Page 85 of Indescribable Love
They lay there in the comfortable silence. The entire house was quiet, the room was dimly lit, and Simon felt a level of contentedness that he found he needed. For so many years, he thought he was fine living alone and being surrounded by friends and occasionally his family. But what he had in moments like this with Juliette, was becoming everything to him.
“So, here’s what I’m thinking,” he began softly. “You and I get a house and chase away all those ghosts. We make it a place where we create beautiful memories, and fill it with love and laughter.”
He felt a tear on his shoulder and held her a little closer.
“I really like the sound of that,” she whispered. “A lot.”
“Then that’s what we’re going to do. You and I, Jules. Together.”
Lifting her head, she looked at him with a watery smile. “You just called me Jules.”
Nodding, he asked, “And…?”
“You never call me Jules. It’s always been Juliette. Even in the very beginning, when I tried correcting you, you held firm to using my full name.”
Reaching up, he caressed her cheek. “That’s because it’s a beautiful name and you are a beautiful woman. It seemed wrong to use a nickname for you. But now, it just felt right.”
More tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Don’t cry,” he lovingly told her. “It’s all good. All of it. Names, homes, all of this that we have is good.” Wiping away her tears, he smiled tenderly. “Tell me where we should buy a house.”
It took her a minute to get comfortable again. “Well, you mentioned being a West Coast person, so…”
“I believe I also mentioned wanting a place on each coast. It’s just a matter of which coast has our full-time home, and which one has a fabulous condo or townhouse.” Kissing her forehead, he went on. “We’ll be coming to North Carolina some to see Noah, Lily, and my mom, but obviously we can just stay here.”
“What about Jax?”
“They’ve got room for him.”
She laughed. “No, I mean, where do you think he’s going to eventually land? He was talking about retiring. Do you think he’ll move here to be closer to Noah?”
“I’m not sure about that, but he has mentioned wanting to do something back in our hometown.” He paused. “I don’t think he wants to live there, per se, but he’s going to do something sports related there, so…who knows?”
They both went quiet again.
“You still haven’t answered my question,” he reminded her.
“Oh, you noticed that, huh?”
“Kind of obvious.”
Sighing loudly, she looked up at him. “I meant what I said earlier. I love New York, but I could live without those winters. I think I’d be open to a move on the West Coast.”
“Really?” And he tried to hide how much this thrilled him.
She nodded. “I’m going to want to go back and visit my grandparents. As you saw, they’re all getting so much older and I don’t want to stay away too long between visits.”
“Then we’ll visit once a month.”
“Simon…”
“What? It’s completely doable, especially since we’ll buy a place near them.”
“Or…we can just keep my apartment. It’s already there and…”
“Um…no.”
Sitting up, she frowned at him. “Why not? What’s wrong with my apartment?”