***
The next morning, I met Mr. Spencer. He was Grandpa’s lawyer.
“The house is being transferred into your name alone,” he explained.
“What if I marry?”
Ivy took my hand.
“Marriage by itself doesn’t add another name to the deed, Lucy.”
“So Glenn couldn’t become an owner unless I agreed?”
“You would have to sign documents changing ownership.”
Mr. Spencer pushed the folder toward me.
“Don’t sign anything involving the house unless you understand it,” Mr. Spencer said. “And don’t let anyone pressure you into signing.”
“You would have to sign documents.”
I rested my hand on the paperwork.
“Grandpa wanted it to belong to me?”
“Yes.”
“Then it will be mine alone.”
***
That evening, I went home.
Glenn sat on the couch, staring at his phone.
“Then it will be mine alone.”
“Dinner’s late.”
An apology rose automatically to my lips.
I swallowed it.
“You know where the stove is.”
He looked up.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing.”
“Dinner’s late.”
I set down my purse.
“Mr. Spencer called. The lake house is officially mine.”
Glenn stood so quickly that he nearly dropped his phone.
“That’s incredible.”
He pulled me into a tight hug.
“For us.”
I stepped back.
“For me. Grandpa left it to me.”
“The lake house is officially mine.”
“Of course. That’s what I meant, babe!”
***
Over the next few days, Glenn became the man I’d waited 11 years to meet.
He made coffee before I woke.
He bought my favorite flowers.
The cruelest part wasn’t that he’d changed overnight.
“That’s what I meant, babe!”
It was realizing he’d always known how to be thoughtful. He simply hadn’t believed I was worth the effort until I owned something he wanted.
His questions gave him away.
“What do houses near the lake rent for?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was there a mortgage?”
“No.”
“How many bedrooms?”
“I don’t know.”
“Three.”
I paused.
“Grandpa built the porch railing himself.”
Glenn nodded without interest.
“Could we sell while the market’s strong?”
“I haven’t decided what I’m doing, but there’s no way I’m selling it.”
“Could we sell?”
“We’ll decide together, babe.”
He covered my hand with his.
I let him.
Not because I believed him.
Because I wanted to see how far he’d go.
“We’ll decide together, babe.”
***
Three nights later, he took me to the restaurant where we’d celebrated my first promotion.
He ordered champagne.
Then he talked about our history as though he hadn’t dismissed it for years.
“We grew up together,” he said. “We built a life.”
“What changed?”
His eyes shifted for half a second.
“We grew up together.”
“I realized what I could lose.”
“The house?”
“You.”
Then he opened the ring box.
“Will you marry me?”
“Will you marry me?”
I’d imagined that moment 100 times, always with happy tears.
That night, I nearly cried because I was burying a future that had never been real.
“Yes,” I said. “But I have one condition.”
“Anything.”
“Before we choose a date, I want our families and closest friends together at the lake house.”
He smiled.
“But I have one condition.”
“An engagement party.”
“Just a small dinner. I want us to announce it there.”
“That’s your condition?”
“That’s the beginning of it.”
He laughed.
“Deal.”
“An engagement party.”
***
Two days later, Ivy followed me to the lake house.
I expected 12 people.
Cars lined both sides of the road. Glenn got there before me.
A banner stretched across Grandpa’s porch.
“OUR NEXT CHAPTER.”
My chest tightened.
“OUR NEXT CHAPTER.”
Glenn hurried down the steps with a drink in his hand.
“There you are.”
“Who are all these people?”
“I invited everyone. Family, friends, neighbors.”
He lowered his voice.
“I even invited a real estate agent.”
“There you are.”
“I asked for a small dinner, Glenn. Why would you do this?”
“Come on. We should show off our new investment.”
“It’s not an investment. It was Grandpa’s home.”
“Our home now.”
“No.”
His smile slipped.
“Our home now.”
Then I noticed Grandpa’s chair was missing from the porch.
I walked toward the garage.
“Where are you going?” Glenn called.
I found the chair shoved beside folding tables and empty boxes.
One arm sat lower than the other because Grandpa’s hands had begun to ache when he built it.
“Where are you going?”
Glenn followed me inside.
“Why is this here?”
“It didn’t match the decorations.”
“It belonged to my grandpa. It deserves more respect than this, Glenn.”
“It’s old. We can buy something better.”
“You moved it without asking me?”
“Why is this here?”
“We needed room.”
“You don’t erase him from his own house because his chair ruined your theme.”
Glenn rolled his eyes.
“It’s a piece of wood.”
My anger settled into something cold and clear.
Any hope that he might feel ashamed disappeared.
“We needed room.”
“Put it back.”
“We have guests waiting.”
“I said, put it back.”
“Stop making a scene.”
I ran my fingers over the worn arm.
“No, Glenn. I think it’s time we had one.”
“We have guests waiting.”
***
Outside, he moved through the crowd as if he owned the place.
“We’re thinking of opening the kitchen,” I heard him tell my aunt.
“I haven’t agreed to renovate anything,” I said.
Glenn placed a hand on my shoulder.
“We’ll discuss it later.”
I stepped away.
“We’ll discuss it later.”
A man carrying a folder approached us.
“Glenn, I brought those seasonal rental estimates. And you must be Lucy.”
I faced him.
“Rental estimates?”
The man’s expression changed.
“Glenn asked me to look at possible income.”
“Rental estimates?”
“He didn’t have my permission. I’m the sole owner.”
“I’m sorry. I understood you were planning together.”
“We aren’t.”
He excused himself.
Glenn leaned close.
“What is wrong with you tonight, Lucy?”
“Nothing. I’m just finally paying attention.”
“We aren’t.”
“You’re embarrassing me.”
“At my house?”
“It’s going to be our house,” he hissed. “Start acting like we’re a team.”
Then he walked away.
