Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Law

Four months later…

Pacing back and forth in front of the window, I checked through the blinds to see if she was home. Every car I heard drive through the neighborhood sounded like hers. Yet every time I checked, she still wasn’t back.

Shepperd had spent the day with her sisters, and I had a big surprise planned for our six-month anniversary. Dinner was ready and on the table. Her twin, Maye, sent me a text when she left to head home, so the timing should’ve been perfect. I couldn’t predict the traffic she’d encounter, but that particular sister didn’t live too far from us, so traffic shouldn’t be too bad. My nerves were toying with me in a big way, and I jumped when I heard a car door slam.

One more peek out the window confirmed she was finally home. I took a deep breath and tried to calm the fuck down so I didn’t scare her when she walked in by looking like a maniac. The woman was so keenly aware of the people around her and their emotions that she would be able to take one look at me when she came through the door and know I was up to something.

The past six months had been a whirlwind. My stunning, vibrant, intelligent girlfriend had made so much progress with her mental health and eating disorder, I couldn’t wait to go through with my plans. No one deserved happiness more than Shepperd, and I planned on being a part of hers forever.

After a gentle suggestion from her oldest sister, Hannah, and heaps of support from me, Shepperd started working with a therapist to deal with her childhood trauma. I was so proud of her.

That’s not to say we didn’t still have bad days—or nights—or ridiculous disagreements, but we were finding our way as a couple as much as she was getting in touch with herself.

And what a funny thing for me to be ecstatic about. There was a time, and it wasn’t even that long ago, that I seriously doubted I’d ever find the right woman. Someone who would inspire me to want to settle down and commit to one partner. Someone I’d eventually want to create a family with.

Then the universe brought me Shepperd Farsay. From the moment I saw her—even across the expanse of a gym—I knew she was different. So special and beautiful, inside and out.

Her key turned in the front door, and when the heavy wood swung open, I was right there to greet her. I took her purse off her shoulder and dropped it on the table just inside the door that served as the catch-all space for our home.

“Hello,” I said, my voice low and resonating against the silky, smooth skin of her neck where I pressed my lips.

“Hello to you too,” she said in that damn throaty, sexy laugh of hers, and I considered retooling my plans on the fly and starting our evening in the bedroom instead of ending it there.

“Dinner’s on the table,” I told her with a quick wink. “Hope you’re hungry.”

“Mmm, I am. Something smells delicious. What did you make?” she asked and stepped out of my embrace and shrugged out of her coat.

“Let me take that for you,” I offered while holding my hand out for the jacket.

With a suspicious glance, she stepped out of the way of the guest closet where we kept our outerwear. “You’re awfully attentive this evening, Mr. Masterson. What’s going on?”

“What do you mean? Can’t a guy miss his girl when she’s been gone all day?” I asked and hung the jacket up and closed the closet door. I offered her a bent elbow to usher her to the dining table.

“Of course he can.” She smiled up at me while we strolled through to the kitchen.

We had a small square table in the breakfast nook that we teasingly called our dining room table. The furniture was nothing like the massive masterpiece my parents had in their formal dining room, but it was the first thing we picked out together. It held more sentimental value now than anything else. Instead of sixteen, ours could accommodate four and was absolutely perfect.

The top was set with service for two. I bought a beautiful bouquet of her favorite flowers—bromeliads—in all the vibrant fabulous colors I could find. Bright pink, red, orange, and yellow, as bright as the summer sun, spikey flowers made a stunning arrangement against their brilliant green leaves. Shepperd’s eyes landed on the arrangement the moment we stepped into the room, and she looked up at me as tears filled her eyes.

“Hey, hey,” I said and pulled her against my chest. “Don’t be sad.”

“I’m not sad, Law. I’m so overwhelmed with happiness I can’t hold it in. These flowers are so thoughtful. I can’t believe you remembered they were my favorite.”

I scoffed. “Of course I remembered.”

She held on tighter and sighed. “You’re just too much.”

“Darling, you haven’t seen anything yet,” I promised and meant it more than she could imagine. The surprise I had planned for her was so over-the-top, even my sister tried talking me out of it, and she was the most diehard romantic I knew.

Dinner was fantastic. I wasn’t above patting myself on the back about it, either. Shepperd worked for months with a therapist regarding her relationship with food, and we put the practices into action every time we sat down for a meal.

Viewing food as nutrition instead of a bargaining tool was the original roadblock, but my amazing woman was doing so much better with the concept now. There were times I still witnessed small backslides, but we addressed the root cause as soon as she was ready to talk about it, and if it was something I couldn’t help her work through, she spoke with her doctor as soon as she could get some time with her.

I was so proud of her. My heart felt like it had expanded to at least ten times the size it was before she was a part of my life.

Actually, she was my entire life.

And that didn’t terrify me like it once would have. It didn’t even scare me a little. It thrilled me. I wanted to spend the rest of my life watching her blossom and grow. Supporting her through every challenge and celebrating every accomplishment.

“Did you save room for dessert?” I asked.

My girl had the biggest sweet tooth I’d ever seen, so I made sure to have a decadent, chocolate mousse chilling in the refrigerator.

“Hellllll no,” she groaned. “I’m so full, you may have to just roll me to the bedroom tonight.”

“It’s chocolate,” I sing-songed to taunt her.

“You’re an evil man, you know that, don’t you?” she said through a wide grin.

“You love me anyway.”

“It’s true. I do. Very much, as a matter of fact.” She leaned over and kissed me softly.

If I didn’t have a major surprise up my sleeve, I would’ve deepened that sweet kiss into something we both wouldn’t walk away from.

But I sat up straight in my chair and looked at her for a long moment. When I reached for her hand, she willingly wrapped hers around mine.

“Do you know what today is?” I asked. I knew she would because she was one of those girls who was obsessed with dates. Our first kiss, our first date, our first fuck even. We celebrated it all!

“Of course I do,” she said proudly. “It’s been six months of putting up with your ass.”

Shepperd, it turns out, had a wicked sense of humor. She was funny and witty too, but most of all, so sarcastic. She could come back with a one-liner for almost anything. More times than I could count, a serious conversation or even a disagreement ended with us laughing so hard we had tears rolling down our cheeks. It was just one of her many gifts.

I rolled my eyes, calling her bluff. I knew I made her as deliriously happy as she made me. All jokes aside, we were perfect together.

“Well, despite the fact that you’re such a smartass, I have something for you.” I went to the cabinet where I stashed the box and pulled it down from the shelf. The parcel was a flat square. A little bigger than a shirt box, and the same length on all four sides. There was a yellow satin ribbon tied into an artful bow on top that reflected the overhead light when I set it in front of her.

“Law…” she started as her eyes bounced between me and the box. “What did you do?”

“Open it and find out,” I encouraged. I loved giving her gifts. Her reaction was always so humble and grateful but more than anything, happy. We both made peace with the fact that gift giving was my love language, and I was over apologizing for spoiling her every chance I got.

“But I didn’t get you anything.”

“Having you in my life is the best gift you could ever give me.”

She rolled her eyes.

Her response coaxed a dark growl from the back of my throat. “Was that an eye roll in my direction, miss?”

She’d gotten a little taste of the darker side of my personality in the bedroom and enjoyed provoking me whenever she could. I’d be more than happy to end the night with a good discipline session.

“Maybe.” She added a shrug on the end for extra effect.

“Open the present before I take you over my knee, woman.”

She giggled and tugged on the ribbon, unleashing the bow into a haphazard pile of satin.

I was equally as excited as she was. Well, probably more so because I knew what was inside. As she lifted the lid, I held my breath.

There was always that moment of panic in my gut right before the recipient discovered what I gave them. What if she didn’t like it? What if it was, like everyone kept insisting, too much, too fast? No, I knew it wasn’t. I knew all the afternoons that led to this idea and all the effort to execute this surprise. I knew Shepperd would be blown away.

Studying her reaction, I tried to gauge if I was correct or not. She looked at the contents and then at me. Then back to the gift and right back to me once more.

“Law? What is this?” She gulped, sounding so small and uncertain.

“What does it look like?”

“Well, it looks like a real estate listing for the house we looked at a few weeks ago. This is the one in Malibu, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “It sure is.”

Months ago, we’d discovered we both had a secret love of touring open houses. So at least twice a month, we’d take a Saturday to look at amazing properties all over Los Angeles. Some we loved instantly. Some not so much. Then we’d spend the drive home talking about what we’d change or how we’d decorate each one to make it the perfect home.

Little did she know, I was truly in the market for a home. I knew if I’d told her, she wouldn’t have been as open with her opinions as she was when she thought it was harmless fun. And then we found it—the perfect home on a perfect parcel. For weeks we had talked about that house with dreams in our heads and hope in our hearts.

So I bought it.

“Law…” she nearly choked, “What did you do?”

“Look under the flyer and tissue paper.”

She pulled out a key ring with two keys attached and looked at me with a shocked expression. “Lawrence Masterson. Have you lost your damn mind?”

“After we saw that place and both fell in love with it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. So I put an offer in with the agent, but someone had gotten to it first, and the house went into escrow. Then, about two weeks ago, the agent called me to tell me the deal fell through and she wanted to give me first shot before listing it again. I think it was a sign that it was meant to be.”

“I-I-I don’t know what to say.”

“I’d go with congratulations, personally. And then I’d say we need to get packing because I closed on the place two days ago. It’s ours, babe.” The shock on her face was a little worrisome, but admittedly, this was a pretty big surprise. A lot to absorb all at once.

Shepperd clutched the keys in her feminine fist. “Ours?” she whispered.

I pulled her to her feet, and she looked up at me. “Absolutely.” I kissed the tip of her nose. “Are you surprised?”

“I think stunned stupid would be more accurate.” She shook her head. “Are you sure you want me to move in with you?”

“Woman,” I began but came up short of what more to say. Did she really not get how committed I was to her? To us?

“I just don’t want you to feel obligated”—she waved her hand between us—“or whatever.”

“The only thing I feel here is love, darling. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere you’re not. I love you, I need you, I want to share my life with you. Now—forever.”

She was quiet for long seconds, staring at me with wonder and then at the set of keys in her hand. Finally, she said, “I love you too. This is incredible. You’re incredible.”

“So you’re happy?” I needed to hear her put words to all this.

“Law, you’ve made me the happiest woman on earth. You’ve shown me what it means to be alive. If you hadn’t come into my life when you did, I’m not sure I’d still be standing here, you know?” Tears filled her eyes but didn’t spill down her cheeks yet. “You’ve given me so much. And I don’t just mean material things. You’ve given me purpose and joy, and I will never be able to repay you.”

Emotion choked off my air supply. Through all of her healing and emotional growth, she had never expressed gratitude like this so directly. It was overwhelming in all the best ways.

Then Shepperd’s entire face lit up. “Oh my God, Law,” she nearly cheered.

“What?”

“I just thought how close this home was to Hannah and Elijah. We’ll be able to see baby Elissa anytime we want.” She smiled and clapped her hands a few times like her plans were coming together.

“That’s right,” I agreed. Of course, I had thought of that exact fact again and again while going through the escrow process. “It was at the top of your pro column.”

She had the cutest habit of making pro and con lists whenever we would look at a house. If the cons were too numerous or insurmountable, we moved on to another house. This house only had two checks in the negative column, and I was able to address both in my offer to buy the place.

Now it was literally perfect. Like everything else in life at the moment. We were just starting our journey, and the road was sure to have bumps along the way. But with this incredible woman by my side, and the power of our growing love, we could take on whatever life threw our way.