Page 62 of Trust Me
“Thank you so much for dinner, Mom. It was delicious.”
“Oh, you are so welcome, honey,” she says with a warm hug. Mom turns her attention to Maddox and Brooklyn.
“Take care of my girls,” she tells Maddox with a hug and kiss on his cheek.
“I will. I promise.”
“And you, little lady, need to go home and get some rest. Grandma will stop by in the afternoon tomorrow to check on you. Okay?”
“Otay, Gramma. I wove you,” Brooklyn says with a big wet kiss on my mom’s lips. I hug all of my brothers as Maddox fastens Brooklyn into her seat in the back of the truck.
“I love you, baby girl. We’ll see you Sunday,” my dad says as he hugs me tightly against his chest.
“Love you more, Dad.”
With one last wave at my family, I settle into the front seat of the truck. Maddox shakes my dad’s hand before climbing in. As we head out the driveway, I can’t help but feel the exhaustion settling in.
“What’s the matter?”
“Nothing. I think I’m just tired. I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed tonight. It feels like it’sbeen weeks since I was home.”
“We’ll be home in just a little bit. Actually, I wanted to make a pit stop quickly, if that’s okay with you?”
“That’s fine,” I say assuming we’re going to run by his house so he can grab more clothes, maybe a clean uniform for tomorrow. Maddox reaches over and takes my hand in his, linking our fingers together on the seat of his truck. The peace and contentment settle over me as I shut my eyes and slowly drift off to sleep.
*****
“Babe, wake up.” I can hear Maddox talking to me, trying to rouse me from sleep. I feel his soft lips press gentle kisses on my lips and nose. “Avery, we’re here.”
“Where?” I open my eyes and try to focus. The landscaping is different. We are definitely not at my place or Maddox’s. So where are we?
“Come on,” he says as he hops out of the truck and starts to get Brooklyn out of the back seat. She’s talking a mile a minute and I feel like I’m still struggling to catch up.
I open my door and step out, taking in my surroundings. That’s when I realize instantly where we are. The house. My dream house. I look over at Maddox with confusion written all over my face. “What are we doing here?”
Maddox walks over, Brooklyn tucked in his arm, and he holds out a hand to me. “Come with me and I’ll show you.” Without any hesitation, I place my hand inside of his.
I’m quiet as we walk up the stone pathway toward the front door, though a hundred questions are flashing through my mind. When we get to the front door, we both stop and look at each other. Now what?
Maddox reaches into his pocket and pulls out a key. Not just any key. A key that he places in the lock and turns. He turns the knob and gently pushes open the door. How did Maddox get that key? He stands here watching me, waiting on me.
“Are you ready?” he asks. Ready for what, I’m not sure. My heart is racing, and my stomach is in knots as I take his offered hand and we walk through the front door.
Maddox pulls a small flashlight out of his coat pocket. He shines it down so that we can see where we are walking. The house is completely empty. Strange. I thought the couple who built ithad left their furniture for when they returned.
“Over here is the living room,” he says as he walks into the large open room with a big bay window that faces the front porch. The room extends the entire length of the house with sliding glass doors on the back. There’s a big, beautiful stone fireplace in the middle of the outside wall. We walk to the sliding glass doors. “Out here is a big backyard with a concrete porch and a built-in firepit. It’s pretty cool. Over here,” he says as he points the flashlight to the right, “is the kitchen. There’s an island for extra counter space and a bar area where you can put stools.”
He points the flashlight to the big open space on the other side of the bar. “Dining room,” which has the matching bay window to the living room. We make another right and we’re back to the front foyer. We walk straight in from the front door down a short hallway. “Half bath here.” He points as he opens the door so I can look in. “And large storage closet here under the stairs,” he adds opening another door.
“Stairs,” Brooklyn exclaims and points up.
“Yep, let’s go up the stairs,” Maddox says.
As we reach the top of the stairs, we face another short hallway. He leads me to the right to the room that would be over the dining room andopens the door. “Bedroom.” We walk inside and look around the spacious room. The only light is the soft glow from the streetlight and Maddox’s flashlight. “Pretty good-sized closets,” he adds as he points the beam of light inside the closet.
He walks out of the room with me trailing behind. He opens the middle door, which I discover is a full bathroom. Once I’ve looked around, he exits and leads me to the other door, which is another bedroom. This one would be directly over the kitchen and identical to the first one he showed me.
We exit the bedroom and walk across the hall. I have yet to say anything. Honestly, I have no idea what to say. He still hasn’t told me why we’re here, touring the house that I’ve dreamed of making my home.
