As we approach the gates, I fight to keep my breathing steady. I don’t want to freak out before we even get there.
“Whoa, what is this place?” Corey asks as we make our way up the long driveway before the house comes into view.
The second I see it, all my panic and anxiety vanishes.
I’m home.
A smile curls at my lips as I picture myself and my sister playing out on the grass. My mom sitting in her chair on the deck, reading her book, while my dad crashes about in his shed.
Emotion clogs my throat, but it’s not the devastating grief I was expecting to feel. It’s happiness. Contentment.
“This is my home. It’s where I grew up, before …”
“Harlow, it’s … incredible.”
“Do you want to see inside?”
“Of course. If you do.”
“I think it’s time.” My fingers wrap around the handle, and I go to push the door open.
“Wait, you haven’t been back here?”
“Not since I was taken away.”
“Wow. Okay.”
We climb out of the car, and, feeling confident, I tell the driver he can leave.
Corey wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into his side.
“I know you said you had money, but I think I might have underestimated the amount.”
I chuckle at him, not wanting to go into specifics. “My dad, grandfather and my great-grandfather did a fantastic job with the business.”
“So I see.”
He releases me so I can pull the key from my purse. It’s always been with my other house keys, just in case the mood ever struck me and I found myself here. Much like today.
I sill with my fingers wrapped around the doorknob.
“You don’t have to do this,” Corey says softly.
“I really do.”
I push the door open wide to reveal an entryway I remember as if I were only here yesterday.
“Wow. It’s … perfect,” Corey breathes as I step inside.
“Someone comes regularly to keep on top of things.”
“You’ve kept it going all this time?” he asks in disbelief as he follows me down to my favorite room in the house: the kitchen.
He looks around with wide eyes, taking everything in.
“I always planned to come back one day. To make this my home. To allow my kids to grow up with the same incredible memories I have.”
Dragging his eyes away from his surroundings, he turns to me.
