Feels Like Home (Southern Bride 5)

“That’s perfect, Anson! I love that idea.”

“Yeah?”

I laced my fingers with his. “Yeah. When will Robert know the dates?”

“He’s working on it now with Lanny. The only thing that will change is how you and I get to each event. I normally travel with the band, but this time we’ll go separately.”

I giggled and said, “I can’t believe we’re going to four different countries for our honeymoon.”

“Where do you want to stay the longest? I’ll have Lanny arrange the dates so the last show is in that country. Or we could go first and then finish up the tour.”

I shrugged. “I have no idea. You’ve been to Europe before, which was your favorite place you’ve been?”

“Man, they’re all beautiful for different reasons. But romance-wise, I’d say France or Italy. If I remember right, when we were in high school you mentioned a place in Italy you wanted to go.”

“Riva del Garda?” I could hear the excitement in my voice.

“Yes. I’ve got a show in Spain, so we could end the tour there and go over to Italy after, if you want.”

“Anson, that would be a dream. Are you sure?”

“Am I sure about honeymooning in Italy? Hell, yes. Bri, I want to take you to every place you’ve ever dreamed of going. You name the place, and I’ll make it happen. I swear to you.”

I felt my eyes fill with tears as I placed my hand on his chest and whispered, “I’m already there.”

Bristol – Two months later – June

“HERE WE GO, your dream house,” Anson said as he and Drake rolled open the house plans that he had just picked up in Austin.

“Drake’s friend did an amazing job!” Mindy said as she attempted to do a happy dance and quickly stopped. She was now seven months’ pregnant and moving around a bit slower. I was three months’ pregnant and only had the tiniest bump showing. My morning sickness, however, was over the top, and I was more than ready for it to end.

“What do you think of the front?” Anson asked.

I brought my hands up to my mouth as I stared at our future house. It was a two-story ranch with a wraparound porch on the bottom. It was perfect and so completely different from the house in Nashville.

“It’s perfect,” I said as Zeus barked. “The dog agrees!”

Anson ran his hand over the front. “Picture sandstone rock with cedar posts.”

“Who had the idea for the black shutters?” Mindy asked.

Drake smiled. “Me. I told Blake I thought it would look nice because the original ranch house that Anson’s folks lived in had black shutters.”

“I love it!” I said as I leaned over and kissed my brother on the cheek.

Anson turned the page to show the back of the house. The porch was beautiful, and I could already imagine sitting on it as we watched the sunsets. The spot Anson and I had picked out on his family’s ranch sat up on a hill and had the most beautiful view of the Texas hill country.

“Okay, here’s the inside,” Drake said as we flipped through the pages. Everything was going to be perfect. It was a simple country house, perfect for a family living on a ranch, yet elegant enough to be able to host people Anson worked with in the music business.

“Will the studio and guest house be made of the same rock?” I asked.

“Yes, it’ll all be the same. The guest house is pretty much a mini version of our house.”

I wanted to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Everything seemed to be falling into place. The song Anson and I had recorded, “Memory Lane,” hit number one on the country music charts this morning. Now our beautiful home was all planned out.

“It’s perfect, Bri,” Mindy said as she kissed me on the cheek.

Drake cleared his throat and said, “I’d like to point out that it doesn’t have a gym like the Nashville house.”

I rolled my eyes as Anson laughed. “Dude, does that house give you a boner or something?”

Anson had to fly back to Nashville in order to meet with the realtor to put the Belle Meade house on the market. We had flown Drake and Mindy out with us. Mindy had gotten her craving for fried pickles out of the way, and Drake had fallen madly in love with Anson’s personal gym. He would have slept in the damn room if Anson had let him.

“Ah, but wait. I had something added just for you, Drake,” Anson stated.

He pulled out more plans and rolled them out. Off the back of the studio was a huge room marked Drake’s gym. I looked at my brother in stunned silence as he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

“Dude, you did this for me?”

Anson and I exchanged a look, and he winked. “I did it just for you.”