"Oh, and we need a porch with a swing," he advises. "Or a porch big enough for a swing." He grabs my hand as Sandra shuffles through her folder of papers.
"Well, all right then. But this house is in a wonderful location. I really thought it would be perfect for you."
"It's just not us," he says. "Let's move on to the next one."
Us. What is us?
The next house is almost as bad, and I'm starting to feel like this entire day is going to be spent viewing mansion after cold mansion, until we follow Sandra up a long, uphill driveway surrounded by trees. We can't even see the house from the street, but when we finally pull in front of it, my heart leaps.
"Oh, wow! Look at this!" I exclaim.
I can't get out of the car fast enough to see the house up close. It's simply magical, with a big oak and white banister porch off the front of the house, surrounded by lots of flowers all in hues of pink and purple, a rock garden with a tiny bridge, and stone birdbath that I'm sure Pixie would love to watch. The house itself is sage green with all-white trim, and the view from the porch is amazing. The house is so far up on the hill that we can see the tops of the trees below us and the mountains not too far off. It's breathtaking.
I grab Talon's hand excitedly. "Look at this view! It's gorgeous!"
"I love how quiet it is too. No traffic and no crazy neighbors to bother us."
"This house is the smallest on our list," Sandra says, unlocking the front door. "It only has four bedrooms, but there is a finished basement with a small suite that would be great for a guest or just extra living space."
As soon as we walk inside, I fall even further in love with its light, earth-tone painted walls, vaulted ceilings, lots of windows for Pixie, another porch on the back of the house, and a small balcony off the master bedroom. It's gorgeous but comfy and doesn't scream, "Hey, I'm rich and obnoxious," like the other houses we looked at did.
"I love it!" I whisper excitedly to Talon as we browse the rooms.
"I do too. No swing…but we can get one."
"The view makes up for the lack of swing."
"Can you give us a second alone?" Talon asks Sandra.
"Of course! I'll wait downstairs. Take your time."
As soon as she's out of earshot, he pulls me into his arms. "I'm guessing you can decorate this place really cool, huh?" he teases.
"I could. I love the colors, and I really love the openness of it."
"And that den downstairs would be a great room for you to work in and have all your craft stuff."
"Really? My own room?" That room is almost bigger than my entire apartment, and it has built-in shelves and drawers. It's perfect.