as I spoke, “but being with you already feels like home.”
Wyatt looked up, her searching gaze pouring into mine. “What a coincidence. I feel the same way, Taylor.”
And this time I leaned in to kiss her, not as tenderly as the one she gave me. There was no other way to better describe how big that moment was, me discovering what I’d been missing this whole time. So I kissed her like I meant it, so that she could know.
I’d been waiting for her my whole life.