“Wow, I haven’t been up here in a long time. You’ve recaptured its history perfectly,” I tell Hudson with a whoosh of breath. The stone façade has been repaired, it’s lit up, and you can see just how beautiful it is.
“Thank you. It’s been a lot of hard work, but it’s worth it. Stay there. I’ll get you and Beau. You’ll see the best part inside,” Hudson tells me.
I wait impatiently in my seat as he parks the truck, turns it off, and swings his long muscular legs out of the truck. My gaze never leaves his body as he walks around the front of the truck.
Hudson lets Beau out first, letting him do his business, but really, all he does is sniff the air before taking off.
“Will he be okay?” I ask as Hudson opens my door.
“Oh, yeah. I bet, as soon as he roams a bit, he comes right on back. Plus, I may have a treat for him in the house.” Hudson winks.
“You’re surprising me a lot lately,” I tell him and get out of the truck. We make our way to the steps leading up to a beautiful wrap around porch. And wouldn’t you know, here comes my traitorous puppy following Hudson.
“I told you he’d come back, babe. He knows where his mom is.” Hudson unlocks the door, and when we walk in, I take in every single detail of his house. The antique enthusiast in me is absolutely in love.
“Oh, Hudson, this house. It’s so reminiscent of the time period it was built.” I’m in awe. The staircase leading up to the second floor is gleaming, and he salvaged all of the woodwork, including the flooring, the light fixtures, and the brick for the fireplace in the sitting room. It’s utter perfection, and I secretly wish I was the one to help him transform this place into what it is today.
“Thanks, I’m glad you like it.” He watches me as I pivot in a circle, continuously taking everything in.
“Seriously, I bet watching and working on it, seeing it all come to fruition, was amazing. Please, tell me there’s more left to work on?”
“Oh, yeah, the whole upstairs is still left to work on. The first floor is completely done. Upstairs is a damn mess, though,” he groans, rubbing his hand down his face.
“Can I see?” I ask.
“After we eat, I’ll give you the grand tour,” he suggests.
“Deal, but just so you know, if I sneak to see it while you’re cooking dinner, you can’t hold it against me.” My smile is bigger than it probably ever has been.
“I guess I’ll have to keep you busy then.” Hudson winks before grabbing my hand, leading me toward the kitchen. I silently look up at the ceiling, praying like hell this isn’t just a dream. I don’t want to wake up tomorrow without this amazing memory.
13
Hudson
Fuck, the way her face lit up when she saw the house, plus the way she practically salivated to see the unfinished upstairs made me proud. This girl, she’s beyond anything I could ever ask for. What woman would be excited to see a house that’s unfinished? I’m a lucky son of a gun. If I have my way, she’ll be falling asleep in my arms. Yeah, bringing Beau was because she asked, but deep down, I knew as soon as Beau came with me, there would be no reason for her to head back home tonight.
“You want to help, or would you like to take a load off?” I ask her as we walk into the kitchen. She’s still star struck, seeing the gleaming wood I restored. The contractors and I were lucky this place still had everything original, but it had years of wear and tear on top of it.
“I’ll help out. I’m not one to sit on my ass and have someone wait on me hand and foot. My momma would whoop my tail.”
I pull out the ingredients to make pan-seared porterhouse steak, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and a Caesar salad. “While I get the steaks ready, will you prep the vegetables?”
“Definitely, especially in a dream kitchen like yours. Everything is so easily accessible.” Jules makes her way around my kitchen, looking for a cutting board, knives, and bowls to put the salad in.
We work seamlessly together and have our dinner done in no time at all. I suggest we sit at the bar in the kitchen as I’m still building the dining room table. It’s taken me a lot longer to build than I thought, but having to wait on the supplies has been a major hold up.
After we devour our dinner, I grunt, “Leave the dishes. They’ll be there later on,” when Jules goes to load our plates.
“It won’t take me but a few minutes. Besides, you fed me. The least I can do is clean up after us.” She shrugs her shoulders and goes about loading the dishwasher. I watch her for a few minutes until I make my mind up and help her. It’ll get done twice as fast if we work together, much like how we cooked dinner.