Page 147 of Until I Find You

I shake my head. “We’ll be late for dinner.”

“I already texted my mom.”

I tap the inside of the door, my nerves making me edgy. “She’s going to need a diaper change soon.”

“And I will be more than happy to take on that duty.”

I smile. “My hero.”

Jack throws me a look for a split second, a smile and…something in his eyes.

Okay, heisup to something. What it is, I don’t know, but it’s something.

We end up on an ocean front road lined with beautiful bungalows. Between them, I get glimpses of the clear expansive Pacific.

Jack slows the car down and pulls into the gravel driveway of one of them. I’m expecting him to throw the car in reverse and take us back the way we came so we can make it to dinner at areasonable time. But he doesn’t. He puts it in park and turns off the car.

“Did your mom move?” I ask.

“No.”

I look out my window at the bungalow. It’s painted green with white framed windows and a wraparound porch on the second level. Adorable and cozy looking. “So, what are we doing here?”

“It’s for you.”

I shoot him a look. “What?”

“I mean, for us, but…” Jack glances back at Alanna who is zonked out in her car seat. “I wanted us to have a home here. So, when we come to visit, it’s not a vacation, but a place for us to be with our family.”

Tears rush into my eyes. “You…you bought this house?”

“I had it built for you.”

I suck in a breath. “What?”

“Do you like the green? It’s…greener than I expected.”

“What do you mean you had itbuiltfor me?”

Jack chuckles. “I think you understand what I mean.”

I look out at the house again.

It doesn’t look like a modern house and that’s why I like it. It blends right into the Hawaiian scenery, framed by palm trees, cradled by the sunset swathed sky. “When did you…”

“About a year ago is when I bought the property,” he says.

“That was…I mean, I was barely pregnant at that point,” I say with a disbelieving laugh.

Jack looks away, cheeks reddening. “Yeah, I might have gotten ahead of myself.”

“I love that you get ahead of yourself.”

He smiles. “You want to go take a look at it?”

“O-okay.”

“Hold out your hand.”

---