Three Rules I’d Never Break by Remi Carrington
Chapter 18
Afew days later, I parked near the end of my driveway, leaving enough room for Eli to turn in and park. I was finally going to give him a tour of my house. It was still hard to picture the place finished, but with the framing up, it seemed more like a house.
Eli’s truck pulled in a minute later, and he grinned as he stepped out of the truck. “One thing I like about this place—it’s very close to where I live.”
“I was driving out to Cami’s—which is now your place—when the realtor was putting the sign up. I pulled over and wrote down the number, but I also chatted with her that afternoon. I put in an offer right away.” I tilted my head up to meet his kiss. “It’s a dream come true.”
“How many acres? It looks like it goes back a ways.” He followed behind as I pulled him toward the house.
“Three acres. The house is set back off the road, but there is plenty of room to fence in space behind the house.” Usually, I mentioned having a dog when talking about the fence, but tonight, I left that part off. We were very early in the relationship, but if things worked out with Eli, I wouldn’t be getting a puppy because he already had the perfect puppy.
He stepped onto the slab. “Sherlock will love that.”
“This is the front porch. It curves around to that side of the house. Eventually, I’d love a porch swing out here. Maybe a few rocking chairs.”
“That would look great.” He walked around the side then back.
I pretended to open the front door. “And this is the house. The living room and kitchen are open. There will be an island there with barstools. The eating area is over here. There will be windows all around here, and I made sure there was room for a big table. Something big enough for family gatherings.” That probably sounded silly since I’d said little about my family. But I’d decided that I needed to create my own family. This house was a huge part of working toward that dream.
“A long farmhouse table with chairs all the way around or will you go with a bench on one side?”
“I love the idea of a bench. I’ll have to see what I can find. But until the place is done, I’m not buying anything. I’d only have to pay to store it.” I led Eli into the room next to the kitchen. “This is the pantry and laundry room. The doorway over there leads to the garage.”
He walked through into the garage. “Nice and deep. It looks like they are putting the water heater out here. That’s good.”
We continued through the house, and I showed him the bedrooms. “This will be my craft room. I’m having him add cabinets to this wall.”
“That’ll be awesome storage.”
I felt a little like a kindergartener showing off artwork. “What do you think?”
“This is impressive, Delaney. Seriously. It’s laid out well. Spacious. This will be a great house.” He strolled to where the back door would be. “Do you know who owns the land on the other side of the fence?”
“It’s a working ranch. Star something. I’m trying to remember the name the realtor told me.”
Eli glanced back over his shoulder. “Stargazer Springs? That’s Beau Henry’s place.”
“That’s it. I think you do know everyone in this town.” I slipped my hand in his. “What do you know about the ranch?”
“Clint is the foreman.”
“Joji’s Clint? So, he’s Lilith’s Beau? I hadn’t put that together. They’ve always been super nice anytime I’ve seen them.”
“They’re good people.” Eli pulled me closer. “The next time there is a meteor shower, we can throw a blanket down in the grass and watch the stars.”
“I’d love that.” I loved that he was talking about our relationship like it would last. I wanted it to last.
* * *
Cami strolledinto the store right after lunch on a Friday. “Hey, there!”
“Hi!” I hadn’t seen Cami since Eli and I had moved from talking on the phone to actually dating, and it wouldn’t at all surprise me if she brought up Eli. “How’s the social media business?”
“Busy. But I just got paid, so I came in here to find something nice.”
I hurried over to a rack. “In my last shipment there were so many cute pieces. These rompers.” I held up one for her to see. “Check out this babydoll.”
Her face lit up. “I love that one! Why do you have to make it difficult? I came in here for that corset I’d been eyeing.” She took the babydoll. “But Harper would adore this.”
“Of course he would. It’s adorable, and it will look fabulous on you.” Knowing Harper had already purchased the corset, I did my best to steer Cami in a new direction without her being any the wiser.
She strolled over to the corset and picked up the hanger. “How are things with you and Eli?” Her gaze danced between the babydoll and the corset.
“Really well. We’ve gone out a few times.”
“Yay!” She put the corset back on the rack. “I just knew it would work. It was the night you went to Joji’s, wasn’t it?”
“You and Joji were in cahoots, huh?”
“You better believe it. I knew if I could get Eli to talk to you that he’d figure out that he liked you. Well, he already liked you. He just needed a little shove.” She laid the lingerie on the counter and crossed her arms. “If y’all end up together, that’ll be one more matchmaking success for me.”
“For you?”
Her nose crinkled. “I get to claim at least partial success. Please. I played a hand in it.”
“I’m not sure Eli needed anyone’s help. He’d been stopping by and texting me even before I went to Joji’s.” What I didn’t tell Cami was that the night on the goat farm had been a key turning point. “But thank you for arranging that evening. It was a nice surprise.”
She rubbed her hands together. “Now that y’all are on your way to a happily ever after, I need a new project.”
“It’s kind of soon to—”
Her hand shot up. “Y’all are totally meant for each other. I can tell. And I know who needs a fella.”
“Who?”
“That author lady. I think her name is Tandy.”
I slapped a hand over my mouth. “For real?”
Cami waggled a finger at me. “Love isn’t just for the young. Surely, there is an older gentleman here in the area who will tickle her fancy.”
“I’d recommend not using the words man and tickle in the same sentence around Tandy. It’ll spark a conversation you don’t want to hear.”
Laughing, Cami dug through her purse. “She asks all the men around here to pose without a shirt. Joji told me about the time when Tandy asked Clint. He just walked off. Has she asked Eli?”
“Not that I know of.”
She slapped her credit card onto the counter. “Well, I’ve seen Eli without a shirt, and he’d definitely look good on a cover. Don’t take that the wrong way. You know I’m not interested in Eli.”
“I know.” I stuffed the receipt in the bag with her purchase. “It was good talking to you.”
“We need to get together. Maybe a double date.”
“That’d be fun.”
“I’ll have Harper set it up with Eli.” She waved as she strolled out of the shop.
I picked up my phone and smiled at the message from Eli. There is a meteor shower tonight.
I knew how I’d be spending my evening.