Page 109 of Time Out

We could raise them here on acres of land with a lake they could swim in. Build treehouses and explore nature all they wanted. Put in a pool and hot tub. I could afford to go anywhere, get a home in Brentwood like other players, and live among the richest people in the state.

But that wasn’t where Maggie would be comfortable.

Here we’d have family and not the one we created, but the one we could choose.

“Davis,” she finally whispered and her eyes shone with unshed tears. “You’re insane.”

“I’m just asking you to look and think about it, okay? That’s all.”

“Well, I’m already here…”

“Perfect.” I kissed her, uncaring her sister was watching or we had an audience. I kissed her because she was Maggie and when she was this close to me, adorable with a scrunched-up nose and still cracking jokes, I couldn’t not kiss her.

“That lake was really pretty.”

“It was, Ruth, wasn’t it? What else did you like?”

In the back seat of my truck, she shrugged. “The town feels nice. Everyone was smiling.”

After we looked at the house, Eden and Cole talking about what had been updated and what would need to be done, I drove them back through Marysville, past the high school and elementary, down the streets. It was a Tuesday afternoon, and school was in session, but that didn’t mean the little downtown wasn’t bustling.

There was something comforting about the place that I didn’t have in Nebraska, where all the shops were in strip centers and spread out without a downtown, central town area. It was like a movie, almost.

“I still think you’ve lost your mind,” Maggie mumbled next to me, but she lost the heat as soon as Eden took her through the tree line and showed her the lake where she and Cole had spent a summer swimming in when Eden lived there in high school.

She might not have been fully on board with my idea, but she wasn’t protesting. Not really, anyway.

“We have time to think about it,” I said, but I was already compiling a list of what needed to be done. Popcorn ceilings and wallpaper stripped. New countertops and floorings. The bathroom vanities needed updating since they were old Formica trimmed with gold circa nineteen-seventies.

There were other things too, but mostly, I envisioned everything I wanted to add. A screened-in porch, an outdoor fireplace and kitchen. A pool. Hot tub. I couldn’t live without either after having them.

“The bedroom downstairs would be really great when company came, though,” Maggie said. “They could have their own space at night, especially with a baby who might cry or something. Your mom and dad would love to visit and be close to Mama B, I’m guessing.”

There she was. She was seeing it exactly like I did.

“I like that room at the top of the stairs,” Ruth said, and when I caught her reflection in the rearview mirror, she was smiling. “I wouldn’t have to share a room?”

Maggie choked down tears at the question. “No, Ruth.” She turned and grinned at her sister around her chair. “You won’t have to share a room.”

“Davis?” she asked.

“Yeah, Ruth?”

“Any chance we could get some chickens?”

I shot Maggie an I told you so look. She rolled her eyes and then hid a smile behind her hand, but her eyes didn’t lie.

She was loving this idea now.

“We can definitely get you some chickens, Ruth.”

Chapter 33

Maggie

Belle’s parents’ home was seven-thousand plus square feet of majestic white-painted brick, black windows, and sharp peaks. Double two-car garages framed the enormous wood front door with a curved driveway in front to make the entrance and exit smooth for visitors. Back in the Governor’s Club neighborhood of Brentwood, their neighbors were other musicians and CEOs and professional athletes, among others.

It never ceased to amaze me how Belle could grow up in this home, amid such extreme wealth and how her entire family was the kindest and sweetest people alive. Especially given her own mom’s iconic past and her father’s incredible success.

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