“Yes, a few weeks ago. Drake has only been able to work on it in between his own projects. He will fix it up, and maybe I will move in when he finishes.”

“Maybe?”

“I’m not sure yet about giving up living in the city. I like opening my door and having the city readily available, delivery, dinner out, my office only minutes away. Then again, every place I move into eventually feels small and claustrophobic. I end up moving every few years. I’m wondering if having an actual yard and land around me might help.”

“Have you felt claustrophobic with me?”

I barely have to think before shaking my head. Not once have I thought about my place. Even when Maxi walked over my laptop and reports to crawl onto my lap for a cuddle, I gave in and did my best to work around her. I liked looking up and seeing Alexa at her desk working or hearing her in the kitchen cooking or going on walks with her. “No.”

Drake and the architect, Ben, are waiting. In person, the years of neglect are glaring.

“Oh wow, Leo this place is huge. How many bedrooms are there?”

It’s Drake who answers. I take the print out from Drake, fuck, five pages of repairs that needed to be done. “This place is ten thousand square feet, to the inch, the original build was precise. There are eight bedrooms, two masters one in the left wing and the other in the right wing. I’m guessing they had one of those marriages. There are eleven total bathrooms. And then there is a separate staff apartment with a small living area, bedroom, and a private bathroom. It needs a new roof, no doubt about that. Do you want to go with shingles or keep the shake it has now?” Drake asks as he points to the roof.

I shrug. “I trust your opinion on what is best. Does it make a difference?”

“Not much, no.”

“Leo, keep the shake. It will look amazing with the brick underneath all that ivy. You’re going to cut all that back, right Drake?”

“I hadn’t planned on it actually. You don’t think it gives the place a nice air to it? What do you think of the French colonial look, Alexa?”

“That only looks good on part of the house. It’s choking the house, all of it on the front needs to be cut back. The architecture is gorgeous.”

Drake makes a note. “Yes, ma’am. What do you think about the drive? We were going to power wash it for now. Then again we are going to need to bring in heavy equipment if we make plans now it could save time to have them tear it up when they come in.”

Alexa shakes her head. “The brick already looks bad, it’s broken in several places.”