Free The Wandering Caravan by E. L. Todd

have to convince her she deserved the house.
    When the car pulled into the paved driveway, Scarlet looked up and examined the house. “What are we doing here?”
    “I wanted to take a look at it.”
    “Now?” she asked incredulously.
    “Yeah. Come on.”
    We got out of the cab when the other two pulled in behind us. “They are coming too?”
    “I texted them and told them to look at it with us.”
    Scarlet accepted t he explanation. Every decision we made involved them anyway. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at it. I waited for to say something. Our friends got out and stood beside us.
    “Wow,” Cortland said. “This place is nice.”
    “Really nice,” Ryan said. “I would love to live here.”
    I rolled my eyes. They were trying way too hard.
    “If Cortland bought me a house like this, I’d be very happy,” Monnique said.
    They were the worst actors in the world.
    “Are you seriously considering buying this house?” Scarlet asked.
    I still couldn’t tell if she liked it. “Yeah. I would like to live here. It’s close to the city but far enough away for some peace and quiet. It has six bedrooms and…”
    “Six bedrooms?” she asked incredulously. “Why the hell do we need that many bedrooms?”
    “Here we go again…” Ryan rolled his eyes.
    “Well, I need an office, you need an office, and then there’s our bedroom, plus the rooms for the kids. We can’t forget them.”
    “Still, that’s excessive.” She shook her head gently. “And it’s two stories. I’m fine living in an apartment.”
    I shook my head. “I want to buy a house to raise our family. You really want to raise kids in the city?”
    “We don’t need to worry about that right now,” she said firmly. “We aren’t having kids for a few years.”
    “I’d still rather get settled now.”
    “Sean, I don’t know...We could never afford this place.”
    “Yes, we can,” I said firmly. “I can afford anything you want to have. There’s a pool in the back and a nice backyard. The beach is just a few feet away. French doors lead to the back entrance. There’s a garden for you to write in. Scar, it’s perfect.”
    “It’s just so big…” She stared at the front door then shook her head. “Let’s get something smaller.”
    This is not how I wanted to show my wife the house we would spend the rest of our lives in. She was so afraid of wealth and money because it’s what ruined her family. She stayed away from it, associating it with evil. If money didn’t change a single person in the world, it would be her. But she didn’t trust herself.
    Ryan wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Scarlet, just say you like it, okay?” he whispered.
    “It’s too big. I don’t want to live here.”
    Damn.
    Everyone looked at Scarlet with wide eyes. I knew they thought she was being ungrateful. I should have picked out the house with her. I was just trying to be romantic. “Well, I already bought it.”
    Her eyes widened when she looked at me. The embarrassment and shame flooded her cheeks. “I love it…”
    “I just wanted to surprise you. We can sell it.”
    “No.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and held me close. “I love it. Don’t sell it.”
    “You don’t seem like you like it very much.”
    “No, I do,” she said quickly. “Sean, you’re so sweet.”
    “Scarlet, it’s really not a big deal. I should have just done this with you. But I knew you wouldn’t let yourself have anything nice. I thought if I made the decision for you, you wouldn’t feel so guilty about it.”
    Her eyes coated with tears. “No, I want to live here. It’s beautiful, Sean. Thank you so much. I’m so sorry for being so ungrateful…I didn’t know.”
    “It’s okay,” I whispered.
    “I want to have our babies here.”
    “Are you sure?” I brushed my lips against her forehead.
    “Yes. I’m sure.”
    I studied her eyes for a moment, seeing the sincerity. “Okay.”
    Ryan shook his head while he rolled