Page 42 of Picture Perfect Love

Epilogue

Iwas surprised when Joshua carried me out to the car waiting out front and hopped into the driver’s seat.

“No driver tonight?” I asked.

“Not tonight. This is special. I have a surprise for you,” he explained. “And we have to hurry while there’s still some daylight out.”

“Ah. A surprise, huh? Okay. But I would have been just fine with you taking me to the nearest bed. Or pulling over on the side of the road.” I ran my hand across his thigh. “I’ve missed you.”

“Don’t tempt me, Abby. There will be plenty of time for that.”

I waited patiently while we drove. Well… sort of. I kept torturing him with my daring hands, exploring up and down his leg. Still, I sat back and waited to see what he might have in store for me.

After a short drive to the edge of the city, he finally pulled the car to a stop on a mostly empty street. The sun was setting just off in the distance. I looked at the only thing to be found around us… and couldn’t believe what I saw. Joshua couldn’t have known it, but we just so happened to stop in front of a house that was identical to the one I always imagined myself living in.

It was a medium-sized home, white with black shutters, complete with a cliche, but adorable, little white picket fence. There was a decent amount of land around it, even though it was still such a short distance from the city.

“What a coincidence,” I marveled as we climbed out of the car. “It’s so crazy. I always wanted a house like this. I used to draw pictures of something like it when I was a little girl. It’s only missing one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I don’t want to say,” I laughed. “You’ll make fun of me.”

“Try me,” he grinned.

“Well… there’s the fence and all,” I said slowly. “So, in my dream… I always imagined a dog running around the front yard. Not just any dog. A golden retriever. My grandma had one when I was growing up, and he was the best dog ever. Anyway, where are we? Why did you bring me here?”

I looked to the other side of the street, thinking there must have been something else around that was our intended destination. But Joshua continued down the sidewalk, right up to the latch of the little white picket fence. My mouth dropped when he clicked it open and waved for me to go inside.

“Joshua! What are you doing? Someone lives here! We can’t just go inside their yard!”

He pointed to the corner of the yard to a FOR SALE sign with another smaller sign plastered on top that read: SOLD.

“That doesn’t mean we can just…”

Before I could finish my sentence, an opening in the front door creaked. I looked up to see none other than a golden retriever bounding out of the doggy door in the house, running straight for me like I was a long lost best friend.

“This is so unreal!” I shrieked, dropping to my knees to greet the puppy. She jumped up and licked my face, making me laugh. “Joshua! Look! Can you believe this? She’s just like what I…”

I stopped, realizing that he wasn’t surprised at all. In fact, he hadn’t seemed surprised by my admission of dreaming of this very thing when I was a little girl either.

“Wait. What’s going on here?” I stood up, letting the dog run back inside. “Joshua?”

“Welcome to your new home, Abby,” he announced, leading me to the front door.

I was speechless as he pulled a key from his pocket and slid it into the lock. He opened the house up and led me inside. The interior was everything I used to fill childhood diaries with, right down to the wallpaper in the foyer.

“Now, I know you want to take things slow,” he explained as I looked around with my mouth gaping. “I’ll give you all the time you need. I’ll stay at my penthouse whenever you want me to. You can even keep your apartment, if you want. But this house is yours. It’s ours… For the future, whenever you decide you’re ready.”

I had no words to reply. All I could do was wander from room to room, the feeling of what he had done washing over me. All that time he spent prodding my family and friends for dirt on me, it wasn’t just about little romantic things. It was about the life I had always envisioned for myself. And he had recreated every detail of it.

There was a study filled with a complete law book library and a sparse guest room, which I imagined could one day be converted into a nursery. I looked out the window and envisioned a swing set in the backyard. I could watch the kids play while I worked from home.

“You really did all of this… for me?” I gasped.

“You deserve to have all of your dreams come true, Abby. Hell, I didn’t have any dreams until I met you. But if you’ll let me, I’d love to share yours.”

I walked from room to room with him following behind me before finally stopping in the kitchen and bracing myself over the sink.

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