Page 146 of Icebound Hearts
“I had the wall removed, just like you suggested when we toured. It was a great idea. And look how much roomier the space feels.”
Jake stops in the center of the room and spins around until he’s so dizzy that he sprawls out on the hardwood, but Violet just stares ahead with one hand over her mouth, the other squeezing mine so tightly that my fingers are turning white. Finally, she turns her gaze to me and lowers her hand away from her mouth enough to speak.
“When did you buy it?”
I shrug. “A few weeks ago.”
Violet stares at me blankly. “We weren’t even officially together then, but you still bought this house just because I loved it?”
“Seeing how much you loved it made me fall in love with it too. And I thought, worst-case scenario, it’d give you a good reason to come back and visit.”
Violet laughs at that. “Always thinking ahead.”
“You have to when you have a family,” I tell her and squeeze her hand. “But there’s one more surprise I have for you. Jake, why don’t you go check out your room?”
“Okay!”
He perks up excitedly and goes zooming down the hall toward his new room, which is exactly what I hoped he’d do. I love my kiddo more than anything, but I didn’t want to give him the opportunity to spoil this final surprise for Violet.
I lead her to the master bedroom and stop at the door. “Close your eyes.”
“Sawyer, I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” she whines through a little laugh.
“Just do it for me. Please?”
Smiling, she nods and closes her eyes. I wave my free hand in front of her face a few times to make sure she’s not peeking, then open the door and usher her inside.
“Keep them closed, we’re almost there.” I shut the door behind us and drop her hand. “Okay, open them.”
“Oh my god!” Violet gasps, clapping a hand over her mouth at what she sees.
Vases cover the room—on the floor, on the windowsills, everywhere they’ll fit—all full of dozens of dark blue flowers. It’s her favorite color, and I made sure the florist made the vases match. She turns to me with tears streaming down her face, unable to speak.
I reach for her hand again, and hers trembles as she takes it. “I wanted this house to be my fresh start, but now I want it to beourfresh start. The beginning of our lives together.”
Without warning, she flings herself at me, wrapping her arms around my neck to kiss me.
“Thank you,” she murmurs between kisses, her voice cracking. “Thank you so much. I don’t know what else to say.”
“You don’t need to say anything. I told you I’d do anything for you, and I meant it.”
Chapter 50
Violet
“Look, here comes Daddy!”
Jake sits up straighter in his seat as he points at the ice. Sawyer comes gliding across it, beaming through his helmet shield, and slides to a stop on the other side of the glass. I scoop Jake up into my arms and hurry to the glass to meet him before the game starts. The Aces just finished their warmup, so he doesn’t have much time.
Sawyer kisses his glove and places it against the glass when we get there. Giggling, Jake returns the favor, slamming his palm against it with a loud thwack.
“Nice jersey,” Sawyer says through the glass, his gaze heating as it settles on me. “No offense to your brother or anything, but I think my number looks much better on you.”
My heart flutters. “Can’t say I disagree.”
“And we match!” Jake adds, pulling his jersey away from his chest to show it off.
“Just as you should. Anyway, I’d better get out of here before the game starts.”