Page 34 of Taking The Shot

“No,” her daughter chuckled. “But you’reMomto me – not Constance.”

“And I’m Mama to Kayla,” she paused tenderly, smiling. “I could be called Momma, Mommy, Mother, Mamacita, and so many other terms – but Mom is the one you address me because you are comfortable with it, and it’s a title given to me with love.”

“But I don’t love Keith,” Paige whispered in a hushed voice. “That’s weird stuff adults do.”

“Then maybe someday you’ll have a title for him that feels comfortable for the both of you – and until then – Keith works because it’s his name.”

“You have a weird way of explaining stuff,” her daughter chuckled, hugging her tightly. “But it works.”

“That’s all that matters,” Constance said tenderly. “I love you, pumpkin. Now, get ready for bed. It’s been a long day, and we have too much to look at tomorrow exploring our new home, the yard, and maybe we’ll go look at the town.”

“Or get a cat.”

“We’ll see…”

“But Keith said…”

“Then we’ll talk to Keith and make a family decision. Now, bedtime,” she urged again softly, smoothing back her hair tenderly. “Love you.”

“Love you too – and can you tell Keith I said ‘good night’?”

“Will do.”

Tucking her daughter in, Constance stepped into the hallway and looked around with wide-eyed fascination. This place was gorgeous with sweeping ceilings, large windows, warm recessed lights everywhere, and as she continued down the hallway to take a peek at their room – she paused in the doorway, stunned.

There was a game room.

Keith had put a game room in the house for them to use as a family. There were shelves that had several boxes of games waiting, a cork panel along the wall with a dartboard that made her roll her eyes – not very safe – and a shuffleboard table, plus two video game cabinets in the corner. A large toybox sat nearby with a few things inside, such as a ball, a plastic bat, and two Raggedy Ann dolls.

He was extremely sweet to the children, and she couldn’t be more touched by the volume of patience he’d shown to the kids – or how much he was trying.

The man wastrulytrying.

As she turned to check the other door, it was a bathroom done in various shades of pink for the two girls, and beside it an empty bedroom. She spotted another door in the distance and paused.

It wasn’t the garage. The sign said ‘Now Playing’ and looked like a marquis. Smiling, she took a peek in the doorway and saw ambient lights turn on immediately in the stairwell, revealing a dark paint job that would truly make it feel like a theater room.

Shutting the door silently, she turned and nearly collided with Keith.

“Sorry,” he said softly. “I was going to ask if you wanted some tea, coffee, water, or a glass of wine.”

“Red wine, if we have it.”

“I bought both, just in case,” he smiled easily. “Red wine it is. Look around and make yourself at home.”

“Where’s our… our room?” she paused, watching him carefully as he pointed to the other end of the house.

“The master suite is over there – and I think you’ll like it.”

“Oh?”

“Go look,” he chuckled, shaking his head and peered at her. “The photos online didn’t do this place justice.”

“Well, they sure weren’t accurate,” she retorted, remembering that phone call about the sink being missing – only to see a secretive smile on his face.

“No, they weren’t in the slightest,” he said softly and immediately she knew something was up. Holding his gaze, she walked pointedly toward the other end of the house, not breaking eye contact as he simply smirked and waved her off, moving into the open kitchen and pulling out two glasses from the cabinet.

The moment he was out of sight, Constance really began to look around. There was a door for a hot water heater, another that had the furnace inside, yet another that was a small empty room that could be used for an office or a nursery and finally, she opened the master bedroom – and sighed.

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