I’m so proud of you & I love you so much.

It was Elli’s, and as she held it, she had the brightest smile on her face. He smiled back at her since he couldn’t kiss her like he wanted. Just knowing that she loved him and she was proud of him made him feel like it was going to be the best damn game of his life.

After being on the road for three weeks with only a one day break, Shea was glad to be home for a week. Elli and Shea had been blissfully in love ever since Christmas, and Shea couldn’t ask for more. Well, a house would be nice, but he was just happy he had Elli. They were coming up on six months of being together, and Shea couldn’t believe that he had been with one woman for that long.

Never had he thought he would be living with a woman, looking for a house, and telling her he loved her every chance he got. It still blew his mind.

Luckily Shea was home when they got the call. He was lying in bed, cuddled up beside Elli when Jill called.

“Shea, I found it. I freaking found it!”

Shea sat up, causing Elli to fall off his chest. She woke up in a stir, “Jesus, Shea,” she complained, moving her hair out of her face.

“It’s Jill, babe,” he said before answering Jill, “What do you mean you found it?”

“I found Elli’s dream home. I’ve been sitting on it for a week, trying to see if it was the right house. Oh Shea, it is,” Jill said dreamily. Shea got excited, putting the phone on speaker so Elli could hear.

“Tell me,” Shea said, so excited he couldn’t see straight. Jill knew Elli by now. Ever since they met in her office when Elli hated every house she had shown them, Jill hadn’t called with any, she only called to say that she was still looking, so Shea knew this had to be it.

“Okay, well it’s over in Brentwood. It just came on the market last week, it has the porch she wants, six bedrooms, four and half baths, 7,364 square feet, on a two acre lot. It’s beautiful, Shea. Simply beautiful.”

It sounded good to him, but anything sounded good at this point. Elli’s stuff was everywhere; the condo was too small for all their stuff.

“Does it have the white hardwood floors?” Elli asked.

Damn it, he forgot it had to have that.

“Yes! Didn’t I say that?! Goodness me. I’m so stinkin excited that it totally slipped my mind. I wasn’t even going to go look at it until one of my colleagues said, “What the hell? White floors, no one wants that!” I almost fell out of my chair trying to get the listing from the guy. Oh Lord, I’m so excited.”

“When can we see it?” Shea asked.

“As soon as y’all want!”

“An hour?” he asked. Elli was already out of the bed, going to the bathroom.

“Yes, sir! See ya there, I’ll text you the address.”

“Awesome.” Shea got out of bed, ready to say bye, but Jill kept talking.

“Do you want to know the price? I think we can get it at $10,000 less.”

“Jill, at this point I don’t care about the price, I just want a house.”

He hung up to Jill’s laugher. This was it. It had to be.

This was it. This was the house of Elli’s dreams.

Elli was breathless when she saw the beautiful white hardwood floors that adorned each room. Each room was painted white, but Elli would change that. She would hire the same decorator Harper had used, since she had made their house look like a masterpiece. Elli loved how big and spacious the rooms were. All the windows through the house, oh God, they were to die for. Huge and clear, and the trim had pretty little designs on them. The bathrooms all had the same shower as Shea’s condo, only the master bathroom had a spa bathtub. There were beautiful entryways to each room, and the kitchen was spectacular; something straight off the Food Network.

And the porch, Oh! It was every country girl’s dream.

It wrapped around the whole house, with big pillars holding up the second story. The back patio was done in cobblestones that led to the huge in-ground pool. The whole property was enclosed by a tall white picket fence and with one look, Elli knew.

This was it.

This was going to be their home.

“I have to have it,” Elli said up to Shea as they stood on the cobblestone walkway that would be surrounded by tulips once Elli got started. He nodded, looking up at the beauty of the red brick home. It was perfect. There was a four car garage at the bottom, and there was a man cave, for goodness sakes!

This had to be their home.

“I love it,” Shea said, causing Elli to grin ear to ear.

“Me too.”

“We’ll need to have everyone come see it, see what they think,” Shea said, and Elli nodded in complete agreement.

“But if they don’t like it, is it bad that I really don’t care? Because I want this house, Shea.”

Shea laughed, nodding his head, “I couldn’t agree more with you.”

He looked down at her, as she grinned up at him. He turned, wrapping her up in his arms, kissing her with such care. When they parted he picked her up, spinning her around as she giggled.

“We found our house!” Elli yelled with her arms up in the air, making Shea laugh.

“Thank God!” Jill yelled and the laughter continued.

“Shea, it’s beautiful,” Grace said, as she stood in front of her stove, cooking some lunch for him and the kids.

“We think so,” Shea grinned as he colored with Ryan, “Hey bud, when Ms. Elli and I get our house, you wanna come stay the night?”