Page 94 of The I Do Over

She nodded. “They knew we were anxious to move and they are equally anxious to move in, so it all worked out!”

“Damn…I can’t believe it. This is really happening!”

“You’re not having second thoughts, are you?” she teased.

“Never,” he said firmly, pulling her back into his arms. “Thirty more days and then we’ll be able to take that next step.”

“It’s going to be another busy month.” And that was a huge understatement. Between the sale of the business and her house, Knox had been equally busy looking for houses for them in Raleigh with a guest house for her mom. They weren’t easy to find, apparently, so Maddie had been looking at care facilities as well.

It wasn’t her first choice, but after talking with Nora and most of her mom’s care team, she knew it wasn’t a bad thing either.

“I know it will, but once we can relax, it will all be worth it.” After placing a quick kiss on the tip of her nose, Knox took her by the hand and led her back to her chair. “Which reminds me, I don’t think you’ve met Emilie and Cooper yet, have you?”

“Um…”

“Emilie is one of the bakers at Meet Me at the Altar and Cooper is her fiancé.”

“Then…no. I don’t think I have. Why?”

“Well, Cooper comes from a very wealthy family and he’s got a bit of an interest in real estate,” he began.

“O-kay…”

“I guess the girls were talking about what we were looking for and Emilie mentioned it to Cooper who, in turn, did a little looking and found us a potential house.”

“Oh my goodness! Really?”

“Yeah. He sent me the link and I didn’t want to look at it without you, so…want to look?”

“Definitely!” Within a minute, Knox pulled the link up on her computer and she was staring at a house that was more than she ever dreamed of. “Um…”

“What? What’s the matter?”

“Knox, this house is…it’s much bigger than what we need, isn’t it?”

“I think it just looks big. Here, follow me,” he said and then proceeded to go down the list of why everything in that house was what they needed. “Four bedrooms? Well, we need one, the baby’s going to need one, a guest room is kind of a necessity so my folks can come and visit or if Babette or any of your friends from Virginia want to come for the weekend, and then a fourth bedroom is perfect for when we have our next kid.”

“Oh, uh…”

“We obviously need a kitchen and a living room. There’s space for an office. I could live without a formal dining room, but it’s not a deal breaker.” He read down the list. “And the guest house has two bedrooms, a bathroom, a small kitchen, and a living room and opens up onto a garden. If that’s not perfect for your mom, then I don’t know what is.”

“Knox…”

“And look! There’s an outdoor kitchen! Now I can totally up my barbecue game and prove to Xander that he isn’t the only guy who can cook around here! Plus, the pool is just a total bonus! I never had a house with a pool, but all my years in the Navy and I’m kind of fond of the water. You will be too, trust me. Plus, we can get the baby swimming lessons super early so we won’t have to worry!”

Glancing over her shoulder at him, she frowned. “I think you looked at this before you got here.”

“What? Me?” he said with a boyish grin. “Why would you even say that?”

“Because you have all these selling points at the ready. It’s a little suspicious.” Not that she was really mad, but she thought it was funny how he was pretending like this.

“Fine. I got curious and didn’t want to waste your time if it wasn’t worth looking at. And really, I think it’s worth it.” He pointed to the map in the corner. “It’s only ten minutes from the SEAL Security office and in the same neighborhood that Daniel and Josie live in.”

“We’re not going to take all her furniture with us, are we? I’d kind of like to pick some stuff of our own. Not that there’s anything wrong with hers. I just…”

“I know,” he said, interrupting her. “And I agree. I think we might have to take a few things to get us started, but just the necessities. We’ll sell everything else or see if Josie might want some of it back.”

There was nothing remotely wrong with what he said, but she instantly burst into tears.

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