I could see the spit and fire in her coming out and I loved it. It would be hard for me not relying on Janet to take care of almost everything in my life, but I knew Paislie was right. It was time I stopped relying on everyone else.
Fifteen minutes later, I placed the basket and quilt in the back of the truck. “What about the flowers?” she asked.
“I’ve already made arrangements to have them delivered to a local nursing home.”
I could see something move over her face as she gave me that goofy smile. Biting her lip, she asked, “Are you sure we have to go see the house? I’m thinking maybe we should keep celebrating our engagement.”
With a laugh, I took her hand in mine as we walked down the path and toward the large castle looking house. “Oh, I’ve been wanting to get a better peek at the house! I hope the next time the Russell’s are in town maybe they’ll invite us over for a dinner party!”
“Oh, I think you might be getting a better look sooner than you think,” I said as I tried not to smile from ear to ear.
I continued to walk to the house as Paislie said, “Malcolm, I thought you were taking me to the house you bought?”
We stopped at the front door and stood there.
“So, are you going to tell me why we’re just standing here?”
My heart was racing. “We’re waiting.”
Her eyes darted back and forth from the front door to me. “O-okay. Waiting for what?”
The door flew open and Sophie ran out. “Uncle Malcolm! Paislie!”
Sophie ran right into my arms as I hugged her and kissed her. “Can I tell her?”
We both looked at Paislie as she stood there stunned and confused as hell. “Sure you can, princess,” I replied as I kissed her cheek.
“Paislie! This is your new house!”
The color drained from Paislie’s face. “Come again?” she asked as Sophie looked at me with a confused face.
“What does that mean?” she asked as I threw my head back and laughed my ass off.
When I finally stopped laughing, I looked at the love of my life and said, “Welcome home, Paislie. The first two floors belong to us and the top two belong to Emmit, Adaline, and Landon.”
“And the new baby!” Sophie cried out.
I kissed Sophie on the cheek and put her down. “Yes, and the new baby.”
Paislie closed her eyes and shook her head as if clearing her thoughts. “Wait. Hold on, you bought this house?” She pointed back to the house and asked again, “This house? As in . . . the house that belongs to the Russell’s?”
“Yes, but the house belongs to us. Emmit and I bought it, along with the vineyards.”
She sucked in a surprised breath. “The vineyards?”
“Yep,” I said with a nod of my head. “Emmit and I formed a corporation together.” Wiggling my eyebrows, I said, “We’re in the business of wine grapes now. And hopefully, olive oil.”
Paislie looked more than stunned. “What about . . . I mean. Neither one of y’all want to do anything with racing?”
“Oh, hell yeah. We’re going to build a team most likely and be co-owners. I’m thinking that will be a few years down the road; once we get the hang of all of this, we can concentrate on that.” Flashing her a smile, I said, “You can take the boys out of racing, but you’ll never take the racing out of the boys.”
She stumbled back a few steps.
“Uncle Malcolm, Paislie looks sick.”
Reaching out for her, I asked, “Paislie. Are you okay?”
“I . . . I . . . I need to sit down.”