Page 155 of Billionaire Temptations

“Umm. Yes. Yes, we are.”

“Excellent!” The realtor smiled.

Her phone rang and she looked at it. “Excuse me. I need to take this call,” she said as she left the room.

I looked out the window at the spot where the pool used to be. “Who the hell lives in California and doesn’t want a pool?”

“Obviously, fools.” Alex chuckled.

I turned and looked at Alex with a smile on my face. “I have to see if it’s still there. Come on.” I grabbed his hand and led him through the kitchen, the foyer, the front door, and onto theporch. I looked in the corner and knelt down, placing my hand on the small handprint that my dad made the three of us do when he built the new porch.

“This is my handprint. This one is Emily’s, and this is Adam’s.”

“How old were you?”

“We were six, and Adam was ten. I remember the day we did this. My dad said that we’d always be a permanent part of this house now that our handprints were here. He said no matter what life threw at us, we’d always have this house and the memories we made here. Oh my God, Alex. I just remembered all that.”

He put his arm around me and pulled me into him. “That’s good, Emerson. Your dad sounds like he was a wise man.”

“He was.”

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the sky opened up and let the rain fall down.

“What the fuck?” Alex said as he stood up.

A smile splayed across my face as I ran out onto the grass and held my arms up. When I threw my head back, the rain fell upon my face. “They’re here with us.” I smiled as I turned in a circle.

“What the heck is going on?” the realtor spoke. “They weren’t calling for rain today.”

“It’s only temporary,” I heard Alex speak. “Thank you for showing us the house. I’ll be in touch.”

“I have a couple who is highly interested in it, so if I were you, I wouldn’t wait too long to decide.”

We climbed in the car, and a feeling of peace flowed through me.

“Thank you, Parker.”

He grabbed my hand and brought it up to his lips. “You’re welcome. We better get home and change out of these wet clothes.”

Chapter Thirty-One

Emerson

Seeing my childhood home brought back so many memories of the happiness that once resided there. After changing out of my wet clothes, Alex knocked on my bedroom door.

“Come in.”

He walked in and over to me as I put on my shirt.

“Emerson,” he spoke.

“What’s up, Parker?” I smiled.

“We need to talk,” he spoke with a serious tone.

“Okay. Shoot, big guy.”

He took hold of both my hands. Staring into my eyes, he inhaled deeply.

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