EPILOGUE

“How long do I have to keep my eyes closed?” Carmen asked. “I’m getting carsick.”

“Just another mile.”

“Bleh.”

Rafe grinned as he turned down the street and pulled into the driveway. Or at least, it would be a driveway someday soon. Right now it was dirt. But it was dirt and a promise, and he wanted to give it to Carmen.

“Just another minute,” he said, turning the engine off. He came over to her side of the truck to open the door.

He saw the disgruntled look on her face and smiled. He took her hand and helped her out of the truck.

“Okay, open your eyes.”

She did, and frowned. “What the hell is this?”

“It’s a house.”

“No, it’s not. It’s a frame of a house.”

He took her hand and led her down the dirt drive. “It’s four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms. It has a huge kitchen and an amazing master bedroom. It has a huge yard for kids and still plenty of space to build a workspace for your furniture restoration—”

She tugged on his hand to stop him midstride. “Wait. What are you talking about?”

“A house. A brand-new, not-yet-built house. For us. To buy.”

She blinked and stared at him. “You want us to buy a house. Together.”

His lips curved. “Yeah.”

He pulled the brochure out of his back pocket and handed it to her.

Carmen stared down at the beautiful color picture of what the house would look like finished. Incredible colors, ample windows to let in light, an amazing island and plenty of space in the kitchen for entertaining, and so many bedrooms. And the lot size was huge.

She lifted her gaze to Rafe. “But how . . . ?”

“I have a friend who builds homes. He’s giving me . . . us, a great deal on this one with all the land. I want to marry you, Carmen. Build this house with you. Or if you don’t like this one, we’ll choose another one. I want you to have your dream—a brand-new house that we can make memories in together. That we can have our forever in together.”

Forever. Together. She had thought she’d move into an apartment so her grandfather could sell his house. Not buy a house. She never thought she’d be able to—

Stop overanalyzing everything and just go for it, Carmen. This is the man you love.

“I want forever with you, Rafe. I want this house with you. I love you. Yes.”

She laughed, she cried and she threw herself into his arms to kiss him.

And then they walked toward the house that would someday become theirs, where they’d start their forever together.