“Wait,” she said, reaching for his arm. “Come in? Who lives here? You said I didn’t have to see anybody.”
“I own this house,” he told her before he got out. “This is the one that has sat empty.”
Callie opened her car door and followed Noah up the thin steps to the front door with a small stained-glass window adorning the top.
He unlocked the door and gestured her in first.
“Noah, this house is stunning.” She moved through the open floor plan, trying to take in the giant room all at once. “I love how this is all so cozy, yet open.”
There was a tall stone wall only a few feet wide that was the center of the main floor and somewhat separated the living area and the dining room and kitchen. Water trickled down the stone, making her instantly relax. The neutral colors weren’t masculine or harsh.
She turned back to him. “This house is so different from your other one.”
He nodded. “That’s because I had this one built to my specifications after my first house on this property nearly washed away.”
“Washed away?”
He motioned for her to enter the living area on the other side of the stone waterfall.
“This was the first house I purchased after I started my practice.” He pointed to a picture on the end table. “I lived here about five years before flooding took it. I remember thinking that I had nothing but an empty, muddy lot.”
Callie stared at the photo, trying to even fathom a house simply washing away.
“I didn’t realize there was a flooding problem out here.”
He came to stand beside her. “The drainage isn’t great, so if it rains too much, too fast, we have floods.”
She turned to face him. “I know you’re trying to teach me a lesson here, but I’m not getting it.”
His bright eyes bored into hers as he rested his hands on her shoulders. “I had an ugly thing happen in my life and I had a choice of whether I wanted to let it consume me and feel sorry for myself or if I wanted to take control of my life and turn this unwelcome disaster into something positive.”
Callie glanced to the picture and back to him. “Are you comparing me to this house?”
He turned her body to face the stone centerpiece again and eased her closer.
“That stone was all I had left when my home was destroyed,” he told her. “I used all I had to rebuild my life. But I not only rebuilt it, I made it better.”
His words hit her straight in her heart. She wanted to rebuild her life, truly she didn’t want to be that person who sat around and cried for herself, but she had no clue how to rebuild.
“If I thought I could take my life and make it better, Noah, I would.”
He eased her back around to face him as he gathered her into his warm, caring embrace.
“It will be better.” He kissed the top of her head and eased back. “The microdermabrasion went well and we can do another soon. I’ve talked with a few colleagues and we all seem to think that will make a tremendous difference over the next few months until we can further explore surgery options…if we even have to go that route.”
Callie tensed. “Really? You think surgery may not be needed?”
“The swelling is gone in the tissues beneath the laceration and the wound isn’t as deep as we’d first thought. The healing is looking remarkable.”
Tears burned Callie’s eyes. “I want to hope, Noah. I don’t even mind surgery. I just want to be me again, but I’m afraid.”
Noah tilted her face up to his and captured her lips. Softly, lovingly he coaxed her lips apart and showed her how he felt.
“I’m not afraid, Callie,” he whispered. “I’m excited for your future. This is going to work and we are going to battle it together.”
She lifted her lids and looked him in the eye. “You’re always such a confident doctor.”
“I won’t lie to you,” he told her, still framing her face with his hands. “It will take time. But I believe we can really make this minimal. The wound itself isn’t as bad as I’d first thought.”