Page 30 of Twice in a Lifetime

He wasn’t wrong. The huge kitchen called to my stress-cooker’s heart, that was for sure, but as much as the stainless steel appliances and six-burner Z-Line were calling to me, I was more concerned about the fact that the open concept living, dining, and kitchen, were all fully furnished... and not in a staging kind of way, but in a someone-is-currently-living-here kind of way.

“Rhodes, wait.” I pulled back on his hand, forcing him to stop and look back at me. “We can’t just wander around. Somebody clearly lives here.”

“It’s fine, I promise.”

He tugged my hand again, but I dug my heels in. “It’s not. This is trespassing.” I scanned the large, open space, ignoring the way my heart thumped at the thick forest that surrounded the property outside the massive wall of windows. But before Icould fully appreciate the tranquil view, my attention caught on the picture frames that lined the raw wood mantel above the fireplace.

I recognized Rhodes’s family in the photographs. Gypsy and Marco’s wedding picture. Sunny’s kids in different stages of growth. All of the siblings huddled together. Then, at the end, there was a photograph of a group of men standing in what looked to be a desert, dressed in combat uniform. And just to the right of center, with his arms thrown around the shoulders of the men on either side of him, was Rhodes, smiling for the camera.

I turned slowly to face him, unable to miss the sheepish look on his face. “Okay, just hear me out.”

“This is your house?”

“Yes, but?—”

I threw my arms out at my sides. “Why would you bring me here when it’syourhouse? You knew I’d fall in love with this place,” I threw out accusatorily.

“I did. And that’s exactly why I brought you here.” He brought his hands up in surrender when my face pinched up in annoyance. “Blythe, I want you and your kids to live here.”

“With you?” My voice rose to a squeak on the last word.

“Yes.”

My head fell back on a laugh. “Rhodes, that’s insane. We can’t live here.”

“Why not?”

My smile fell and my expression turned deadpan. “You’re kidding, right?”

Rhodes held his arms out, indicating the huge, open space all around him. “Think about it. It’s the perfect solution. Koda’s great with kids and having them around will be good for her. She’s got a lot of energy and not a lot to do with it. They’d give her somewhere to focus it.”

“I don’t know?—”

“And I have all this space,” he added quickly before I could turn him down flat. “There’s literally no one but me to use it. You and the kids will have your own rooms. You’ll even have your own bathroom.” I couldn’t lie, that reason alone was almost enough to sway me. “And the best part is, it’s totally free.”

“Rhodes,” I whispered, my face going soft. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

“I’ll stay out of your hair. You probably won’t even notice I’m around.”

“I come with a lot of baggage. Trust me, you don’t want to have to deal with that. You have no idea how much I appreciate you offering this, but I need to think about my family. Every home we’ve lived in since we got here has been temporary. I mean, most of our stuff is still in storage, for crying out loud. It’s not fair to keep moving them from place to place. I need to find somewhere permanent, somewhere that can actually be a home.”

“That can be here,” he insisted, taking a step closer to me. “Look, I understand your hesitation, but I don’t have an ulterior motive here. I just want to help. Your kids are great, and I want them to have room to spread out. And I would be lying if I said it didn’t get lonely here. You guys moving in would be helping me out just as much. I want you to be able to think of this as your home for as long as you want. Please, just... consider it. You guys deserve a fucking break.Youdeserve a break, Angel. Let this be that.”

He spent a few more minutes showing me the rooms he thought we’d all like, and I knew my kids would love the ones he’d chosen. The free-standing tub in the bathroom he’d designated for me almost took me to my knees.

He didn’t say another word about it as he drove me back to work, but as soon as he parked outside the building, he twistedin his seat to look at me. “Promise me you’ll think about it, okay? There’s no time limit on the offer.”

I nodded, giving him a smile and thanking him for everything before climbing out of his truck. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to think about anything else.

Chapter Sixteen

Blythe

“Whoa!” Avett exclaimed as he threw the door open and jumped out of the car. “Check this place out. It’s huge!”

Adeline blinked, unbuckling her seatbelt and leaning between the front seats to stare out the windshield. “It’s really pretty,” she said in quiet awe, her reaction much more subdued than her older brother’s but no less excited.

“It is. And wait until you see the inside.”

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