Page 95 of Awakening the Sheriff

“I love you,” I whispered against his lips. “Go back to sleep, baby.”

As he slept, I lay awake for a long time, content to watch him, my heart so full it was about to explode with happiness.

34

KEATON

“Where are we going?” I slid into the passenger seat of Auden’s truck. He’d texted me a few minutes prior, asking if I had an hour to do something with him. Since it was a Sunday afternoon, I had nothing but time. “I thought you were working.”

He waved his hand. “It’s quiet. My deputies know where to reach me.”

I stole a peek at him as he pulled out of the driveway, so confident and sexy behind the wheel in his tight uniform. He made my mouth water. “I still say you’re a walking thirst trap.”

He grinned. “I should size up?”

“Nah. I like drooling over you… As long as no one else does, we’re good.”

We were heading toward the outskirts of town. Before I could ask again, Auden said, “My father came to talk to me this morning, said he had a proposition for me.”

“Oh?”

“My mom needs knee surgery, and her hips are getting bad too. He thinks it’s time for them to downsize.”

My heart skipped a beat. Was this going in the direction I thought it was?

“He wants to sell us the house, provided we sell one of our houses to them and the other one to Ennio. My brother’s been looking for his own place for a while, but there’s very little available in his price range.”

I put my hand on Auden’s thigh. “Are you serious? Your dad suggested that?”

“It would make sense for them. Both of our places are in the center of Forestville, so my parents would be able to go everywhere with little effort. Ennio doesn’t care about the exact location, but he wants to stay in town, so this would be perfect.”

I loved his parents’ house. With six bedrooms and three bathrooms—one for us, one for the boys, and one for the girls—it would work. The living room offered plenty of space, and the dining room should be big enough to fit a table that would seat us all. It even had a study and a mud room.

“I don’t know what to say. That’d be absolutely perfect. But would we be able to afford it?”

“I’d have to run the exact numbers, but I think so. I own my home free and clear, so that’s already a big chunk.”

“But what about Ennio? Aren’t we robbing him of his inheritance?”

“My father suggested we have the farm appraised so we can pay a fair price, and we’ll do the same with both our houses. That way, I won’t benefit financially from buying their place.”

Auden had left town and took Clear Brook Road, the street that led to his parents’ house. “We’re heading there now?”

“They’re not home. I figured you’d want to have a look without anyone there so you can decide if this is what you want.”

“You wouldn’t mind moving back into your childhood home?”

“I loved growing up there, so no. My mom died there, but that was a long time ago. I’ve had a lot of happy memories since then to replace the sad ones. And in terms of space, it would be perfect for us and the kids.”

Every time he said “us and the kids,” my insides warmed all over again. I’d never expected to be part of an “us” again, yet here we were. “It would be ideal. They’d all have their own bedroom, which I hadn’t thought possible.”

Nothing had come onto the market that had been big enough for us, and I’d started to think we’d have to either compromise or buy a smaller house that had the space to add to it. But this? This would be a dream come true.

The farmhouse sat on an elevation, surrounded by rolling green hills framed with a picket fence. It had two stories, and the white exterior was still in good condition, with barn-red shutters framing each of the small windows. The windowsill had a few clay pots with orange and yellow spring flowers offering a pop of color. Auden had mentioned Cora loved gardening, and it showed.

As Auden parked in the driveway, I looked around. “It has a barn as well?”

“We used to have horses growing up, but when they died, my dad didn’t replace them. Too much work, he said.”

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