Page 28 of Tiny Precious Secrets (The Brothers of Calloway Creek The Montanas #4)

Allie

“This one really does check off all your boxes,” Julie, our realtor, says, standing in the kitchen and twirling around as if to showcase it.

“Nope.” Bug shakes her head. “I don’t want to sleep in a room that shares a wall with babies who will be crying all night.”

Julie is getting frustrated with Bug. We’ve seen three houses, and in each one, Bug comes up with a reason why we shouldn’t buy it.

I can tell Asher is regretting his promise to let her help choose where we live.

If she keeps this up, it’ll be next winter before the perfect house comes around.

Then again, maybe that’s the game she’s playing.

“Maybe we should reconsider the first one,” Asher says. “That upstairs bonus room could easily be converted into a game room or home theater, and there’s plenty of room for a pool.” He turns to Bug. “And no common wall with the babies’ rooms.”

She crosses her arms. “But I need my own bathroom, Dad. We agreed.”

“Maybe we should expand our search outside town limits,” I say.

“And give up the running trails you love?” Asher says. “No. We’ll just have to make one of these work.”

“But none of them will work,” Bug says. “And you said I could help pick out the house.”

Asher stares down his daughter. “ Help being the operative word. Maybe when you’re the one footing the bill you’ll get more say.”

She stomps out of the house.

“I’m sorry she’s being so difficult, Julie. All three of these houses are beautiful. Maybe if we let her sleep on it she’ll get on board.”

I can just tell Julie is trying to keep her eyes from rolling. She thinks Asher is letting his thirteen-year-old drive this train, and she’d be right. Asher is trying to include Bug to make it easier on her. But all it’s really doing is making it harder on everyone else.

“There is one more possibility,” Julie says, tapping around on her laptop. “It didn’t come up in the search because it’s only listed as having three bedrooms.”

“That’s not enough,” I say. “I’d like the twins to eventually have their own rooms.”

She waves us over. “Look here.” She points to a picture of the floorplan. “There’s an office off the kitchen that could potentially be converted into a fourth bedroom, and there’s even a garage apartment.”

I shrug and look at Asher. “You could use the apartment as your home office.” I point to the room off the kitchen. “This room is pretty big. We could add a closet here and there’s a full bathroom just across the hall. Think Bug would go for it?”

“It’s vacant,” Julie says. “We could go see it right now if you want.”

Asher looks at me to see what I want to do.

“I guess it’s worth a look. It’s a lot closer to the park and McQuaid Circle than the others. I do like that.”

I don’t exactly say it with enthusiasm, though. I already know Bug won’t like it. It’s an older home and there’s no chance for a theater room.

Julie shuts her laptop. “Let’s go.”

When we drive down McQuaid Circle, Asher tries to sell Bug on the location. “You could walk to the movie theater,” he says. “Lots of kids hang out here. There’s an ice cream shop and a bowling alley too. I’ll bet you could get your hair dyed at that salon right over there.”

“Like I have anyone to hang out with,” she pouts, staring out the window.

I turn to face her as we’re both sitting in the back. “I’ve been thinking about that. I have some friends with kids about your age. I could introduce you. Serenity has a son, Cody. He’s super sweet. He’s eleven.”

“Eleven?” Her mouth hangs open like she’s appalled I’d even suggest such a thing. “You want me to hang out with an eleven-year-old? As if I won’t already be an outcast.”

“Okay then, Maddie has a daughter, Gigi. I think you guys would get along great. She’s twelve, but I think she might turn thirteen at the end of the year.”

Her eyes roll to the heavens. “I’m going to high school this year. High school . I’m not going to be seen hanging out with middle-schoolers.”

I sigh. I should have just kept my mouth shut. It wouldn’t matter if I had a slew of thirteen-year-olds for her to meet, she’d find fault in every one of them. Which is why I vow to keep my mouth shut at this next house. If I seem uninterested in it, maybe she’ll actually go for it.

Asher turns and gives me a sympathetic smile.

He knows how hard I’m trying. But it seems the harder I try, the more pushback I get from her.

I don’t know how to do this. I’m sure there’s some delicate balance I need to find between saying too much and too little.

I just don’t have a clue where that balance lies.

“Here we are,” Julie says, pulling her SUV into a driveway and parking in front of the three-car-garage.

Bug’s face is pressed to the side window. “Looks old.”

“Don’t judge a book by its cover,” Asher says. “Sometimes older houses have the best features.”

“Whatever.”

I’m beginning to think the word whatever is one of the primary words in Bug’s vocabulary.

Exiting the car, I instantly key in on the yard. It’s amazing. And I do my best to keep how much I love it off my face and inside my head.

These older neighborhoods tend to have larger yards and more room between houses.

The driveway is long and wide, lined with a beautiful bed of flowers along the outer edge.

There’s a massive oak tree in the middle of the front yard and I can almost see Asher hanging a swing from the sturdy branch about ten feet up.

“This was one of the first established neighborhoods in Calloway Creek,” Julie says.

“While new neighborhoods tend to have houses of similar sizes and price ranges, this one is quite eclectic. This house is one of the larger homes, and it undoubtedly has the most expansive yard. There’s also plenty of room for an addition if you ever needed more space.

The unfinished basement can easily be converted into a theater room.

” She turns to Bug, knowing what her hot spots are.

“Just wait until you see the back yard. You could practically put in an Olympic sized pool.”

A lawnmower starts in the yard next door. I turn to see a familiar face. Carter Cruz, one of Mia’s brothers, raises a brow when he sees me. I’d forgotten he lives in this neighborhood. Makes sense. It’s close enough to their autobody shop that he can walk there.

I eye his house. It’s on the smaller side. Three-bedroom, two-bath I’d guess. It sits atop the same small hill this house is on, making me wonder if he’s got a walkout basement.

Though the Cruzes and the Montanas don’t usually mingle, Mia and me aside, I give him a wave and cordial smile, wondering what it would be like living next to Mia’s oldest brother.

On the left side of the house, there’s an outer stairway that looks like it leads up to the apartment over the garage.

It reminds me of my own setup in my parents’ house, and I hope there’s an interior set of stairs, too.

That would definitely make it easy for Asher to use the apartment as an office.

The house is red brick with off-white trim. Most of the house is single-story with tall columns towering over the large, welcoming front porch. I can already tell this house has character.

When Julie lets us in the front door, my jaw drops.

Being an older house, I expected a closed floorplan with separate, boxy rooms, maybe even with wood-paneled walls.

But it’s evident this house has been remodeled from top to bottom.

My eyes are drawn across the expansive, open-plan living area to the wall of sliding doors in the back that overlook a massive deck, and beyond that, a backyard that’s so deep I can’t see the end of it.

Bug must see what I do and she strides to the windows. “You weren’t kidding,” she says to Julie.

Julie unlocks the slider on the far right. “These doors all slide back into the wall, making a great indoor/outdoor space when the weather is right. Perfect for entertaining.” She turns to Asher. “And what all men seem to want—a large outdoor kitchen.”

Asher elbows me and we share a look like we’re both thinking the same thing. He offers me an encouraging smile.

I like it. I really, really like it. But I try to keep my face impassive. And I definitely am going to keep my mouth shut.

Like a lot of older homes, there is a cluster of bedrooms all in the same area. Bug’s hands land on her hips. “This won’t do.”

“Come with me,” Julie says. “I had something else in mind for you.” We follow her through the large living room, past the kitchen, and to the back hallway where there is a big, empty room with an impressive view of the backyard. “What do you think of this?”

Bug looks around. “It’s so… boring. And there’s not even a closet.”

Asher steps forward and pounds on the wall. “We could put one right here, the room is certainly big enough. And I’m thinking we might even be able to put in a door to the bathroom that sits on the other side of that wall there so you could have your own entrance to it.”

She shrugs, looking unimpressed. “No pool. No theater room.”

“We’ll put in a pool,” Asher assures her. “And remember what Julie said about the basement. So how about we at least finish the tour before you start listing all the reasons we shouldn’t get this one either?”

She stares out the window. “Fine.”

That word joins whatever at the top of her word list.

Julie leads us back through the kitchen, that I love, by the way. Double ovens, an industrial-sized refrigerator, and enough counter space for an army. Behind the sizeable walk-in pantry is a door that opens to a staircase. “And this goes up to what would be your office, Asher.”

Bug parks her ass on the counter, seemingly ending her tour right there. I guess she’s already made up her mind about this one. I try not to get too upset about it. Maybe Asher is right and she’ll change her mind about one of these houses after she sleeps on it.