Chapter Thirty
THREE MONTHS LATER
MEREDITH
"Fifteenth time is the charm?" I asked Cade.
He wrapped his hand around my chin, placing a quick kiss on my lips.
"I have a good feeling." There was a twinkle in his eyes.
We'd taken house hunting very seriously over the past few months. We'd seen fourteen, but we found something about each one that we didn't like. I wasn't getting my hopes up for this one. Leo was showing us the homes personally; he hadn’t even sent us pictures of this one.
He'd gone above and beyond in helping us find the home of our dreams when he could've just sent one of his employees with us. He was the CEO of a real estate giant, so he certainly didn’t have time to waste with us, but he did it nonetheless.
Cade spoke to him a few hours ago and decided we should go see it.
We’d been mostly living at Cade’s place and had been talking about the future, family, and life together. Getting a home was a priority, though, as we both wanted something with a yard.
I sighed, completely content with my life.
I was working as VP of marketing and interim CEO.
Sonya still hadn’t found a buyer, so she was stuck running her company.
Whenever she went on a trip, I replaced her as CEO.
Through the grapevine, I heard that Alfred’s company was in serious financial troubles. Served him right.
Cade kissed my hand as we rounded the corner of the street. I'd never been here before. It was a family type of neighborhood. The homes were elegant and huge. I noticed one that caught my attention right away. It was newly built, or at least newly renovated.
"Oh, look at that. This one's beautiful."
Cade smiled at me, kissing my hand again. "That's where we’re going, babe."
"That's on the market?" I practically yelled, sounding hoarse.
He parked right in front of it, and I jumped out the next second. Leo was looking very pleased.
"I can't believe it. What is this place even doing on the market? When did it come up?" I asked.
"This morning." Leo looked at Cade. "I figured this was exactly what you’re looking for, so I told my team to keep it offline until I could show it to you."
"Give us the keys. We'll take a look by ourselves," Cade said.
"Sure, here you go." Leo handed them to Cade.
"Wait. How come it's on the market? It looks new. Please tell me someone didn't get a divorce while they were renovating it. I don't like bad vibes."
I knew it was silly, but a long time ago, I'd promised myself that I'd never buy a home where the owners were forced to sell.
"No, nothing like that. They put a lot of work into this home, but when they finished it, the husband got a very good offer to work in Dublin for a few years. They decided it made no sense to pay the mortgage on this place if they had another home in Dublin too."
"Their loss, our gain," Cade said. "Come on. Let's check it out.”
“There's a porch," I told him as he took my hand, leading me up to the house.
"I know. The second he sent me pictures, I knew exactly how it would look decorated for Christmas and Halloween."
"Wait a second. He sent you pictures? Why didn't you show them to me?" I asked.
"I wanted you to see it outright."
"Oh, wait. Is this a wraparound porch?"
His face lit up with a smile. "Yeah, it is."
I walked from one end of the porch to the other, taken aback. "Oh my God. This is absolutely beautiful. I can see us throwing family parties here.”
Cade chuckled. "Want to see the inside too? Or we can buy it just based off the porch if that's what you want."
Grinning, I went back to the door. "Let's go inside."
The second he opened the door, I knew why he'd said he had a good feeling. The place had such beautiful character. It was a dark gray day in Boston, and still the house seemed full of light. It had enormous french windows, which I adored.
The living, dining, and kitchen area were one huge space. I could already see it full of both of our families.
"I think everyone would fit in here," I said.
"I'm sure they would.”
“Let's check upstairs," I said. The house had four bedrooms and en suite bathrooms. "Wow. I mean, I'm not even sure if we'll need all the bedrooms."
He wiggled his eyebrows. "We can make good use of all of them. Didn’t you say you wanted three kids?"
I blushed but grinned.
As we came back down to the first floor, I glanced into the backyard. There were old fir trees on the property. A sense of peace washed over me as I took them in.
"Want to take a walk?" Cade asked.
"Sure. I can't believe there are even two fir trees," I said, clapping my hands and looking around.
"I bet you can do a lot with them at Christmas."
I smiled sheepishly. "I was just thinking about that. How did you know?"
"Because you're mine, Meredith. Mine to love and make happy. Look at that smile. I'm so proud to be your man."
Tears threatened to spill, but I forced them back, even though they were happy tears.
“Cade, I love you so much."
"I love you, too, babe." He squeezed my hand as we walked under the fir trees. "So, what are you thinking?"
"I think this is our place."
"I think so too. It's the one." His voice was soft. "You're the one, Meredith."
As if in a haze, I realized what was going on at the same time that he lowered himself in front of me on one knee. He reached into his pocket and took out a ring box. I hadn't even noticed the bulge in his coat.
"You're the one, Meredith," he repeated.
His voice was stronger now but still soft and full of emotions, and I…
well, I was completely overwhelmed. My pulse raced, my stomach cartwheeled, and my knees weakened.
And those tears? They threatened to spill over again.
"I want to make a home with you. I want us to be together every day and every night.
Will you do me the honor of growing old next to me?
I promise to love you every single day while we build a life together. "
"Yes, yes. I want to be your wife, Cade." I swallowed past the lump of emotion in my throat. The ring looked a bit like a flower. It had a round diamond in the center and several triangular ones around it, like small leaves. It fit me perfectly.
I put my hands on Cade's shoulders and then bent at the waist, pressing my lips to his. The kiss was soft at the beginning, but then he deepened it, tugging me downward. Then I was on my knees, too, and we were kissing like two teenagers.
I couldn't believe it. I was with the man I loved, and we were about to buy the house of our dreams.
When we paused to breathe, I laughed against his lips. He chuckled. Before I knew it, we were both laughing without any restraint. My knees were wet. I bet his were too. The ground was still damp from the early morning dew.
“Leo is probably still waiting outside," Cade said eventually.
"Probably. Is this why you didn't want him to show us the house?"
"Yeah. Didn't want anything between us."
I was so full of happiness. God, is this my life? I could hardly believe it.
We both rose to our feet, looking a bit silly with our wet knees, but I couldn't care less. We walked around the house, not wanting to take any dirt inside.
Leo heard us and looked up from his phone. His eyes were fixed on our knees. "Do I even want to know what happened?"
I held up my hand, pointing to my ring finger.
"Holy shit. I didn't see that coming at all. I take it you liked the house?"
"Yeah, we're making an offer," Cade said.
"Congratulations are in order, then. For the house and the ring."
"Don't sound so stunned," I said.
Leo shrugged. "No offense meant. Just didn't think you were going to be the one to settle down after Jake. Tell me the truth—was it the house that convinced you to say yes?"
"Yeah, dude. That was it," Cade deadpanned.
“I should advertise that. 'Whitley Real Estate will help you find your dream house. Maybe to get a ring too.'”
"Such a romantic," I replied.
"Not my strong suit."
"Hmm… that's what Cade said as well. Do we know who your grandmother has her eye on next?" I had to ask. I still couldn’t believe Jeannie and my mom thought Cade and I, after all these years, would be perfect together.
Leo looked perplexed. "Not me, I hope."
Cade glanced at me, then threw his head back, laughing. "See, that's why I love you. You know just how to shut him up."
"I take this as a cue that you two want to be alone," Leo said, sounding as if he wanted to put as much distance between himself and us as possible. Like falling in love was catching or something.
"You're a smart man," I replied. I liked Leo, but I wanted to be alone with my man right now.
Cade put an arm around my shoulders, kissing the side of my temple after Leo got into his car.
"How are we celebrating this?" I asked.
His eyes flashed. "Let's go to my place, and I'll show you."
I smiled, pulling back a bit, rising on my tiptoes, and bringing my lips close to his. "You don't have to tell me twice. Let's go."