by SJ McCoy
He pulled up beside her truck and smiled at her as he jumped down. “It’s even more beautiful than I remembered,” she said with a smile.
“Our house is beautiful, but you are the most beautiful thing in the world,” said Nate. He took her by surprise, sweeping her off her feet and scooping her up in his arms.
She laughed. “What do you think you’re doing?”
He grinned and carried her up the porch steps to the front door. “Getting us off on the right foot.”
She clung on to his neck while he struggled with the key in the front door and then pushed it open. “Welcome home, my love,” he said with a smile as he stepped over the threshold.
She looked around, realizing what he was doing and laughed. “You really are a romantic at heart, aren’t you?”
He nodded vigorously. “I am. You brought out my inner romantic, and now you get to be the beneficiary of all the romantic gestures I can dream up.”
“Ooh, I like the sound of that. Don’t go getting too mushy on me, though, will you? I don’t think I could handle that.”
He laughed and set her back down on her feet. “Good to know. In that case go unload your truck, woman. I’ll let you carry the heavy stuff, and I’ll just bring the trinkets.”
She slapped his arm. “Don’t go too far the other way either. I’m hoping for equality and understanding with a touch of romance here and there.”
Nate took an imaginary pad and pen from his shirt pocket and pretended to write a note. “Duly noted, ma’am. Now let’s both get to work. I reckon we can get all your stuff inside in an hour and then we can head back into town to get my things.”
She grinned and headed back out to her truck. “We’re really going to sleep here tonight, aren’t we?”
Nate waggled his eyebrows. “We’re going to spend the night. I don’t know how much sleep I’m going to let you get.”
By early afternoon they had all their things moved in. There were little piles in a few of the rooms, mostly clothes in the master bedroom, a few dishes in the kitchen and some gear in the garage. Nate came into the kitchen from the garage and stopped when he saw Lily unwrapping dishes.
She looked up at him with a smile. “How are you doing?”
“I’m all done with bringing things in and putting them in the right places. Next, I need to start putting them away. We’re going to need more storage, though. And to be honest, I’m starving. Do you think we should go into town and get some lunch, and then maybe head down to the mall and start our furniture shopping?
Lily looked around. “Yeah. I’m hungry, too, and it didn’t occur to me to go grocery shopping.”
“That’s okay. We can pick up the basics from the grocery store on the way back. How long do you need?”
“Just give me ten minutes to finish putting these away.”
“Okay. I’ll go and make up the bed. That’s the only thing that really needs to get done today, and we’ll probably be too tired to get to it later.”
“Good thinking. It seems you’re much more practical than I am.”
Nate laughed. “Maybe, or maybe I just can’t wait to get you in there.”
She laughed with him. “I’d love to take you up on that right now, but I guess we’ll have to wait until tonight.”
“Yep. You get finished up in here, and I’ll be back down in a few.”
~ ~ ~
When they were both ready, they went out and got in Nate’s truck. “Do you want to go to the Boathouse?” he asked.
“I was thinking we could try the café up at the plaza. What do you think? It’s much closer, and I guess it’s going to be our local place now we live here.”
Nate nodded. “Yeah. I guess we should start as we mean to go on.”
When they got to the plaza, Lily was surprised how busy it was. She looked at Nate as they walked through the main pedestrian area toward the square. “It’s certainly drawing people in, isn’t it?”
“Yeah. Austin was right. We underestimated demand by a long way. Oh, crap.”
“What?” She followed his gaze and saw Pete and Holly, walking toward them. “Oh.”
“Hey.” Pete grinned at them. “This is the big move in weekend, isn’t it? I’m glad to see you’re out patronizing your local stores.”
Nate nodded. “Yeah. We’re just going to grab a quick lunch before we head down to the mall for furniture shopping.”
“Ooh, have fun,” said Holly. “They have some great stores down there. I was surprised.”
Pete shook his head. “You were surprised because you lived in LA your whole life and thought this was the boonies when you moved here. It’s really quite civilized, isn’t it, Lil?”
Lily smiled at him. “It’s a hell of a lot more civilized than LA, if you ask me.”
Pete laughed. “I’m with you on that. I much prefer small town to the concrete jungle.”
Holly made a face. “That’s my home town you’re talking about. Small and quaint is good, but don’t go knocking the city. It’s not worse; it’s just different.”
“Sorry.” Pete turned to Nate with that weird little smile of his. “So, are we all invited to come see your new place tomorrow?”
Lily would have sworn that Nate was mad at him for asking, but he smiled and looked at her. “If that’s okay with you?”
She nodded. It’d have to be. She could hardly say no, that she wanted him all to herself before he had to go back to work again. “Of course.”
“Great.”
“I’ll give you a call,” said Nate, “and let you know when we’ve got the place presentable.”
“And let us know if you need any help with anything, won’t you?” asked Holly.
“Thanks,” said Lily.
“I think we can help with a little send-off party before Nate has to go back to work.” The way he was smirking at Nate was starting to annoy Lily. It was as if he knew how hard it was for them to have Nate working away so much, and he was teasing Nate about it. Nate didn’t seem to mind too much, though. In fact, she’d swear he even winked at Pete!
“We have an awful lot of work to do before he goes back to work,” she said. “We’d better get going.”
She started to walk away. That was rude of her, and she knew it, but she was mad at Pete, and she didn’t want to waste any more of their precious weekend standing around talking to him.
Nate said his goodbyes and caught up to her. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sorry. But we’ve got a lot to do and not much time to do it.”
Nate smiled. “We do, maybe we should get a sandwich to go and eat them on the way?”
Lily nodded. It was the practical solution, but she felt like Pete had stolen away their chance to sit and have lunch together.
“We don’t have to.”
“It makes the most sense. Sorry, I’m just being prickly again. Pete seems to bring out the worst in me lately.”
Nate smiled. “Never mind him. He means well.”
Lily huffed. “If you say so.”
Nate took hold of her hand as they reached the square. “He does.” Instead of going into the café, he led her across the square to the little garden area in front of the clock.
“What are we doing?”
He grinned and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “Humor me, would you?” He said as he held his phone up in the air to take a photo of them. “Say cheese.”
Lily laughed. “Maybe cheesy is a better word?”
Nate gave her a hurt look. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, you’re a hard woman, Lily Wells.”
She shrugged. “I used to be, but you’ve softened me up a lot.”
Nate held his phone up again and snapped a picture as he kissed her on the cheek, making her laugh again. “You say a lot; I say a little. I’ll have to keep working on you.”
She nodded. “It may take you a while.” She managed to stop herself from saying ‘since we only get the weekends for you to work on it.’
He put his phone down and hugged her to his chest. “That’s okay; I’m thinking it’ll take the rest of my life.”
She jerked her head up to look into his eyes. What did he mean?
He smiled. “But for now, we’d better go get those sandwiches and hit the road.”
~ ~ ~
By Sunday lunchtime they had the house almost looking like a home. It was still sparsely furnished, but they’d hung a few pictures—Nate had printed off the one he’d taken under the clock yesterday and put it in a frame on the mantel.
Lily had looked so pleased when she saw it. “That clock is proving to be a special place for us, isn’t it?”
Nate smiled. “It is. I almost …” He stopped himself short. He had to stop doing that. He’d nearly given himself away far too many times already.
She raised an eyebrow. “Almost what?”
He had to think of something quick. “I almost didn’t print that off. I felt a bit foolish, but we don’t have many photos of us together yet, and I wanted one to put on the mantel.”
She came and slid her arms around his waist. “It’s not foolish at all. It’s lovely, thank you.”
“I’m glad you like it. I want to have our own touches around the place. While we wait for the things we ordered to come in. It’s weird; we don’t have much history together yet, and I can’t wait to start storing up our memories and mementos.”
She laughed. “There he goes again with his sentimental stuff.”
“Aww, I thought it was romantic, not sentimental.”
Lily shrugged. “I think they’re kind of the same, aren’t they?”
Nate shook his head vigorously. “Nope, sentimental is mushy and uncool. Romantic is cool, and chicks love it.”
She laughed. “We do. Especially when it comes from a guy we didn’t think was capable of it.”
Nate swaggered his shoulders. “Never underestimate me, Lily-Bean. I’m full of surprises.”
“You are. I’m not keen on today’s surprise, though.”
He knew what she meant. She wasn’t happy that Pete had apparently invited himself and the rest of the gang over to see the place. She didn’t know that it hadn’t been Pete’s idea at all. It’d been Nate’s. He’d planned to ask Lily himself if they could invite the gang over, but Pete hadn’t been able to keep his big mouth shut. It kind of worked out, though. He’d rather Lily was mad at Pete than mad at him. “I know, I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault …”
“It kind of is.” He couldn’t let her absolve him of blame when it really was his fault. He just hoped that she’d think it was all worth it when she understood why he’d wanted to have everyone over. “But at least we can show the place off to them all, and then head up to have dinner at the plaza.”
Lily nodded. She didn’t look too happy. “Yeah, and spend the evening with them before you go back to work.”
Nate had to bite back a smile. He covered it by drawing her to him and kissing the top of her head. “We’ve got a little time left before they start arriving. What do you say, do you want to take a glass of wine and go sit on the porch to enjoy the view?”
She brightened up at that. “Yes, I do.” She grinned at him. “I can’t believe that we get to sit and look at that view whenever we want to.” Her smile faded. “Or at least I do, and you can look at it on the weekends.”
He shook his head at her. “It won’t be forever, Lil.”
She made a face. “Won’t it? I mean, I know you won’t be in Seattle forever, but even after you finish the project there, what will happen then? You’ll go on to the next one, wherever that might be, won’t you?”
“Yeah. It’s what I do.”
She nodded sadly. “I know, and it’s what I signed up for, so I shouldn’t be complaining. Let’s get that glass of wine, shall we?”
She still looked down once they were sitting outside with their drinks. “The next project might be much closer,” said Nate, wanting to see her smile again.
She nodded. “I hope so, but let’s change the subject, can we? It is what it is, and I don’t want to spoil the little time that we have together by whining about the time that we don’t have.”
Nate raised his glass. “I’ll drink to that. And it will get better. I promise.”
Lily tapped her glass against his with a smile. “I love you, Nate. I just love you so much that it makes me greedy for more time with you, that’s all. I’m sorry.”
He went to kneel in front of her and took hold of both her hands. “I love that you feel that way. You don’t have to apologize. And in case you ever wonder, I feel the same way, too.” He smirked at her. “It’s just that girls whine more than guys.”
She laughed and pushed at his shoulder. “Don’t push your luck too far.”
He laughed. “I won’t. I’m quitting while I’m ahead.”
They both turned at the sound of a car coming up the driveway.
“Sounds like they’re here.” Lily made a face.
Nate had to laugh. “Come on, play the gracious hostess, and it’ll be over before you know it.”
~ ~ ~
Lily was surprised just how much she enjoyed playing hostess. It was something she used to dread when she and Martin entertained. That had been different, though. Every dinner party and get-together had had a goal and usually, a strategy to make sure the goal was achieved. This little get-together was just about sharing with their friends. They wanted to show off their new house to them; but more than that, it was about sharing their life in a new way. She’d noticed that as their friends had coupled up, they started inviting each other into their homes more. Neither she nor Nate had had a home they wanted to invite people into before, but more than that even, they hadn’t had lives that they wanted to share. They’d been part of the group socially, but not more than that. This felt different, and she liked it.
Laura came to find her in the kitchen and smiled. “This place is beautiful, Lily.”
“Thank you.”
“I know you’re going to be so happy here.”
Lily smiled. “That’s the plan.”
Laura laughed. “It amazes me to see Nate here. He’s so different from the Nate he was a few months ago, and he’s so much happier.”
“Yeah. He’s changed a lot. You remember when I was worried about even sleeping with him because he wasn’t boyfriend material?”
Laura laughed. “He sure as hell wasn’t. Who would ever have thought that he’d turn out to be ...” she stopped herself and looked embarrassed.
“Turn out to be what?” Lily realized that she wouldn’t know what word to use for him either. He was more than boyfriend material—they’d moved in together. But she didn’t know what other name to use for him. “Cohabiting material?” she asked. “That sounds dumb.”
Laura nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s the right word. Maybe we’ll be able to come up with it later.” She looked over her shoulder to where the others were out on the porch.
“Oops. I suppose we’d better get back out there.”
“Yeah, this is your big day; you should be at the center of it all, not hiding in the kitchen with me.”
When they joined the others on the porch, Lily had that weird feeling that everyone knew something that she didn’t again. She needed to sit down and have a talk with herself about that. She seemed to be doing it quite often, and she knew there had to be some underlying cause about feeling excluded—which was ridiculous, considering that their friends wanted to spend so much time with them and she’d rather have time alone for her and Nate.
Pete came over to her with a smile. She wasn’t going to think of it as a smirk—even though it looked at lot like one. “Congratulations, Lily. You got the best house in the whole development.”
“Thanks, Pete. I love it.”
“I do, too. I have to compliment you on your taste—in houses and in men. Nate’s a good one.”
She smiled. “I like to think so.”
It re
ally was a smirk this time. “Thanks for letting us come out here. It’s good that we can all celebrate with you before he has to go back to work.”
Lily made a face but said nothing. She couldn’t get mad at Pete. He wasn’t taunting her, it was just that she was so uptight about Nate having to work away. That was all.
Nate came back outside with Missy and Dan following him. He came and put his arm around her shoulders. “I think everyone’s had the grand tour now.”
“I love it,” said Missy.
“Me, too,” called Emma from where she was sitting on the wicker sofa. “I think it’s the best house on the lake.”
Jack made a face at her. “And you could have had it.”
Missy laughed. “Get over it, Jack. Em was never going to live anywhere other than North Cove. You just wanted to design and build a lakefront house.”
Pete grinned at him. “And your wish will be granted again, soon.”
Lily was having trouble keeping up with the conversation. She knew Emma and Jack lived in Emma’s aunt’s old house, and she could understand that, as an architect, Jack would have wanted to build their own place instead. Then it clicked. “Oh, did you build this place?”
Jack grinned. “I did.”
“Well, thank you.”
He smiled but didn’t say anything. Pete gave her what could only be described as a wary look. “And he’s always designing and building more; that’s what I meant when I said his wish will be granted.”
Lily nodded, not sure why he felt the need to explain that to her.
“Come on, everyone.” Nate sounded irritated. “I think we should head on up to the plaza now.”
Lily looked up at him and caught him shooting Pete a dark look. It really did feel like there was something going on that she didn’t know about. But maybe he was just wanting to get everyone out of here and have dinner so they could come back and still get some time alone together in their new house before he had to leave again.
Chapter Twenty-One
Nate was nervous as he watched everyone pull away. He and Lily were going to meet up with them at the café. He’d wanted the two of them to walk up there, well, he was more concerned about them walking back together. It wasn’t far, and it was a beautiful evening. He was hoping that their walk home at the end of the night would be one they’d always remember. He sucked in a deep breath while he waited for Lily to be ready to go. He was sure he would always remember it; he just wasn’t so sure whether it was going to be one of the best memories of his life or one of the worst! Maybe he was crazy? Maybe he should wait? No, he couldn’t go losing his nerve now. The timing was perfect. Everything had come together just as he’d hoped. Almost everything. And none of it would mean anything if the last piece didn’t slot into place. If Lily didn’t …