“What? I can’t wear paint smudged clothes?”
“I’m confused… Why are we headed toward your house?” she asks from the passenger seat of my truck. Pru had changed into a pair of ripped black skinny jeans and a plain white tank top. She’s wearing her hair down, and while I miss her usual braid, I like the way the long blonde locks fall down her back in a waterfall of waves.
“Will you please just let me surprise you?” I beg her.
Sawyer and I had spent most of the day setting up the surprise for her, and I don’t want it ruined before she can see it.
I was lucky Sawyer was even able to help me since he’s been out hunting rogues with Avery all this time. He was also more understanding than Avery when I told them I wasn’t going to go with them. But to my surprise, Ransom offered to go with them as backup. From what I’ve heard, he’s a natural at tracking and hunting down rogues. Sawyer is always good about sending me updates on their progress. I told him if things go bad, I’d be there to help them out, but only if the situation was dire. Sawyer understood why I didn’t want to leave Pruitt; Avery, however, did not.
It was probably for the best I didn’t join them again. Avery knows I’m upset with her about her fight with Pruitt and has been avoiding me for the past couple of weeks. The only reason I know she’s upset is through Sawyer.
“Don’t we think I’ve had enough surprises this month?” She gives me a pointed look, and her dark-red painted lips are held in a smirk. “I mean the whole werewolf thing takes the cake as far as surprises go.”
“Wolf shifters,” I correct her.
“Whatever,” she drawls, rolling her bright green eyes.
“Trust me, I think you’re going to like it.”
I make a turn onto a back road that leads to a driveway I swore I would never go down again because it brought back so many memories I’d rather have forgotten. But now, as I drive down the dark drive, the beacon of light that sits in my passenger seat casts away all the shadows that used to haunt this place.
The Thorne’s white mid-century modern house looms in front of us. Instead of looking dark and vacant like it has for so many years, soft light glows out of the windows. I come to a stop and cut the engine, then turn in my seat, so I’m facing her.
“Ryker…” Pru breathes when she looks at the house. String lights and lanterns hang from the large trees that surround the walkway up to the front door. Candles line the stone path as well. “How did you… How is this possible? Doesn’t someone own it by now?”
“I do,” I announce. “As of yesterday, it’s mine.”
“What!” She yelps.
Instead of answering her question, I hop out of the cab of the truck. I quickly run around the car to open the door for her. When I do, she’s still sitting there with her mouth agape. She doesn’t say anything when I help her out of the raised vehicle or when I take her hand and lead her to the candlelit pathway.
“I want it to be ours,” I say, taking a breath before I continue. “Even though your parents’ story ended tragically, the time they spent here together and then with you, were happy times. And I believe this is somewhere we can live and be happy. Together.”
“Ryker…”
“No, let me finish,” I plead. “I’ve spent a lot of years consumed by anger. I was angry at the world, angry at the rogue wolves I thought killed you, angry with myself for holding onto that anger. But I don’t want to feel that way anymore. I want to build a happy life with you, one where I wake up every morning with you next to me in bed, in a house that already holds so many happy memories. And I want us to build our own memories here in this house.” I stroke her knuckles with my thumb as I hold her small hand in mine. “So, what do you say?”
She turns her gaze away from the house and looks at me, her bright eyes filled with tears.
“Oh, no, are those sad tears?” I ask, scared I’ve made a huge mistake.
“No. No, I’m happy,” she sniffs. “I can’t believe you did this. It’s…”
“Too much? Totally crazy?” I fill in for her.
“No.” She laughs. “It’s perfect. I would love nothing more than to create more happy memories in this house with you.”
And that’s all I need to hear before I’m swooping her up in my arms and pulling her face to mine.
23
Pruitt
While some aspects of the house are dated, it’s still the kind of home you drool over online. The layout is perfect, with tall ceilings and big windows that cover the whole back of the house. It has a perfect view of the shimmering lake below, and I have a gut feeling my parents used to sit on the patio at night watching the sunset over the water.
I’m heartsick I don’t actually have those memories, and I must rely on people like Ryker to tell me about them. But if I close my eyes, I can almost imagine what my parents’ life here was like. I imagine them laughing in the kitchen while making dinners together, I imagine them cuddled up on the couch in the living room watching movies on a cold night, and down the hall where the bedrooms are, I imagine my mom’s voice coming through the doors as she reads me a bedtime story. And I imagine my life with Ryker here can be as happy as theirs was.
“We will have the kitchen and bathrooms redone before we move in,” Ryker tells me as he whisks me around the house, giving me the grand tour. “And the floors probably need to
