Page 42 of Icebound Hearts
I grin, liking that she got the same vibe I did. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. It didn’t feel like a house you could really live in, you know?”
“But what about the pool?” Jake asks as I start the car and pull away. “It was so cool!”
“The pool was definitely my favorite part of the house, and I feel like that says a lot,” I say, more to Violet than to Jake, and she laughs.
“Yeah, I could tell as soon as we walked in that that one was probably a ‘no’ for you.”
“You know me pretty well, heartbreaker,” I tell her with a grin.
I put the car in reverse and drive out of the community, not at all disappointed to see it go. Even Jake doesn’t seem to be bothered, which is good because I really don’t think he’d be happy living there. Besides, I don’t think I saw a single otherkid in the neighborhood on our drive in or out, despite Ashley’s promises of Vermillion Cliffs being super kid-friendly.
“Daddy, I’m tired. Are we almost done?” Jake asks, squirming in the back seat.
“We’ve got one more house to see today, buddy. But it’s a bit of a drive from here so you can take a little nap if you want.”
“Okay,” Jake grumbles, his head falling against the window. I glance at the clock in the dash, then smile at Violet. “What did I tell you? Out cold in an hour, almost on the dot.”
Violet shrugs. “There’s been a lot of excitement today. Can’t say I blame him.”
The final house is on the north side of town, so it takes about thirty minutes to cross up there. Violet and I stay quiet during the drive to let Jake sleep, but as soon as we pull onto the street where the house is, Violet perks up.
“Is that it?”
“Yup, that’s the one.”
I pull into the driveway and park, and Violet just sits staring through the windshield. It’s not new construction, but it’s not ancient, either. The front yard sports a full, well-maintained garden that gives some privacy to the otherwise exposed house. There are only a few others on the street, which I appreciate. And there are several kids playing in the nearby yards, which is a good sign.
“It’s so cute,” Violet says as she unbuckles her seatbelt. “Not too big, not too small.”
“Exactly what I thought when I saw it online. It’s got a few more square feet than the current house, but not so much that it would be impossible to take care of for a single dad. And guess what? It has a pool. Not a very big one, but it’ll do the job for the few months it gets hot here.”
“Jake will love that.”
“So will I.”
I kill the ignition and turn in my seat to find Jake passed out and drooling a little on his shirt. He’s not going to be happy about being woken up, but there’s no way around it. I open the back door quietly and shake him gently.
“Jake. Wake up, buddy. We’re here.”
He rubs his fists into his eyes, then drags the back of a hand across his face to wipe away the drool and blinks away his confusion. “We’re home?”
“Well, maybe. But no, we’re here to look at a house, remember?”
“Oh, yeah.”
He’s still kind of out of it, so I unbuckle him and hoist him up on my hip to carry him into the house. It’s a private owner selling, and they gave me a code for the lockbox in advance, so I pull it up on my phone and use it to let us all inside.
“I love the glass work on this door. It’s beautiful, and so detailed,” Violet says, trailing her fingers across the stained-glass artwork depicting a rising sun.
“Apparently, all of the glass in the house was done by the owner,” I tell her, and her eyes widen.
“Wow. I can’t wait to see the rest.”
I set Jake down on his feet and close the door behind us carefully. The glass really is gorgeous, even if it is a little old fashioned, so I don’t want to damage it. I can be a little hard on things.
Beautifully stained hardwood floors stretch throughout the single-story house, and judging from the looks of them, they’re made from real wood, not vinyl, and are probably the original floors. The foyer feeds right into a large, split-level living room. There’s space for a large TV and other typical stuff on the lower level, and space for what could probably be a small office area on the upper.
“This one has some stairs!” Jake says as if it’s the coolest, best thing in the world, and hurries over to the four or five steps that lead to the upper section. “All my toys can live up here!”