Where He Belongs. Gail Barrett
off on strangers, I suddenly had a home, a history, a place where I really belonged.”
Her eyes met his. “I’d feel like a failure if I had to sell. My family’s kept this house through all sorts of disasters—the Civil War, the Depression… I’d feel awful if I lost it now. Besides, I love this house. I don’t want to live anywhere else.”
The place had character, all right. It had fascinated him as a kid—the slave quarters under the house, the ruined mill along the river, the bunkers from the Civil War…
But it was the turret off the third floor that really fired his imagination. He still remembered when Erin had grabbed his hand and led him to the top. He didn’t know which had impressed him more: the fairy-tale house or the princess who’d chosen him for her friend.
“It’s a great house,” he agreed. “But it needs a lot of work.”
“I know the roof still leaks.”
“The roof is just the start. We’re talking major repairs here. Foundation joists. Sagging floors.”
“Is it really that bad?” Her exquisite green eyes searched his.
He handed her the list he’d compiled.
Her forehead creased as she studied it, then she turned her gaze to the window. After a moment her shoulders slumped.
She looked defeated suddenly, vulnerable, and he wished that he could protect her. He wanted to kiss the worry from her wrinkled brow and shelter her from the harsh side of life. But this was her house and she had to know the truth.
His gaze roamed the smattering of freckles across her nose and the soft, lush curve of her lips. Then she shivered in the unheated air, and his gaze dropped to her breasts.
His body instantly hardened, which came as no surprise. He’d responded to Erin for years. And not just physically. Even when they were kids, he couldn’t resist her. He’d do anything to make her happy.
He’d sure as hell tried. He’d given her the night she’d wanted, then left so she could find the man she deserved.
She handed him back the list with a sigh. “It looks like a mess, all right, but I’ll figure something out.”
“What’s there to figure out? You have to sell.”
“And I told you I can’t do that.”
He jammed the notepad into his back pocket. “I know you don’t want to, but—”
“I can’t. So let’s just drop it, okay?”
“Drop what? Erin, you have to face facts. This place is falling apart.”
“And I said I don’t care.”
“But—”
“I’m not keeping it just for my sake. Oh, I love this place, and it’ll kill me to let it go. But I can’t sell now, not while Grandma’s alive. I owe her everything for taking me in. And I could never put her out of her house.”
He tried for a reasonable tone. “I’m not saying you should dump her on the street. But you could buy a condo, or maybe put her in a nursing home. It would be cheaper than maintaining this place.”
She shook her head. “I tried that. Well, not a nursing home exactly, but a day-care place for the elderly. It was after she got out of the hospital and I had to go back to work.
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