Page 101 of Only for the Season

But I know how guilty she gets about money. I don’t want her to feel any guilt when it comes to me. It’s bad enough she feels guilty about her parents paying for her to attend culinary school.

I check my watch. “Let’s head directly to the airport. If we don’t have too much traffic, I should make my meeting with the realtor.”

“Buying a house already? When you do something, you go all in.”

“This is not news to you.”

He groans. “As long as you don’t go all in on a keto diet again. The smell in our dorm room from your ‘intestinal issues’ was rank.”

I shrug. “You never should have bet me I couldn’t lose ten pounds in a month.”

“You’re as bad as my brothers.”

We arrive at the airport in less than thirty minutes. Not quite a record, but fast enough to ensure I’ll make my meeting with the realtor.

I dig out the house listings Jade sent me as we taxi onto the runway.

“Find anything interesting?”

“It’s tough. I want to be near the bakery. Parker prefers to walk to work.”

He grins. “Moving her in with you immediately?”

“I would if I could, but she’s stubborn.”

“All good women are.”

“I’m not moving once I settle on the island. I’m ready to buy my forever home.” Not an apartment. A home. I haven’t had one in years and I can’t wait.

Eli flips through the listings. “If she’s willing to bike to work, this place isn’t too far and it has an excellent view of the ocean. There’s a beach as well, although all beaches on the island are public.”

I study the picture of the house he indicated. It’s a Cape Cod with a wraparound porch. I imagine sitting on the porch with Parker, sipping on a beer at the end of the day, while watching our children run around the front lawn.

“If it doesn’t need too much work, I’ll buy it.”

“You haven’t seen it yet.”

I shrug. “I’ll fix anything Parker doesn’t like about it.”

He smiles. “I freaking love you being in love.”

“It scares the hell out of me,” I admit. What if Parker doesn’t love me back? What if I lose her? What if something happens to her?

He claps a hand on my shoulder in squeezes. “You’re on the right track if you’re scared.”

“I guess I’m on the right track then.”

The flight attendant appears and we order some whiskey to celebrate. I’ve missed my best friend. Soon, I’ll be living near him and the woman I love.

I never expected when I fled to Smuggler’s Hideaway to deal with my coding block, I’d end up falling in love but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Chapter 33

“Optimism may have been a bad ingredient choice.” ~ Parker

Parker

Ising as I prepare the dough for my Snow-drift Sirens cookies. The shortbread dipped in white chocolate with sea salt flakes is always a hit at Christmas on Smuggler’s Hideaway.