The Final Countdown

Chapter 19

Maddie

"Are you going to tell me where we're going yet?" I fidget nervously in my seat, my fingers drumming against my knees. He put the blindfold on me as soon we got in the car, and we've been driving for around twenty minutes or so.

"Patience," he replies. Even though I can't see him, I know he's smiling.

This brings me back to when he proposed, and I was blindfolded in the back of an SUV before we made it to the beach. But he took me on a plane to get there, and when the vehicle comes to a stop, I'm not sure what to think. Where the hell are we? With us only driving for twenty minutes, we can't be too far from downtown. Cameron insisted Nina stay with Izzy for the day, but what for?

"You can take it off now."

My body is humming with excitement as I strip the fabric back from my eyes, wincing as I try to adjust to the sun beaming in the car. We're parked in front of a gate. A very large and tall gate with a winding driveway that goes on for what seems like a mile. I furrow my brows, confused. "Am I supposed to know where we are?"

Cam rolls his window down and leans out to put a code into a security box as if he's already memorized it by heart. In seconds, the gates churn open, allowing him to drive through. Cherry blossom trees line the incredibly lengthy driveway, obscuring anything else from view, and petals coat the lush green grass from the transition into Fall.

Finally, when we pass the trees, a house...no, a mansion, towers into the sky like a damn castle. I lean forward to try and see it all from the windshield, but it's impossible. The structure is massive—a mixture of darkly glazed brick and green vines seeming to gleam from the sunshine beaming down. A large bay window sits at the very top of the house, bringing the beautiful Victorian dream together.

Cameron parks the car in a circular driveway that surrounds a spewing three-tiered fountain, and I'm too in awe to speak at the realization there's an actual courtyard in front of the door. But that's not what captures my attention the most. It's what surrounds the house itself. It's...

"A white-picket fence," I whisper shakily. "Cam, is this—"

"Welcome home, baby."

I'm frozen in the passenger seat, unable to move a muscle. I've dreamt of this moment my entire life, and I've always pictured it with the man sitting beside me. There were so many times life tried to rip that dream away from me, but I knew we'd make it here. Deep down, I knew he would be the one I'd spend the rest of my life with. There was never a doubt in my mind we'd get the picket fence, but now that it's here?

My hands are trembling as tears slip down my cheeks. Happy tears. This home is perfect, and I haven't even seen the inside yet.

"Do you like it?" He asks.

"Are you kidding? Cam, it's incredible. I... How did you even find this place?"

He smiles, and the sight of it has my stomach curling with desire. "This was an old, rundown estate that was falling apart, but it had good bones. When you went away for your internship, I bought it, and I sat down with a contractor to have it renovated. I made sure to keep the character. You know, the original hardwood floors and everything. But I added the white-picket fence, and the kitchen is newly renovated, too."

"You bought us a house," I say in disbelief. "An enormous freaking house."

He leans over to squeeze my hand. "For us to build a family in, Mads. I want Izzy to have brothers and sisters to run around and play with. I want this home of ours to have everything they could ever need. A movie theater, a basketball court, a game room... I want it all for them."