And this was it. The last weekend.
Lainie knew the guys had been around earlier in the day, helping Harrison with the finishing touches. For some reason, he’d asked her to stay away. Lainie wouldn’t have minded lending a hand, but she had been more than happy to spend the sunny day down in the town.
She’d caught up with Tessa at the ice cream parlor, and they’d bonded over raspberry sorbet and the knowledge that their new friendship was probably giving old Mrs. Sweets an ulcer. After that, she’d gone to the store to pick up things for an easy dinner—plus a bottle of bubbly to celebrate the new house. And after that, the squirrel shifter from the post office had sent her a message to say that her latest shipment of homewares had arrived and was filling up his back room. Everywhere Lainie went, people seemed to go out of their way to make sure she knew she was welcome here now.
By the time Lainie had packed her mail Tetris-style into her trunk, the day was almost over. Now, looking at the house bathed in the golden evening light, a sense of peace washed over her.
She’d watched this building transform from lines on paper, to a skeleton frame surrounded by building materials, to what it was today: a finished house, ready for someone to move in. And each step of the way Harrison had been there, poring over the plans, overseeing deliveries, building the structure with his own two hands. There wasn’t a room in the house that wasn’t his handiwork.
Maybe that was why Lainie was already starting to think of it as a home, not just a house.
Just as she was thinking about that, Harrison appeared around the corner of the house. A smile blossomed on his face, and he waved at her.
“Lainie!”
Lainie got out of the car, dragging the groceries behind her. “Every time I see this place, I can’t believe how amazing it looks,” she said as Harrison strode up to her. “I—”
Before she could say another word, Harrison took her in his arms and kissed her. Lainie let herself melt into his embrace. He smelled of wood-shavings and sweat, and the musky scent she’d come to recognize as his griffin.
He took his time with the kiss, nibbling and nuzzling at her lips until Lainie thought her whole body was going to dissolve from happiness. She sighed as he pulled away.
“What was that you were saying?” he murmured, his hazel eyes hooded and dark.
“I… have completely forgotten,” Lainie admitted happily. She tugged the top button of his work shirt open and pressed her face into the triangle of hair underneath. “Mmm.”
“How about I grab these before our dinner goes flying back down the hill?” Harrison nibbled her ear briefly, slipping the bags of groceries out of her hand.
“Oh, I see. All this romance business is just a cover for you to get some food, is it?” Lainie teased. She grabbed his free hand and started walking up the path to the house. “Why so hush-hush today? Is everything okay with the build?”
“Everything’s perfect.” Harrison looked sideways at her, his eyes gleaming. “It’s almost finished, in fact.”
“Almost?” Lainie pretended to look shocked. “Frankly, Mr. Galway, that’s not good enough. I didn’t sell the family jewels to almost have a house.”
Harrison glanced over his shoulder at the sun. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I’d say I’ve got at least three hours before the job is officially behind schedule,” he drawled.
They approached the front door and Harrison grabbed Lainie by the waist, squeezing her. “Notice anything missing?”
Lainie looked. “Let’s see. There’s a hole in the door instead of a handle… I’ll have to dock your wages for that one.” She giggled as Harrison carefully set down the groceries on the step, and produced a door handle from his pocket. “Oh, no. You know I’m not handy, I can’t…”
“All you need to do is screw it in,” Harrison said. “I’ll show you how. And then your house will be one-hundred-percent finished.”
With a massive gouge out of the faceplate where I slip and jam the screwdriver, I bet, Lainie thought. Harrison held the handle out to her, his eyes beseeching.
“Oh, all right. I’ll probably just stuff it up, though.” She relented, only half grudgingly, and took the heavy brass handle off him.
Harrison knelt down, and Lainie crouched beside him. “Here, see—I’ve already put the latch in. All you need to do is attach the handle.” He put his hands over Lainie’s and lifted them, directing her where to hold the handle in place. His hands almost completely engulfed hers. He showed her where to put the screws in, and waited patiently while she laboriously screwed them in.
At last Lainie pushed down on the handle, and heard the latch open with a click.
“It works!” Lainie couldn’t help squealing with glee. For all her experience with architectural planning, she had always had a black thumb when it came to home maintenance. Or whatever you called a black thumb when it applied to window latches and lightbulbs instead of plants.
She pushed the door open. It swung smoothly, of course—perfectly hung by Harrison. The late-afternoon light poured in, illuminating warm polished floors and cream-painted walls.
Behind her, Harrison cleared his throat. Lainie looked around, and then down. He was still kneeling on his knees on the front step, but this time, he was holding something else up to her.
Harrison cleared his throat again. For the first time in months, Lainie saw he looked nervous. “Lainie,” he began, and stopped, choking up. “Lainie. My love. The last six months, since I met you, have been the happiest of my life. Building this house for you has been the best thing I’ve ever done. Will you take this ring, and together we can turn this house into a home?”
Lainie fell to her knees. The box Harrison was holding out to her was black velvet, and there was a glittering ring nestled inside it. A cushion-cut diamond, ridiculously large, was set in warm rose-gold in the middle of the ring, surrounded by smaller yellow stones. Her grandmother’s ring.