Page 91 of The Soul Never Forgets

“Augustina gets up, leaves the vanity dresser, and goes to the bed,” I say.

“She grasps the lower part of her gown and lifts it before crawling into bed and straddling Frank.”

I continue the story, “He puts his arms around her and pulls her close as he kisses her.”

Dawsey smiles. “She’s not wearing panties beneath her nightgown.”

“No, she’s not,” I confirm.

The sound coming from Dawsey is a deep, throaty breath. “She lowers her body over his, slowly taking every inch of him inside her until he’s buried to the hilt.”

The moment is broken when the high heels of the realtor click in rhythm on the staircase. “I apologize for that. It was my daughter, she’s sixteen, and I always hate to not take it. She just started driving, and I’m a nervous Nellie.”

Dawsey quickly turns his back on the realtor, pretending to study the view out the window. His body reacted to the memory of Frank and Augustina together. I know because I sense his desire. And the poor thing has to ache without any relief.

“Don’t apologize. We totally understand,” I tell her.

“Do you have children?”

“None yet but we plan to.” Being here again makes me want to start our family tomorrow.

“This would be a great house for raising children.”

“Absolutely.”

“With five bedrooms, the house would accommodate a large family. You could have four children, and each of them would have their own bedroom. No sharing.”

“The house would accommodate us and four children. That sounds sort of like a perfect number, don’t you think?” I say to Dawsey.

“Everything about it is perfect except my practice is in Metairie, and your business is in New Orleans.”

The location does put a wrinkle in the plan. “You could pick up new patients here but there isn’t a huge demand for historical restorations in Pascagoula, Mississippi.”

I’ve worked so hard to build my business. The thought of giving it up guts me.

“How do you feel about selling both of our homes, buying the historical house of our dreams as a primary residence in New Orleans and buy this house as our second home?”

“I love the idea, but can we afford two houses?”

Dawsey and I haven’t talked finances. I make a good living, and I’m sure he does too, but running two households will be expensive.

“There’s an upside. They’re not asking much for this house because it needs a lot of work.”

“Yes, but it costs a lot of money to restore a house.”

“There’s no hurry. The house has been like this for a while. We can take our time on the restoration and do a lot of the work ourselves. Like you said, it’s a good thing we know someone who restores houses.”

“It could take a long time if I’m only able to work on it on weekends.” But I would love every minute I spent here.

“It’s going to slip through our fingers if we don’t buy it now.” He makes a good point.

This is our home. “I would be sick if someone else bought this place. I want our children to know this house.”

“Does this mean you’re putting in an offer?” the realtor asks.

Dawsey and I look at each other and nod.

“Yes. We’re going to put in an offer.”

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