Page 42 of His Relentless Angel

All I can do is nod and manage to utter, “Beautiful.”

“And if you notice, the street ends on a cul-de-sac, so you don’t have to worry about too much traffic coming and going when the kids are playing outside,” Gupreet says before leading us up the two wooden steps to the porch enclosed by a short, wood slatted privacy fence. He opens the lock box attached to the front door’s polished brass handle, then holds it open for Isaiah to guide the kids and me inside the empty house first.

I gasp at the refinished, real hardwood floors while the kids run deeper into the house. The spacious entryway and hallway lead straight to the back of the house to double white French doors that open to the backyard, which I want to explore, but the matching French doors on my left steal my attention.

“This,” Gupreet says, pushing through them, “is the former formal dining room that the previous owners converted into a home office.”

Isaiah places his hand on my hip. “I was thinking this could be your sewing room.” It’s the room with the large picture window that looks out on the front yard, letting in a ton of natural lighting. It’s large enough for a proper sewing table, ironing board, a huge wardrobe for my projects, and a cabinet for all my fabric.

“Oh my god, I want it.” I turn and throw my arms around Isaiah, squishing Mirabel between us.

The realtor laughs. “How about we check out the rest of the house before we start discussing putting in an offer?”

“Oh, right. We should probably do that,” I say, stepping back and fanning my face now that I’m all worked up and my eyes are brimming with a few happy tears.

Back in the hallway, we follow past a deep hall closet into an open-concept living room on the right with the kitchen on the left. It has a breakfast nook large enough for a table to seat at least six people.

“As you can see, the previous owners spent quite a bit of time and money modernizing the house, including knocking down some of the original walls separating the rooms.” Gupreet sweeps his arm around the massive space.

The kitchen is painted all white and has a quartz countertop island with an overhang that would fit three or four bar-height chairs. Standing at the island, we face a floor-to-ceiling brick fireplace on the wall opposite. It has a natural wood mantle with space above it for a large TV, and it would be perfect for hanging Christmas stockings. Built-in bookshelves with cabinets at the bottom frame the fireplace on both sides with enough room for all of Isaiah’s books and board games.

“I want it. I really, really want it,” I tell Isaiah, bouncing on my toes.

His eyes crease at the corners with the smile he gives me. “We’re not done with the tour yet.”

“Doesn’t matter. I want it.”

Gupreet leads us back toward the front door, the inset above the peephole casting orange-yellow light onto the floor with the sun shining through it. The narrower hallway off to the side leads to three bedrooms that are even larger than the ones at Shayla’s house, as well as a full hall bathroom with a gray-tiled combo shower and bathtub. The primary bedroom faces the backyard, and through it, we can see Grayson pushing Artie on a newer treehouse-style wooden playground set while Lainey and Gentry play tag in the expansive backyard.

“I want it! Put in an offer!”

“You haven’t even seen the best part,” Gupreet says, opening a door on the right side of the room.

My hand flies to my chest when I gasp at the freestanding soaker tub large enough to fit two people. I clutch the matching quartz countertop of the double vanity and turn huge eyes on Isaiah. “Is this real? Am I dreaming?”

Setting Mirabel down on her feet, Isaiah wraps his arms around me and draws me close to his chest. “So this is it? You don’t want to see any more houses?”

“Nothing could be better than this. Not even the house I originally picked out for us.” I rear back when I suddenly think of something that could derail this dream. “Wait, can you even afford this? I’m going to cry if you say no.”

“Of course we can. I wouldn’t have shown it to you if we couldn’t.” Then his dark brows dip with confusion. “You picked out a house?”

“Yeah, the one two doors down from James and Shayla.”

“When was this?”

“Right before I turned eighteen,” I admit sheepishly.

Lowering his voice and dipping to whisper in my ear, he says lovingly, “You obsessive little thing. You had our whole life planned out, didn’t you?”

“Down to the paint colors for each room and the cream-upholstered sleigh bed we’d buy where you’d take my virginity if you wanted to wait until we got married.”

Gupreet coughs from behind us. “I’m going to step out for a minute and let you talk it over.”

Isaiah laughs, then slants his lips over mine, backing me up against the vanity. “Damn, baby, if we didn’t have all these kids with us, I’d take you right here on this counter.”

I groan and resist slipping my hand between us to see if he’s hard for me beneath his jeans since Mirabel is in the room with us. “Think Gupreet will babysit for a few minutes?”

“Not a chance. Give them a second, and Lainey and Grayson will—”

---