Blake pulled into the gravel driveway as Kaelynn busied herself on the call. She was assisting a small company setting up a fundraiser to send boxes to military men and women overseas for the Fourth of July.
Coming to a stop, Blake and I got out of the truck and started down the path a little ways. I had purchased this land last fall and hadn’t told anyone until last week when I told Charlie and Tucker. Blake had been helping with the design of the house for the last month when I stopped by his office and asked him for his input.
“She has no idea?”
“None.”
“Think this will be enough land for her?”
“Oh yeah. Kaelynn is a simple woman who doesn’t need much. That’s one of the things I love about her. She can afford a mansion on Lake Travis, but she’ll prefer a country house on fifty acres.”
Blake smiled. “You still have those plans for the log cabin in Utah?”
My stomach dropped at the mention of Utah. Kaelynn and I had spent the most amazing week there. One I would never forget. We had talked about building a log cabin on the land that was to be given to her by her parents. Kaelynn said she knew the perfect building site that would overlook the same exact mountains we had looked at day after day when we were stuck fr
om the snowstorm. That was the week that I learned I would never be able to live without this amazing woman in my life.
“Sorry about that, you guys. Lindsey is a bit of a difficult client and thinks I need to drop everything and . . .”
Her voice trailed off as she saw the view in front of us. It wasn’t anything like the view she grew up with, but it was beautiful, nonetheless. It faced the west and the sun was starting to set.
“Wow. This is stunning. Blake, did you buy this land?” Kaelynn asked.
Blake laughed. “Kaelynn, do you honestly see me living in the country? There isn’t a Starbucks for miles. Where would I go for a quick piece of ass? Not a club in sight.”
She giggled and turned to face me. I handed her the large envelope and watched as something in her eyes changed. Her hands shook as she opened it and pulled out the smaller scaled version of the house Blake and I had designed together. It was almost the exact version of the house I had doodled on a piece of paper back when we were in Utah. Kaelynn had added a wish list to the side of the drawing with things she would like in the house, like a mudroom, a laundry room with a big sink, a dog-wash station, as well as a rooftop terrace for us to watch the sunset.
A small sob slipped from her mouth before her hand came up. She stared at the drawing and then looked up at me. “Is this our house?”
I nodded. “I bought this land last fall. You always talk about how much you love the hill country. If you want the house bigger, we can go bigger.”
A tear slipped free and she shook her head. “It’s perfect. It’s beautiful; please don’t change a thing.”
Throwing herself into me, I wrapped my arms around her and held on to her.
“I love you so much, Kaelynn.”
Her body shook as she cried harder. When she finally drew back, I wiped her face dry.
“Nash, I love this so much. And the fact that you designed it makes it all the more special. Will Barrett Construction build it?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’ve already got a crew on standby waiting. There’s just one other thing I need to do before we can move forward. Two, actually.”
The truck and car pulling up behind Blake’s was right on time.
“Perfect timing,” Blake said, making his way over to Tucker’s truck. He opened the back door and Morgan jumped out of the truck.
Then Kaelynn’s parents got out of the car and made their way over to us.
“Mom? Dad? What’s going on?” Kaelynn asked in a half-sob, half-laugh as her parents walked up and hugged her.
Reaching out my hand to Kaelynn’s father, I said, “It’s great seeing you again Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker.”
“Thank you for asking us to be a part of this darling. It’s great to be back in Texas.” Mrs. Whitaker said. Kaelynn and I had both flown back up to Utah after Christmas so I could meet her mother and father. They had been to Austin twice since then and had met my parents. I was shocked how well our folks got along. My father and Kaelynn’s hit it off instantly, as did the moms.
Turning to face Kaelynn, her mother smiled. “Nash asked us to be here. I’m only sorry to hear his mom and dad were out of town and couldn’t be here.”
Kaelynn looked confused. “Be here for what?” She turned back and looked at Tucker’s truck.