Page 64 of Into the Light

“You better do some groveling.” I huffed as the rain hit the windows over and over again.

He reached over and grabbed my thigh. “I will.”

Chapter twenty-one

I bought another house. I suppose when I said I should focus on schoolwork this week, it didn’t also mean to buy a house in the countryside outside of Dansport, but that is what I fucking did. At twenty-two, the last thing I imagined was owning a hunting cabin, buying Ember’s house with Ash’s money, and now a place out in the countryside. I was on my way to show Ember the house . . . hopefully, our house.

Instead of taking the exit into the city, I veered right onto the smaller highway leading to the countryside. We were secured by a few bodyguards trailing behind us.

After an hour of driving, Ember finally broke her silence, asking, “Wait . . . where are we going?” During the entire drive, she hadn’t uttered a word, rendering this whole attempt to make it up to her quite challenging. I might be a writer, but I was terrible with words in situations like this.

“I told you, it’s a surprise,” I reassured her, giving her thigh a gentle squeeze. My hand had remained on her the entire time; I didn’t want to let her go.

“How much longer?” she inquired.

“About an hour,” I replied, and for a moment, it seemed like we’d turned a new leaf because she didn’t argue with me.

When we finally turned onto the long driveway, the house I had recently purchased came into view. It was a modest farmhouse-style home with a spacious wraparound porch. What made it special was the breathtaking view, especially at sunset when the rocking chairs on the porch provided the perfect vantage point. The house sat in a clearing, surrounded by farmland on the left, apple orchards on the right, and the characteristic pine trees of the area at the back of the property.

Inside, the house had been recently renovated, but the previous owners had preserved its old-world vintage charm. The interior felt cozy, and the best part was that I had bought it with all the furniture included.

As we continued down the driveway toward the property, with our bodyguards following, we slowly approached the guesthouse at the front of the estate. The guards pulled in toward the guesthouse and I continued forward toward the main house.

Ember turned around, noticing their departure.

“This is it?” she asked, and I came to a complete stop in front of the house, and her door opened.

“What is this?” she asked as the gravel crunched underneath her feet. I slowly climbed out of the car and went to the other side of the Jeep.

“A house.” I shrugged and grabbed her bag from the passenger side before I walked toward the house.

Ember was chasing behind me, yelling and flailing her arms around.

“I can clearly see that, Rain. What are we doing here? Whose house is this? Is this like a vacation rental?”

I chuckled and used the key to open the door, holding it open for her.

“It’s not a vacation rental, mi pareja. It’s yours.”

“What?!” she exclaimed, stepping into the foyer of the house. The wooden floors creaked but were still in pristine condition, and the furniture exuded a welcoming and brand-new look, styled for selling the house.

“This must be a joke. I have a house in the city,” she said in awe, continuing down the narrow hallway leading to the family room where the housekeeper had added a roaring fire in the fireplace that morning. On the other side of the room sat the small, but modern kitchen.

“Are those apples?” she asked, making her way toward the window.

“Yeah, orchards,” I confirmed.

“What on earth is this place?” She turned to look at me just as the sunset was about to grace the scene.

“Come here . . . Hurry.”

I grabbed her hand, and we walked out the back door to the porch where I sat in one of the oversized rocking chairs, lifting her by her hips and placing her on my lap. Just then the sky exploded in a hue of purples, yellows, pinks, and blues.

I wrapped my hands around her hips as she leaned her head back against my chest, staring out into the sky.

We were silent for a while before the sky finally settled into dusk and the darkness took over.

“I can see why you bought this house now,” she whispered, and I nuzzled my head into her long black hair.

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