Page 114 of This Feeling

Laughing, I replied, “Good. And no, they don’t currently have any horses on the property.”

“Oh, what a bummer.”

We rounded a bend in the drive and the house came into view. It was a beautiful two-story, turn-of-the-century Colonial Revival.

“Oh my word, look at that house.” Harper hit my arm. “Look at the gardens! Declan! Look at thegardens!”

Laughing again, I said, “They’ve been meticulously maintained to be reminiscent of a Victorian garden.”

Harper gasped as we pulled up and parked in front of the house. “It’s stunning.”

“It has five bedrooms, three of them have en suite baths. There are two bedrooms that have private staircases that were used back when they had servants.”

Turning to me, Harper’s mouth dropped open. “Shut up!”

“Come on, let’s grab our bags and check it out.”

Harper moved so quickly that I thought she was going to hurt herself. We walked up the cobblestone sidewalk flanked by beautiful flower gardens on either side. The outside of the house had been updated some, but it didn’t take away from the style. The front door was painted red, and there was a small front porch. I wasn’t sure if that would be a deal breaker for Harper or not. The back porch made up for the lack in the front.

“Look at the flower boxes on the windows. I just love it!”

We walked in, and we both just stopped and looked around. “Oh my God, it’s the same inside with the Colonial Revival architecture. Look at the coffered ceilings, the wainscoting…and these hardwood floors. Declan, these look like the original floors!”

“I do believe they are the originals. It’s beautiful in here.”

Harper dropped her bag, visibly excited. “Let’s explore!”

Her enthusiasm to see the rest of the house eased some of the tightness in my chest. She grabbed my hand and pulled me along. First, we entered into a large formal dining room. A wooden table sat in the middle, with plenty of room for a buffet or some other kind of furniture on either side.

“Look at that chandelier. Oh my. And the ceiling! Oh…wow.”

“It’s gorgeous.”

“What’s in here?” Harper asked, as she opened French doors to reveal a sunroom.

“It keeps getting better!”

We made our way out of the sunroom and into the huge open kitchen. “Look! The old stove is in the corner, how precious that they left it!”

“The wood cabinets look new, but they did a good job sticking with the same style as the house.”

“Declan, look at the six-burner stove! We have to go back into town and get more food. I want to cook on that.”

All I could do was laugh.

We made our way upstairs and looked at each bedroom. The colors were beautiful, with soft, creamy yellows, blues, and whites.

“Almost every room has a lake view.” Harper shook her head. “How lovely.”

I watched her as we moved from room to room. I wondered if she could see us living in a house like this and raising our kids. When we got to the master, Harper let out a small scream. “It has a balcony! Oh, Declan, look at this view!”

We stepped out onto the large balcony and took in the view of Moose Lake. There were two oversized lounge chairs, a table that seated four, and an outdoor sofa.

“I have a feeling we’ll have our coffee out here in the morning.”

She spun around and smiled. “Did you not see that huge back porch?”

Laughing, I nodded. “I did.”

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