Page 133 of Caught in the Axe
I frowned at him.
“I know you don’t want to be a kept woman, but why pay for housing when my condo is so close to campus? Plus, do you really want to move into student housing?”
I most certainly did not want to move into student housing, but that was beside the point. He could not just tell me where I’d be living.
“Surely I can find something decent and cheap not too far from campus.”
He dropped his head back and laughed. “In Boston?”
Yes, I was being hopelessly naïve, but the thought of compromising any of my hard-won independence still terrified me. But I wanted to spend every free moment with Owen, so I’d be at his condo a lot, right? And the place was amazing…
He leaned in and kissed my forehead. “You know what? I love you so much that I’ll live in a rat-infested basement in Brighton if it makes you happy. I don’t care where we live, as long as I get to wake up next to you every day.”
God, could he be any more perfect?
His eyes were twinkling as he pulled back. “Screw my condo. The views are overrated. Who needs all those pretty places within walking distance? Or the gym? The doorman? Way too much. Don’t even get me started on the rooftop pool.”
“Rooftop pool?” I asked casually. “You’ve never mentioned that.”
He winked. “Only the best for my Maple Sugar Queen.”
I settled back into the couch and put my head on his good shoulder.
We were quiet for a long time before he cleared his throat. “I had another idea. Maybe someday we could find a cabin up here. Just for vacations. I think Maine is growing on me.”
“Is that right?”
“I want to visit more, spend time with Merry and Theo, come up for holidays, that kind of thing.”
I closed my eyes and exhaled. “I’d like that. We could come up during the summer and work on finishing our list of hikes, waterfalls, and strange roadside attractions.”
“Our list is very long,” he agreed.
“Hmm. Yes, it’ll take many, many years to complete it.” I snuggled up closer to him.
“Then I guess you’re stuck with me for a long time.”
“Guess so.”
“Good.” He dropped a kiss to the crown of my head. “Because I plan to love you like Lloyd loves Diane. I’ll never hold you back. I’ll always champion you. And I’ll be the guy rooting for you every day.”
Tears stung at the backs of my eyes as my heart tripped over itself. In the space of a month, this man had made me feel so seen and cherished.
“You taught me that we get to create our own futures,” he mused. “That we can grow and heal from the past and chase our dreams. I want to do it with you, as a team, every single day.”
Epilogue
Owen
2 Weeks Later…
Today was the day. We were finally closing.
Gus, as the acting CEO, had hundreds of pages to go through and dozens of places to sign.
Sara had come through for us. She and her team had fiercely negotiated and made sure every single detail was wrapped up.
The work Lila and I had done had sped the process along, and Strategic Timber was impressed. We hadn’t shored up every detail, but they were happy enough to throw money at us without concern over the unanswered questions.
