“Yeah, right, Collin. There’s no way I can afford that. Plus, I’d have to pack up and move somewhere where it’s warm all year long.”
“California,” I said with seriousness.
“Don’t be silly. Go back to your office. I have work to finish for your father before he fires me.” She winked.
I placed my hand on her shoulder and smiled at her before I walked away. As I walked down the hall, she called my name. I turned around and looked at her.
“Thank you.” She smiled.
I nodded my head, put my hands in my pockets, and went back to my office.
****
“Here’s to your sometimes lousy attitude.” My dad smiled as he held up his scotch.
I brought my glass to his. “Thanks, Dad. I appreciate it.”
“I called your mom to come and join us, but she’s with Peyton. I wonder how that’s going.”
“Oh shit. I forgot about Hailey.”
“What are you talking about, son?”
“Hailey sent me a text message this morning, asking if she could talk to me because Peyton and Henry were really upset about her being pregnant and I told her I would.”
“Are you going to tell Amelia?”
“I didn’t plan on it. Why? It’s only a quick talk.”
“Son, if I’ve learned anything at all in life, it’s NEVER keep anything from the woman you love. Even if it’s the smallest insignificant thing. You really need to trust me on that one.”
His phone rang and, as he answered it, I pulled out mine and sent a text message to Amelia.
“I love you, baby.”
“I love you too. I hope your day is going good.”
“It’s the best day ever. Well, except when I first laid eyes on you. I’ll tell you all about it later.”
“Lol. I can’t wait.”
My dad hung up from his call and smiled. “The realtor is on her way to the apartment now. I told her we’d meet her there in fifteen minutes.”
“Great; let’s go,” I said as I reached in my pocket and pulled out my keys.
We drove to the building and, when we stepped off the elevator, my heart started racing when I saw the realtor. Shit. I thought to myself. She turned and looked at us as she unlocked the door across from Julia’s and Jake’s apartment.
“Hello there, Mr. Black. What a small world.”
“Yes, it is,” I said as my dad and I stepped inside the apartment.
“You know my son?” my dad asked.
Shit.
“Yes, I do. We just closed the deal on the house in the Hamptons.” She smiled.
My dad grabbed the back of my neck. “Is that so?” he said as he looked at me.
I wiggled out of his grip and smiled at Macy, the realtor. “Let’s see this great apartment, shall we?”
She showed us around and I fell in love with it. I could see myself making this my home. A home for me and Amelia someday.
“What do you think, son?” my dad asked.
“I love it, Dad. Plus, you and mom are right upstairs, so if you ever need me, I can be up in a flash. I love the fact that it’s so close to family. Julia and Jake are right across the hall. I need to be close to my family.” I tried to sugarcoat it so he wouldn’t yell at me about the beach house once we were alone.
My dad looked at me and rolled his eyes. “We’ll take it. I can write you a check right now so my son can have the keys. I’m sure he’s dying to move in.”
“Brilliant. Let me run downstairs and grab the paperwork from my car and we can settle this today.”
As soon as she walked out of the apartment, my dad walked up and smacked me on the back of the head.
“What the hell did you do?”
“Ouch, Dad. Stop with the hands. Okay, I bought Amelia’s parents’ house in the Hamptons.”
“What did I tell you when you asked me to buy it?”
“I know. But please listen to me. That house means everything to her and she was sad when it sold, but she needed the money so bad. I want to make it our home someday. Like you did for Mom.”
My dad sighed and walked over to the window. “She’s the one for you. Isn’t she?”
“Yes, Dad, she is. She’s my entire world now. I thought I was in love with Hailey when we were together, but I wasn’t. Yeah, I loved her; don’t get me wrong. But I didn’t know what actual love was until I met Amelia. I feel things for her that I never felt for Hailey. I have new emotions, new feelings; things I can’t explain. I want to protect her and shield her from all the bad in the world. I want to help her get better and I want to spend my life with her. Dad, I can actually envision a future with her and kids. I know it seems weird to you and you’re thinking it’s too soon, but she’s the love of my life and I’ll do anything to make her happy. And if buying the house where she had one last good memory of her family before they were torn away from her makes her happy, then damn right I’m going to do it.”
The realtor walked back into the apartment with all the necessary paperwork and my dad signed it and wrote a check. She handed over the keys to me and smiled all the way out the door.
“It’s not weird,” my dad said.
“What?” I asked in confusion.
“I don’t think what you said or think is weird because I would have done the same thing for your mom. I’ve dedicated my entire life to making her happy, whatever the cost may be. I know that feeling and I get it, son. I’m proud of you. You bought your first property.” He smiled as he put his arm around me. “Now we can work on the payment plan for this place.”
“What? I thought you were buying this for me, like you did for Julia.”
“But the difference is Julia didn’t already buy a house.” He smiled.
“Dad, come on.”
He chuckled as he hooked his arm around my neck and we took the elevator up to the penthouse.
Chapter 26
“Ellery, where are you?” my dad yelled through the penthouse.
“I’m right here, Connor,” she said as she came down the stairs.
“Ask your son what he did.”
“You mean besides closing a huge deal for Black Enterprises?” She smiled as she walked over and kissed my cheek. “Congratulations, sweetheart.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Yes, Ellery, besides that.”
“What did you do, Collin?”
I took in a deep breath before I answered her. “I bought Amelia’s parents’ beach house in the Hamptons.”