The sun shined through the window basking us in golden light. Georgie stirred beside me when I turned my head away from the glare.

“Morning you,” she purred.

“Hello there,” I replied, the warmth of the sun was matched now by the affection in her smile. I sure could get used to this, I thought as she snuggled up to me.

“So how about breakfast?” I asked.

“Not yet. We can just lay here a while, can’t we?”

Wrapping my arms around her, my leg slinking between hers, I said, “Sounds perfect.” It definitely felt perfect, life felt full of hope and possibility with her in my arms. She turned to press her body up against the length of mine, spooning lazily as I stroked her hair.

Today I didn’t want to leave her side at all. Not even for one moment. I was hooked. I started to rack my brain for the best excuse to stay or activities for us. Naturally with her warm naked body pressed against me the urge to linger in bed all day was ever present.

“How’s your day looking?” she asked, apparently following the same train of thought. “After breakfast, erm… how would you feel about fixing up the porch together?”

“Yeah, I definitely owe you that, and it’s a great day for it.”

“I’m sorry I shouted at you the other day about it.”

With some gentle pressure I angled her face toward mine. “You don’t need to apologize. I was out of line. I didn’t ask and overstepped. Pun not intended.”

“Thank you for saying that… I guess I find it hard to let anyone help me. Especially with this house. My first house.”

“I didn’t know it was your first.”

“There’s a lot we don’t know about each other.”

“Well, we can change that,” I said and nuzzled her neck. “But first…”

Against the warm curves of her ass my cock pressed eagerly. She was ready for me, angling her hips, partly lifting her leg so I could slip inside. She moaned as I took her from behind with long, slow, lazy strokes. With our eyes half-closed, we drifted on a lake of euphoria, letting our bodies melt into one another.

The intensity of when we both came was unlike any I’d ever experienced before. I tasted her heavy moans as they were expelled, and almost thought I could feel the colors of her soul as they flashed before my shuttered eyes. It was as if a sixth sense had been aroused when we’d woke from our dreamy intimacy and entangled ourselves.

Words were a little hard to come by as I lay back, her hair splayed across my chest as we recovered. But there was one thing that was abundant and it practically strangled my heart when I understood its profound meaning.

I’d discovered love. A different kind than what I felt for my daughter, but love all the same.

* * *

After breakfast we got to work clearing up the mess outside. As if in tandem, side by side we worked fast and easy. Glancing over at each other with a knowing smile, and occasionally stealing a kiss or coping a feel.

It felt good to be mending what really signified the disarray that had developed between us. There was no chaos or confusion today, we worked well together. We laughed and teased each other in the hot sun as the new steps came together.

“Lemonade?” Georgie asked as she wiped away a bead of perspiration that sprouted on my forehead.

“Yes, please.” The midday sun was taking its toll on us hard working renovators, my throat dry from the exertion. Georgie quickly returned with two tall glasses. I propped the brush that I was using against the rail and received the cool refreshment with a smile. Our eyes meeting as we raised our glasses to our mouths. I could barely take my eyes off her. Wanting to study every contour of her face, have it ingrained in my mind in case I ever had cause to be away from her for a second.

“Are you really selling up?” Georgie asked after a sip, surprising me.

I swallowed and wondered how to tackle the hard subject. “Thinking about it.”

It was there for only a fleeting second, but I was a quick study and noticed immediately the slight frown that marred her forehead. I took her hand to try and ease whatever worries she had brewing.

“I don’t think my plan is going to come together, though. But maybe it wasn’t the right plan you know? Originally I’d hoped to offer Kadee a decent home out west, one like I have here. Grass, a garden, plenty of space. But all that costs a small fortune out there so I may have to just settle for what I can get on a budget.”

“Really, you had a plan?” Georgie teased, though I knew she was putting a brave face on it. But I’d decided I was going to tell her the truth. No more skirting around the subject, avoiding it like it was an elephant in the room.

I flicked some of my precious lemonade in her direction, getting a pouty smile in return, before I replied. “Yes, I had a plan! I was about to renovate and flip a house around here. There’s a strong market for these older houses done up.”

“Like this one?”

“Yeah, exactly like this one,” I replied with hesitation. I took a breath and met her gaze. “This is the one I was going to buy. But you beat me on the offer.”

“Really?” Georgie absorbed this silently for a moment. “I’m sorry. No wonder you hated me.”

“Well, that’s an exaggeration. You pissed me off for sure when you turned up all cocky and inexperienced… and god then you broke my flashlight,” I said nudging her.

“That was just as much your fault as it was mine.”

I laughed. “Keep telling yourself that, butterfingers.” Before she could protest or throw a retort my way, I silenced her with a kiss. I pushed a few strands of her hair off her cheeks and sighed. “It’s just that this place would have been perfect.”

She nodded. “I can see that,” said Georgie leaning back to take in the view of the house. “There’s definitely something about it.”

“Yeah,” I replied slowly, taking in the same view. “Not to mention the easy commute across the street.”

Any anguish I’d felt regarding flipping this house, combined with Georgie's intervention now felt like nothing more than a bittersweet hiccup. I could imagine far greater things than selling this place now, specifically with Georgie in my life.

“I don’t suppose you’d ever consider moving to California?” I glanced over to gauge her reaction, but it was written so clearly on her face that I needn’t have tried. It was a silly thing to ask. I wished I could take it back.

Georgie gripped my hand then brought it to her lips. “No. I’m sorry. That’s not something I could do.”

“I—”

“Wait, let me explain. This is my home now. For better or worse. I need roots.” She paused, her mouth working as if she were trying to find the right words. “Derek, I’ve never had a home. Not a proper one. Not really. I was an army brat and it seemed like every second I was being dragged to a new place, four thin walls and a flimsy roof to call ‘home’. But the sentiment was hollow… I never found where I belonged. Never felt like I had my feet on solid ground, you know?”

I nodded, trying to understand. Coming from a place that I’d barely left all my life—the house I’d grew up in, only a few miles down the road—it was hard to imagine the life Georgie had to endure.

“What made you choose Hollow Point?”

“Fiona, my friend—the one I told you about. She lives in the city. We met the year we were deciding on colleges. Then we ended up at the same one. I suppose those years were really the first step to breaking the lifelong cycle of feeling like I was just another footlocker to be shipped where the army wanted. Though I still drifted for a while after I dropped out, not knowing what to do or where to go. Then my Aunt Dakota died and gave me everything… a lifeline if I’m being honest.”

Georgie sniffed and I gave her an encouraging squeeze.

“Then you bought this house?”

“Not right away. In the will she told me to use it to follow my dreams… to find my place. And for a second there I didn’t know what that meant. To suddenly have the whole world open to me and yet not wanting to take another step. It was weird. Fiona was the one that gave me the idea,” Georgie said, laughing. “Don’t know what I would do without her. Probably would’ve drifted forever, with no purpose. Would never have met you…”

Georgie rested her head on my shoulder and sighed.

“I hope you can understand why I can’t follow you to California, even though my heart longs to be with you and Kadee. I’m settled here. I feel it in my bones. I need this. The stability. This formidable house, with its strong walls, its solid base. Even if it’ll take me years to get it the way I envisage it. I have to stay.”

“I understand,” I breathed. Wondering where we went from here. But I already knew… deep down. I wasn’t going to abandon the love I’d found the moment it moved in across the street from me.

Georgie took our finished glasses and placed them on the porch, then turned with a promising smile on her plump lips.

“But, you know…” she started again, “there could be an even better way.” She bit her lip and came back to stand in front of me.

“I’m all ears.”

“I think, well I think I lo—”

“I love you,” I blurted. I’d been wanting to tell her all morning, all afternoon. And I couldn’t let another minute fly by without letting her know.

“Hey you stole my line!”

I grinned at her. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t let you finish without you knowing that I loved you. That no matter what you were about to say, that I get it. Your place is here. In this battered old house that has so much promise. And that we’d figure something out, because, Georgie-baby, you moving in, stealing this house from under me, turning my world upside down, was the best thing that has ever happened to me in a very long time.”

“That’s good to know then, but I didn’t steal… I won fair and square,” she said with a playful smirk. She paused and narrowed her eyes. “Oh, good you’re not going to interrupt me ag—“

“I can’t make no promises there.”

She batted me with her hand and I kissed her on the nose.

“Will you let me say it now?”

I nodded.

“I love you, too, you big fool,” she managed to say, partly giggling. “And what if you could win Kadee back—Fiona knows all the right people… then you could stay here? With me. On this street… maybe even move in? My house is bigger than yours after all.”

“Like that is it? Comparing sizes… things just got personal,” I replied with a grin. “So… a new plan?”

“One we make together?”

“That does sound promising,” I said, taking her into my arms, “do you think it’s possible?”

“Anything’s possible with you.”