Silent Echoes Part 43

"Well ...," Lexi started, "even though it's been a few weeks, the buyer for the Weaton Estate still wants to meet A.S.A.P. I think they're ready to move on the project. When ... do you think we could ... you know?"

"Lex, she's been through-" Tripp started.

"Now." Taylor grabbed Ian's wrist and turned his watch toward her. The hands clicked to the twelve. "No. I need to take care of a few things. How about three?"

Ian coughed into his hands. "Girl, you move ... fast."

Emma's eyes grew wide. "Efficiency in motion. That's you, Taylor."

"Work keeps me grounded. It'll get my mind off ... off what happened."

"I'm with her," Lexi said. "Better to be busy."

Ian took Taylor's hands, kissed her knuckles and stared into her eyes. "Word of warning ... but all your files went up in flames. I'll go find out who you owe what people-wise, and you do your thing, and we'll reconvene. Sound good?"

"You're not worried about being away from me?" Taylor asked.

Ian drew her toward him and laid his lips on hers. "Not anymore."

"Three o'clock at the main house, then," Lexi said. "See you there."

a a a Taylor followed Lexi and Emma up the steps of the Weaton Estate main house. The falling-apart homestead boasted two full floors of cla.s.sic, southern American architecture. Her favorite part had always been the wraparound porch that really did go all the way around the building. Had she the financial means to acquire it, and not the bungalow on the other side of what used to be hundreds of acres of farmland, she would have. The home was none other than a piece of American history.

The door creaked on its hinges as Emma pushed it open.

"Watch that board," Lexi said.

"Should you be in here?" Taylor stepped around the rotting wood. "This place could come down right around you." Memories of that happening to her hit her, making her limbs tremble. It's all over. No more games.

"That's why the new owner needs you to check it out," Emma said.

The entry foyer had a similar double staircase with a two-level foyer reminiscent of an old plantation house. Taylor imagined herself walking down them, her hand trailing along the banister. "G.o.d, this place is amazing."

Ian and Tripp walked in from the back, stopped in the middle of the entry and faced the three women.

"You made it." Taylor admired the molding and potentially salvageable woodwork over each doorframe. "How was your afternoon?"

Ian said, "Boring." as Tripp said, "Good."

Riley showed up with the two of them a second later.

"What are you doing here?" Taylor moved to the opposite side, half-listening and half-imagining what she could do with the place.

"Helping the new owner," Riley said.

Blues and creams came to mind as an idea sprung. "Wait, what?" Taylor stopped and stared at Riley. "Did you buy this place?"

"Nope."

She moseyed to a s.p.a.ce she would peg as a traditional living room. "Tripp, do you think your sister would want to work on this with me? To put a bid together?"

"I'm sure she would." His smile bloomed as Lexi went to him.

A fireplace with no mantle or surround stood before her. She imagined a large mirror over the top. Slipping back through to the entry and heading for the kitchen, she turned toward Lexi. "So, who's the owner?"

Ian advanced.

Taylor did the same and laid a small kiss on his cheek. "Wouldn't it be awesome to live in an old house like this?"

A small chuckle came from him.

"Oh, right. You're Mr. New York."

"Well, I don't know about that. Would you like to live in it?"

She slapped his chest. "d.a.m.n right I would. Who are we waiting for?"

"No one," Riley said again in his simple, southern, country charm.

Taylor stopped and tilted her head. She pa.s.sed from Riley to Tripp, to Lexi with her great big smile and to Emma until she got back to Ian. "Tell me you didn't buy this house."

"I didn't buy this house."

"Well then, who did?"

"Me," Ian said.

"But you just said-"

Laughter filled the room.

"No, you told me to tell you that. So I did."

Taylor's eyes enlarged.

Lexi chuckled. She lifted up to Tripp. "Told you they were meant for each other."

Ian and Taylor both spun to Lexi. "What?" they asked at the same time.

Emma and Riley leaned forward, too, as if curiosity had captured their attention as well.

Lexi waved a hand through the air. "So, I already told you I found the photo."

"Oh. My. G.o.d. Lexi Shepherd Fox, you looked!" Emma stood in front of Lexi, wagging her finger at her sister. "You looked up the house! That photo was an aside."

The blush in Lexi's cheeks couldn't have conveyed guilt better, but still, Taylor didn't quite understand how Lexi could *look up' anything or how that related to a house.

"Are you mad?" Lexi's question went toward Ian.

He raised an eyebrow. "So you, who doesn't *do' people, looked up who the owners of this house should be, and you found Taylor and me?"

Lexi nodded. "That's my gift. Putting two lost things back together. Why else would I tell you to buy it months ago as an investment?"

Ian slapped a palm to his forehead.

Taylor faced him. "You really bought it? You're staying?"

He pulled out a small box from his pocket.

Taylor's hands covered her mouth. "Wha-What's that?" she asked without uncovering.

A cough from behind had them both curving back. Tripp pointed to the floor as Lexi giggled.

Ian rolled his eyes and dropped to one knee, his face sloped toward Taylor.

She pinched her lips together, the smile taking hold of the corners.

"Taylor Claire Marsh, I believe I've wanted to do this three other times but didn't get the opportunity. I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth more than ... oh ... say three times. To the woman I've loved all my lives but didn't know it ... will you share the rest of this life and anything in the future-forever category with me?" He opened the box.

Inside, his Gram's ring stared back at her.

An *Aww' burst from Emma and Lexi.

Taylor's gaze met Riley's. He gave her a small nod-that little bit of a.s.surance she'd always wondered if she'd get.

"I'm down here in the dirt, you know. In a house that's falling apart. One I was told to invest in, and today, told you were the perfect woman for." He eyed Tripp and Lexi but returned to Taylor. "I'll learn to deal with this place as long as I can get a sixty-inch in that living room area over there." Ian's smile came through with the point of a finger off to the left. When he returned to Taylor, he asked, "Will you marry me?"

Her nod came out fast as tears p.r.i.c.ked her eyes. "Yes, Ian. I'll marry you." Her hands held court over her heart.

"This is where you are, so this is where I want to be. Forever." He'd answered her unasked question.

Taylor jumped against him, coc.o.o.ning him in her hold. "I can't believe you bought this house. It's going to be more fun than Lexi and Tripp's to renovate. You do realize it's the house, right? The house. The one Marge's grandparents owned from ... the last time. Probably where she tattooed you."

Ian nodded. "Is that too weird?"

"No, it's beyond perfect. It's like a homecoming. My house was one of the old farmhand bungalows. I loved it, but this is just ... this."

Ian bent her backward and kissed her long and hard as the group around them started clapping and whistling. When he lifted her up, he said, "I love you, and this time, I'm not letting you go. Ever."

"Is that a threat?" Her smile refused to stay hidden.

"You bet your a.s.s it is."

No lingering echoes flitted through her mind. Gone. All of them. She focused on Ian again. Now, I can start my real future. "Then, I accept."

"Yes!" Tripp pumped a hand through the air.

"You're excited that I'm finally settling down?" Ian asked, his arm around Taylor, holding her tight against him.

Tripp shook his head. "Nope. Well, yeah, but it's before May thirty-first, so I win."

Ian belted out a laugh.

"What?" Taylor asked.

Ian snorted a laugh. "Weeks ago, the man here bet me I would ask you to marry me by the thirty-first of May, or he'd pay me five million dollars."

Taylor's eyes opened wide as Lexi slapped Tripp's bicep. "You bet that much money that he'd ask me to marry him?" Taylor asked as Lexi asked, "What would have happened had he not?"

"This was a one-way bet," Tripp said. "Sometimes, you gotta play the game to win." He cringed, drew Lexi in for a giant hug to which she responded the same way.

Ian added another soft kiss to Taylor's lips. "Never a better answer given. Wouldn't you agree?"

She laid her palms against his cheeks. "Never better. And I'm so glad we won't ever have to do it again."

Acknowledgements.

It's amazing how many people touch the story, the words, the construction of sentences, right down to what you hold in your hand-to the final product of a book. Thanking them all would take pages and pages of acknowledgements.

Now, though, I have a few very key people to virtually hug, and a group to give some ma.s.sive thanks to. Let's start with the key people.

Emma Madden. Have I told you how awesome you are? How your feedback helps me go from story to epic tale? I know I'm not the only one who loves everything you do with a story.

J.A. Belfield. The toughest critic I have but also the one who knows how to set me straight. This story wouldn't be what it is without you.

Wendy Seagondollar. Doesn't even know she's in here, but I'm pretty sure she's my number one fan, and two read-throughs of this book proves that.

The other group of awesome people I need to thank are those who were a part of Hide & Seek's book tour. These bloggers are the heart and soul of book marketing and they deserve so much credit for helping put a book out there. So, in order only of their a.s.sistance one year ago: Synchronized Reading, Reviewing Shelf, Rainy of the Dark, Kindle and Me, Babs Book Bistro, JC Martin, Burning Impossibly Bright Blog, Claire Gillian, Long and Short Reviews, Roro is Reading, Bex Book Nook, Known To Read, MoonLight Gleam, Julie Reece, Coffee Time Romance, and Nightly Reading. To all of you, I say ... thank you!

Aimee Laine.

Aimee is a romantic at heart and a southern transplant with a bit of the accent (but not a whole bunch). She's married to her high school sweetheart, and with him, she's produced three native North Carolinians, two of whom share the same DNA.

With an MBA and a degree in Applied Mathematics, there's absolutely no reason she should be writing romance novels. Then again, she shouldn't need a calculator to add two numbers, either ... but she does.

Brian Mullins Photography.

end.