Page 134 of Before I Loved You

“Let me hear it.”

“I know what I want to do with my trust fund.”

She arches a single brow. “And what would that be?”

“I want to buy the old, abandoned house at the end of the neighborhood. The one that sits on the lake.”

“The one that needs some major loving?” she asks. “Probably a whole new foundation, for the yard to be leveled, the deck to be reattached, the shutters to be hung straight, a fresh coat of paint, and I can only imagine how much work needs to be done to the inside… That one?”

I smile. “Yeah. That one.”

Her lips curve up as her eyes water. “I think your father would very much approve of that.”

“I thought so, too,” I add, blinking back tears.

I won’t let you down, Dad.

twenty-nine

SARAH

We walk inside a familiar old building—a building I never thought my eyes would lay upon again.

Feelings I’ve pushed away, deep down inside me, scratch at the surface, threatening to expose my true emotions.

Anguish. Pain. Sadness.

“Are you okay?” Paul asks, eyeing me as he helps remove my coat.

I force a smile and reach for his hand. “I’m fine.”

But the truth is, I’m not.

Because how are you supposed to feel entering the group foster home where you spent your first Christmas without your parents?

Paul pulls me into his side, leading me behind his family as we head toward the back of the building, where a giant, fully decorated Christmas tree stands. Children run through the halls, giggling and screaming in excitement.

“Wow! Look at all those toys,” one boy admires, watching Paul and his brothers as they place the abundance of bags filled with toys around the tree.

“Kathy.” A woman, appearing in her mid-forties, approaches, extending her hand toward Mrs. Weston. “Always so nice to see you and your family. We can’t thank you enough for everything.”

“Deloris, you know we would never miss this,” she replies warmly, shaking her hand.

“Well, let me gather the children, and then we can start. The caterers you sent over have begun prepping this afternoon’s feast. The kitchen smells amazing!” She beams before walking away.

“Has your family done this before?” I ask Paul.

“We do this every year.” He shrugs. “My dad was adopted when he was a kid, and it was always important to him to give back. So we’ve been participating in this yearly tradition for as long as I can remember.” He wraps his arm around my shoulder. “My mom hires a team of caterers to prepare food for all the children and employees here. And then Kevin, Ray, and I get all the presents that Tina wraps for us. Every child writes down one thing they want, and we get it for them.” My stomach drops, remembering when I had to write down what I wanted from Santa. “Although, we always end up getting way too much stuff. I guess we go a little overboard, but we just want to make sure that every child here has a present from Santa.”

My heart.

It stills beneath my chest.

This guy really is a goddamn teddy bear.

And he’s all mine.

I wrap my arms around him, nuzzling my face into his chest. “I can’t get over how lucky I am that I found you.”

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