Page 60 of Sheltering Lawson
“Nope, you know where everything is. Aubree will be home in an hour, and we’ll get dinner started.”
“Sounds good. See you in a bit.”
Downstairs, I got lost in my thoughts and stood at the window, enjoying the sights of the city I’d fallen for almost as much as I had for Suttontowne.
“Hey, babe,” Ethan said as he kissed the back of my neck. Then kissed Josette’s forehead. “How are you doing?”
“Good. How was your day?”
“I think I am officially a small-town deputy. I got a kitten out of a tree. Beat out the fire department boys and didn’t even need a ladder.”
I chuckled. “Oh, my God, I’m sure there’s got to be a medal coming your way.”
He slapped my butt. “Sassbucket.”
“Just living up to my promise. Speaking of promises. We need to discuss the details of the wedding.”
“Yeah, yeah, babe. Tomorrow. We’ll have the whole weekend.”
I turned to him with the baby in my arms. “I found a house I’d like you to look at. How about we do that tomorrow, too?”
“A house. That sounds good. Where?”
“Not far from Outlaws and it has this old barn in the back that would make an excellent office for me. I was looking in town, but would like to be closer to Brax. What do you think? It’s sorta a fixer-upper.”
He gave me a wide grin. “Ah, you thinking of using my services, beautiful?”
“I’m always thinking about using your services, handsome.”
He kissed me, and I got the stroller out and set Josette inside. “Want to go for a walk with me?”
“Sounds great.”
He wrapped his arm around me as we walked, and I had to agree. It was great.
TWO MONTHS LATER
ETHAN
I was used to Haley knowing exactly what she wanted, so when we drove over to the house that had caught her eye, I was completely on board. I loved working with my hands. The foundation was in excellent shape, but this Victorian revival, nestled in moss draped oaks, in my opinion, had to be gutted. Haley was okay with that if we kept the historic details. Before I knew it, we were purchasing it. Since we paid in cash, it was just a matter of getting the deed.
We started on renovations the next day and worked steadily. I hired out a lot of the sub-contracting, plumbing, electrical, and drywalling, but was excited about using a lot of the reclaimed wood I had saved from the church pews. Haley loved the idea. I cut and did my own version of a peg and wood floor in the downstairs mixing it in with some matched cypress with enough left over to do her barn floor as well.
That structure was in better shape than the house, but we redid the outside to mimic the gables on the house, built a New Orleans inspired courtyard and a pool along with a great outdoor space that Boone so rocked with his creative talent.
By the time Jake and Sky’s wedding rolled around, we were almost ready to move in. I had gone there after work to do the final installation of the gable accents when Haley drove up. She stepped out of the car and trailing behind her was the cutest black lab.
I came off the porch and kissed her mouth. “What did you do?”
“Well, he needed a home, and I so love dogs. But when I was on the run, I couldn’t keep one. But now, I can buy whatever I want. I’msohome.” She bent down and picked him up. “I think he will be a great addition to our family. His name is Otis.”
I reached out and took him, his body warm, his fur soft. He licked my face and that was the end of that.
She looked at her watch. “We have the rehearsal dinner in about an hour. We’d better get going, take a shower and change. I can’t believe the day is finally here.”
I nodded. “You had a hand in making it something special. Sky was blown away with the table decorations.”
“I was happy to do it. I love those women like the sisters I never had. Speaking of that, they invited us over for dinner as soon as they get back from their honeymoon.”
