Page 70 of Todd
The declaration sent warmth flooding through her chest, but practical considerations remained. “Still, it might be nice to have some privacy. Some space that’s just ours.”
Todd was quiet for a moment, his fingers now smoothing her hair away from her face. When he spoke, his voice carried the kind of careful hope that suggested he’d been thinking about more than just their immediate living situation. “What do you think about getting a place together? Something of our own, close to the compound? We could rent, but I’m ready to buy.”
The suggestion made her heart skip with possibilities she’d hardly dared to imagine. A home.Their home.A place where they could build the life they’d both been too frightened to reach for.
“I’d like that,” she said, her voice soft with wonder at how much her world had changed in such a short time. “I’d like that very much.”
“I’ve been looking…” he admitted, blushing when she blinked, her head jerking slightly.
“You have?”
“Yeah, babe. I knew when we came home, I wanted a place for us. But you needed to heal, and I didn’t want to give you too much to focus on. I’ve found a couple of places that are close enough to be convenient for work.”
Sadie lifted herself on one elbow, studying his face in the dim light filtering through the hotel room’s curtains. “We’ll have a home together?”
“I’m talking about having everything together,” he replied, his voice carrying absolute conviction. “A home, a life, a future that includes everything we’ve both been afraid to want.”
The magnitude of what he was offering… not just a relationship, but a partnership in every sense of the word, made her throat tight with emotions too complex to name. After years of careful independence, the thought of truly sharing her life with someone felt both terrifying and absolutely right.
“Okay,” she breathed. “I want to look at places with you.” Her words carried the weight of a leap of faith that felt less frightening when taken with the right person. “Let’s find our home.”
Todd’s smile was brilliant in the darkness, and when he pulled her down for another kiss, Sadie tasted the future on his lips. A future full of possibility and partnership and the kind of love she’d thought might have passed her by.
Outside their hotel room window, Montana stretched endlessly under a canopy of stars, the vast wilderness that had become home calling to them with promises of space to breathe and room to grow. Tomorrow, they would begin the process of finding something permanent together. But tonight, they were simply two people who’d found their way back to each other.
And that was enough. More than enough. It was everything.
Six Weeks Later
The keys felt warm in Sadie’s palm as she stood before the front door of what was officially, legally, and completely theirs. The cabin wasn’t large, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen that opened to a living area with floor-to-ceiling windows framing the Montana mountains like a living photograph. But it was perfect in ways that had nothing to do with square footage and everything to do with the man standing beside her.
“Ready?” Todd asked, though his hand was already reaching for the keys with the impatience of someone who’d spent too much time waiting for happiness.
“We’re really doing this,” Sadie said, wonder coloring her voice as she looked up at the rustic wooden structure that would be their sanctuary from the world. “No more bunkhouse walls, no more pretending we’re just colleagues who happen to sleep twenty feet apart.”
“No more wasting time,” Todd agreed. The real estate transaction had moved with unprecedented speed once they’d made their decision.
The door swung open to reveal hardwood floors that gleamed in the afternoon sunlight, exposed-beam ceilings that spoke to craftsmanship, and the kind of open space that suited them both. Their furniture, bought together, had been delivered yesterday, transforming the empty shell into something that already felt like home. Today, their vehicles were filled with the clothes and items from the bunkhouse.
“I still can’t believe we’re homeowners.” Sadie dropped her purse on the kitchen counter, already feeling like she belonged in this space. “Five weeks from first viewing to closing. I think we might have set some kind of record.”
Todd’s arms came around her from behind, his chin resting on top of her head as they both gazed out the massive windows toward the mountain vista that had sold them instantly on the property. “When you know, you know. No point in waiting around for someone else to snap up perfection.”
The philosophy applied to more than real estate, and they both understood the deeper meaning in his words. They’d wasted enough time on fear, professional boundaries, and the kind of careful distance that had protected their reputations while hurting their hearts.
The laptop on their new kitchen table chimed with an incoming video call, the familiar ringtone that meant Todd’s family was ready for their scheduled check-in. They’d planned this conversation since the purchase was finalized, eager to share their news with the people whose opinions mattered most.
“You ready to officially be part of the Blake family?” Todd asked, his voice carrying a note of nervous anticipation that made Sadie’s heart squeeze with affection.
“Absolutely,” she replied, settling beside him as he accepted the call.
The screen filled with Todd’s parents. “There they are!” Todd’s mother exclaimed, her voice carrying the kind ofmaternal delight that transcended digital distance. “The homeowners! Sadie, you’re even more beautiful than when I met you on our Montana visit. Todd, honey, you look happier than I’ve seen you in years.”
“Hi, Mrs. Blake,” Sadie said. “It’s wonderful to see you again.”
“Please, call me Susan,” Todd’s mother replied, her smile warm as she inclined her head toward Todd’s dad. “And just David. Oh, and I have to say that Todd told us about Arizona. We are so sorry for everything that happened!”
Todd’s father leaned closer to the camera, his expression carrying the kind of paternal assessment that fathers reserved for their children’s romantic partners. “You two went through quite an ordeal together. Glad to see you’re both safe and sound.”
