Page 40 of Icebound Hearts

Violet joins us by the front door and smiles down at Jake. “I’m sure you’ll have plenty of room wherever you end up.”

“Maybe Chewy will get his own room!” Jake says, and Violet and I laugh together.

“He knows how to dream big, huh?” she asks, and I nod.

“Race you to the car, Ms. Violet!” Jake says and darts past me outside. I sigh at him, but Violet laughs and follows in a hurry, leaving me to make sure the house is locked. Surprising no one, Jake beats her with his head start, so she helps him get into his booster seat. I hear him laughing while she tickles him when I reach the car.

“That’s what you get for cheating, buddy,” I say over his winded laughter as I climb into the driver’s seat. Violet finally lets up and joins me up front, but Jake is still giggling behind us. I turn the key in the ignition, and my eyes drift to his in the rearview. “You’d better save some of that energy for house hunting. We’ve got a lot to see.”

“I’m ready!” Jake declares, nodding emphatically. I snort and lean over to Violet to whisper, “How much you want to bet he’ll be passed out in the back seat within an hour?”

“That sounds like a losing bet if I’ve ever heard one.”

Smiling, I put the car in reverse and head out for the first house of several on the agenda. This one’s in the next neighborhood over, so it wouldn’t be too unfamiliar for Jake, but there are a lot more families living here judging by the number of kids I’ve seen playing at the park at the center of the neighborhood on my drives through.

“Oh, I love the playground here, Daddy!” Jake exclaims, jabbing his finger at the glass to point at it on our way by. I smile at him in the mirror.

“Yeah, I had a feeling you would.” We drive to a large but modest looking ranch-style house toward the back of the neighborhood that doesn’t have the best curb appeal, but that’s not what we’re moving for anyway.

“Aw, no stairs?” Jake asks, unbuckling himself after I’ve parked.

“No. But trust me, your knees will thank me for it when you’re older,” I tell him and Violet laughs, but Jake doesn’t get the joke so he just ignores it and hops out of the car, both his feet thudding against the ground in the jump.

“Bright side, you’ll be able to run in circles around the whole house,” I tell him when I meet him, and his eyes light up.

“Really?”

“See for yourself.” I take his hand and lead him to the front door, then punch in the combination on the key guard that the realtor gave me and open the door for us. Jake leads us inside and looks around, then drops my hand with his eyes widening.

“It’shuge,” he whispers. “Way bigger than it looks!”

“That’s exactly what I said when I saw the pictures online. But it’s even bigger than I thought.”

Violet trails in behind us and closes the door, then does a double take. “Wow. I wasn’t expecting this.”

There are high ceilings that stretch up the plain white walls, and while the tile in the entryway is a little worn and will probably need to be replaced along with the carpet, the bones of the place are solid—and there’s a part of me that’s kind of excited about the idea of getting to put my own touch on a house. I didn’t get to do that with the last one, no thanks to Miriam. She wanted everything her way and wouldn’t hear a word otherwise.

“How many bedrooms are there?” Violet asks as she casually walks toward the open-concept kitchen adjoined to the living area.

“Three. The master on one side, and two smaller guest rooms on the other.”

“Perfect for the three of us!” Jake says before he goes tearing off down the hall in search of the room that would be his.

Violet and I share a slightly awkward look, but I don’t bother correcting Jake’s assumption. For all I know, he might’ve been referring to Chewy as the third occupant, not her.

“What do you think?” I ask Violet as she spins around in the kitchen.

“It’s nice, and I can see the potential. Plenty of room to grow. Looks like the kitchen’s been remodeled too.”

I seize on the kitchen remodel to keep from reacting to her comment about having room to grow. “Yeah, the owners gutted it and put in all new appliances.”

Jake comes tottering down the hallway, a disapproving look on his face.

“What’s wrong, buddy?” He shrugs at me.

“It’s okay, but the bedrooms are kind of small. Where am I gonna put all my toys?”

I laugh with Violet. Of course that’s his biggest concern. “Well, we’ll have a whole other bedroom besides yours. I thought you could turn that into a playroom or something when it’s just the two of us again.”

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