Page 87 of When Morning Comes Around

“As if you could ever be anything other than big.”

He rolled his eyes at her. “Let’s get going. We have three places to look at. I know you want to get home to your dad, and I need to be at the restaurant for work at six.”

“What do you mean, three places?”

His eyebrows drew together. “Shit. I almost gave it away, didn’t I?”

She laughed. “Don’t you think that it’s time you should give it away – tell me?”

He shook his head. “No. I want to show you.”

Once they were in his SUV, she was surprised that he turned right, headed up the eastern shore rather than into town.

“Are you going to give me a clue where we’re going?” she asked.

He shot her a quick smile as he turned off the road and into the development at Four Mile Creek.

“To the restaurant?”

He shook his head.

“Shopping?”

He laughed. “No.”

She gave him a puzzled look as they passed the lodge and the plaza and carried on into the development. She couldn’t figure out what he was up to as he drove farther up into the foothills. The houses were bigger up here. The lots were bigger, too. She’d guess that each of them was at least a couple of acres.

He didn’t stop until he reached the very end of the street. She turned to look out the window, and the view laid out before her took her breath away. She could see almost all of the lake from here, and the mountains rolling away into the distance.

“Wow! Look at that.”

He turned to look out the window and nodded. “That’s a hell of a view.”

“It is.” She turned back to look at the gate in front of them. “I’d guess that whoever lives here makes the most of it. Do you know who lives here? Have we come visiting?”

He gave her a mysterious smile. “Ask me again later.”

“What do you mean? I don’t get it.”

He didn’t reply. Instead, he jerked his chin to where another vehicle had just pulled up beside them. Sadie thought sherecognized the driver, but she couldn’t place him until Dom put his window down and said, “Hey, Austin.”

“Hey, Dom. I’ll just open the gate, and you can follow me up.”

She didn’t know Austin, but she remembered his parents, and she knew that he was the local realtor. She glanced from him to the gate in front of them and back again. “He’s going to show you the house?”

Dom chuckled beside her. “Yep. I decided that it’s time to get a place of my own.”

She raised her eyebrows. “And you want a place like this?”

His smile faded. “Maybe. Like I told you, we have three places to look at. This is just the first.”

She stared at him for a long few moments and then managed to pull herself together. “Okay then.”

“Is it? Okay?” He looked so worried that she reached for his hand.

“Of course, I’m just surprised. I…” She looked up as he pulled forward to follow Austin up the driveway. “I wasn’t expecting something like this.”

He squeezed her hand. “If you don’t like it, we won’t take it.”

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