Page 114 of Matchmaking the Rival

Chapter Thirty

Meredith

Three months later

––––––––

"Fifteenth time is thecharm?" I asked Cade.

He wrapped his hand around my chin, placing a quick kiss on my lips.

"I have a good feeling." There was a twinkle in his eyes.

We'd taken house hunting very seriously over the past few months. We'd seen fourteen, but we found something about each one that we didn't like. I wasn't getting my hopes up for this one. Leo was showing us the homes personally; he hadn’t even sent us pictures of this one.

He'd gone above and beyond in helping us find the home of our dreams when he could've just sent one of his employees with us. He was the CEO of a real estate giant, so he certainly didn’t have time to waste with us, but he did it nonetheless. Cade spoke to him a few hours ago and decided we should go see it.

We’d been mostly living at Cade’s place and had been talking about the future, family, and life together. Getting a home was a priority, though, as we both wanted something with a yard.

I sighed, completely content with my life. I was working as VP of marketing and interim CEO. Sonya still hadn’t found a buyer, so she was stuck running her company. Whenever she went on a trip, I replaced her as CEO. Through the grapevine, I heard that Alfred’s company was in serious financial troubles. Served him right.

Cade kissed my hand as we rounded the corner of the street. I'd never been here before. It was a family type of neighborhood. The homes were elegant and huge. I noticed one that caught my attention right away. It was newly built, or at least newly renovated.

"Oh, look at that. This one's beautiful."

Cade smiled at me, kissing my hand again. "That's where we’re going, babe."

"That's on the market?" I practically yelled, sounding hoarse.

He parked right in front of it, and I jumped out the next second. Leo was looking very pleased.

"I can't believe it. What is this place even doing on the market? When did it come up?" I asked.

"This morning." Leo looked at Cade. "I figured this was exactly what you’re looking for, so I told my team to keep it offline until I could show it to you."

"Give us the keys. We'll take a look by ourselves," Cade said.

"Sure, here you go." Leo handed them to Cade.

"Wait. How come it's on the market? It looks new. Please tell me someone didn't get a divorce while they were renovating it. I don't like bad vibes."

I knew it was silly, but a long time ago, I'd promised myself that I'd never buy a home where the owners were forced to sell.

"No, nothing like that. They put a lot of work into this home, but when they finished it, the husband got a very good offer to work in Dublin for a few years. They decided it made no sense to pay the mortgage on this place if they had another home in Dublin too."

"Their loss, our gain," Cade said. "Come on. Let's check it out.”

“There's a porch," I told him as he took my hand, leading me up to the house.

"I know. The second he sent me pictures, I knew exactly how it would look decorated for Christmas and Halloween."

---