Hummingbird Lane by Brown, Carolyn (good books to read for beginners TXT) 📕

her arms into the shirt, buttoned it up, and eased the door shut when she left the room. The house was exactly what she would want in a home if she ever gave up her loft and bought a place. The front door opened into the open living space—a living room, kitchen, and dining area all in one. A hallway led to a master bedroom with a huge walk-in closet and a private bathroom. Stairs led up to two more bedrooms and a bathroom on the second floor. Roses were already blooming at the edge of a wide veranda that had a porch swing back in the shadows.

Teddy came out of the bedroom and slipped both of his arms around her waist. “Now, I’d say after that amazing lovemaking that we’ve been working together in the best way possible.”

“If we were judging, I’d give it a ten out of ten.” She flipped around and put her arms around his neck. “And now I’m starving.”

“Supper will be delivered pretty soon.” He had pulled on a pair of pajama pants and a tank top, but the clothing that they’d worn into the house was scattered from the door all the way down the hallway.

“Oh, really? And what’s for dessert?” she asked.

“That’s your department.” He grinned.

“Then ice cream it is,” she teased.

“We’ll need it after Mexican food and before another round of hot sex.” He slid a sly wink her way.

The doorbell rang, and Teddy picked up his jeans from the floor and slipped his billfold from the hip pocket. Sophie took down a couple of plates from the cabinet and some cutlery from a drawer and had the table set when he brought the sacks of food into the kitchen area. While he opened the covered containers, she got two beers from the refrigerator. He pulled a chair out with a flourish and motioned for her to sit down.

“You are lookin’ lovely tonight, my darlin’,” he whispered.

“You don’t look so shabby yourself.” She smiled up at him and put two chicken enchiladas on her plate.

He picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles. “Be honest with me, Sophie. What do you think of this house?”

“If I ever leave my loft in Dallas, this is exactly what I’d want,” she answered.

He let go of her hand. “It’s going up for sale in another week. If you like it, we might put in a bid on it.”

“Are you serious? Why would we live in Del Rio?” She could tell that he was about to burst with excitement, but in a far different way than she was. Her head suddenly throbbed. He was going to propose and ask her to move in with him. The next thing would be marriage and then babies.

“I’m ready for a life change, and I want you to be with me all the time.”

Sophie was stunned speechless.

“Is that a no?” Teddy asked.

“It’s a give-me-a-minute-to-catch-my-breath-and-think-for-a-second.” She dropped her fork on the table.

“Then is it a yes?” he asked. “You can work anywhere, and you must like this area, because you come down here every year to paint.”

“Teddy, I’ve got a hefty savings account, but can we afford to do something like this?” she whispered.

“Remember that trust that my father left me? I’m thirty-five, so it’s mine now, and, honey, we can afford to do anything we want,” he said. “I can’t see myself not working, but I’m tired of traveling. I want roots, and I want to put them down with you. And the rest of the surprise is this . . .” He took a long drink of his beer.

Her head was spinning. Good God, was he about to propose? Was that the rest of the surprise?

“I want to use some more of my trust fund to buy an old store on Main Street. It was built back in the days when owners with a place like that would put a furniture store on the ground floor and a funeral home upstairs. There’s still a service elevator where they took the caskets up to the parlor. The last folks that owned it had an antique store in it, but I . . .” He took another long drink of his beer.

She had been in an old store like that in a little town in the northern part of the state and loved the feeling she got when she was inside it, surrounded by all those old dishes and antiques. Each one had a story to tell, if they could only talk.

“I want to put a gallery in the downstairs and turn the loft into an area for you to paint. I’ll run the gallery while you paint, and then we’ll come home to this house,” he finally spit out.

“Have I reached a place in my career that I should do that?” She had to give him an answer. She couldn’t break his heart, but . . .

There are no buts in love, the voice in her head said. If there are, then you need to end this relationship right now and let Teddy find someone who will give him what he needs and wants.

He laid a hand on hers. “Honey, you saw that place where you were just a struggling artist in the rearview mirror years ago. You are known internationally, so yes, you are ready. We can do the Europe thing and come home to settle down into our own place, with our own store.”

Sophie’s eyes filled with tears. “This is too much to take in all at once.”

“The last thing is that I want us to get married. I want to know that you are mine forever,” he said.

And there it was. The very thing that she had dreaded.

“First, I have to tell you something that I’ve never told anyone else,” she whispered—could she even say the words? Her emotions zoomed as if on a roller coaster that sucked her breath right out of her chest. Her hands trembled so badly that she laced her fingers together and held them in her lap. She