She took my hand when I extended it. We walked up the porch, and I punched in the code and opened the door. Bristol walked in and gasped as she took in the Victorian-style décor. A massive staircase stood before us as we stopped in the foyer.
“It reminds me of Irma and Irwin’s house.”
“Yeah, it’s part of the reason I bought it. Mom and Grams helped decorate it. I mainly just spend my time in the gym, the man cave—which is just a living room that looks like a bachelor lives there—and the kitchen. When I’m not in any of those places, I’m in the studio. There are five bedrooms, six bathrooms. A pool and hot tub out back as well as a fire pit.”
After a quick tour of the house, I brought Bristol upstairs to my room. I could tell her head was spinning. It was one thing to know I was successful, another to see exactly how successful. I had no idea how I was going to break the news to her that I had paid off her mortgage on the tea room and her home. I knew she’d be pissed.
She turned to face me when we walked into the bedroom, and I saw it in her eyes.
Fear.
“There’s no competing with this.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
She turned in a circle. “Anson, your bedroom alone is huge. Why would you ever want to leave a home like this and live in Comfort part-time?”
I walked over to her, and I pulled her into my arms. “Do you know where home is to me?”
Her eyes met mine.
I placed my hand on her chest. “Right here. You’re my home, Bristol. You always have been, and I was stupid not to come back to you. I was a coward. When I saw you that day in Comfort, and you punched me…” I shook my head and laughed. “I’ve never felt more at peace than I did that day.”
I motioned around the room with my hand as I went on. “This doesn’t mean anything to me. I was told to buy a big house, so I bought a big house. I lived in a loft in downtown Nashville for a few years before my financial guy told me I needed to buy property. I don’t care about this, any of it. When I kiss you, Bri, I can’t help but feel like we’re walking in that field again, just you and me, and I’m overcome with a sense of peace. I want to utter the words I love you a dozen times a day so you don’t forget. Because I haven’t been able to say that in the last few years, even though I thought it daily.”
“Anson,” she whispered as she wiped a tear away.
“Bri, don’t you get it? No matter where we are, here in Nashville, in Comfort—hell, even in a run-down shack—no matter where we are, when I’m with you…when I’m with you, I’m home.”
“I love you so much.”
With a smile, I cupped her face and brushed my lips over her mouth as I whispered, “I love you more.”
She half-sobbed, half-laughed before I stopped her with a kiss.
Bristol
LANNY STOOD BEHIND me and smiled brightly as we both stared at my reflection in the mirror.
“Anson is going to crap his pants when he sees you.” She chuckled.
My mouth opened and closed a few times as I stared at myself. First off, I was wearing a freaking Versace gown.
Versace.
And Louboutin heels.
Secondly, I had on diamond drop earrings that probably cost as much as my car. Lanny had some hairstylist come to the house and style my hair up in a French twist with little wisps that hung down around my face and neck. Not to mention, the sweet girl who came and did my makeup and offered to give me tips.
A light knock on the bedroom door had Lanny and me both looking over our shoulders as Anson walked in. I nearly dropped to the floor when I saw him.
“I think I forgot how to breathe,” I whispered to myself and maybe to Lanny. I couldn’t take my eyes off Anson.
“I always forget how nice you shine up, but the cowboy hat, Anson? Really?”
I turned to look at Lanny. She seemed totally unaffected by the man standing before us. The beyond handsome man who wore a black tux and a black cowboy hat. The only thing he didn’t have on was the cowboy boots.
“I don’t go anywhere without my hat,” he said with a wink in my direction. Then his eyes slowly perused my body. He took in every inch of me.
The gown had a black lace strapless top and a flowing pink satin skirt that came up and twisted over the black bodice. The slit on the side of the dress damn near came up to my hip. The skirt was long, and a train flowed behind the dress. I had made a comment to Lanny that I was going to step on the damn thing and fall. Or worse yet, rip it. This dress had to cost thousands.