165:

Chris got out and slammed his door, Blaze and Danny jumped out and started walking toward the framed and sided skeleton castle. And castle was the only thing Tracy could think of to name it. Chris saw her still staring, not moving and gave her a worried frown. He came to her door and opened it, reaching for Melia who went to him willingly. "Somethin' wrong, ma'am?"

Tracy admitted to herself that the something wrong was definitely the hugeness of the house. Had she agreed to this because she was expecting an army? The house at Dana Point hadn't been this monstrous. And it had been the largest house she'd ever seen. She hefted Megan to her hip as she slid out of the pick-up and Chris shut the door behind her.

"Is this the front?" she watched Danny and Blaze disappear between two walls.

"You've seen the blue prints, right?" Chris hedged, anxiety clearly etched in his brown eyes.

She nodded. "I thought so. But this.... Looks....." she shook herself. "Okay, maybe I'm just not real clear. Is this the garage? And is that the front showcase living area and offices?" she walked slowly up the ice covered cobbles towards a planked walkway that went down and then up again, leading to a huge, no massive, practically two-story front door. "Fit for royalty." She sneered at herself. 'Who designed this?' Not me! She walked through the hollow front area, felt the immediate absence of breeze and pushed her hood back so she could look up.... up.... up! A balcony railing overlooked the sunken fireplace, the almost tiled hallway, the glass and stained-glass alcove offices. Yes, she really had done this.... It just seemed so much..... yes, those were her ideas for closets outside in the hallways, to ease stocking of necessaries for each room. Plenty of storage..... so much larger in real life.

She didn't deviate from the original hallway, but continued all the way to what seemed to be the back of the house, past the outlines of what might be considered a kitchen, another great room, a set of stairs, and as she opened the only available door, she wasn't surprised to see her library....

"Oh...." She breathed and tears came to her eyes immediately at the immensity of it.

"Tracy, you okay?" Chris had followed her in concern. "I've never had quite this reaction on a first tour. Is this not what you had in mind?"

She shook her head as the tears coalesced into a pattern leaving a streak of cold against her cheek. "No, it's.... it's better." She whispered, staring around at the floor to ceiling and beyond bookcases.

Chris seemed to relax. "Well, we started with this place because I'd never built anything so incredibly detailed, but you had this room all laid out the most expressive way, with all your little notes and such. I assumed this was pretty important to you."

She wiped her eyes and looked up at him, her lashes characteristically clumped together. "I've always wanted a library. I'm always finding books I want to read, or just have. But I don't have anywhere to put them. Now I do."

"All right." Chris breathed, looking around at his handiwork. He pushed back his cap. "Well, you asked for three exits, one to the main house, one that was a short cut to the garages and the basement, over there." He indicated the doors all the way to the far left. "That same staircase goes up to the apartments, and hence to the.... Teen wing...." He pointed out floor to ceiling windows overlooking a bare, but starkly anticipatory garden area.

"Oh, that's for the.... Pool area?" she had created an enclosed area for the pool, in the center of the library, the garages/apartments above, the.... Yes, admit it.... The teen wing, even though she didn't have any teenagers, and why they'd need their own wing, let alone their own apartments in a few years was beyond her, but for some reason, these ideas had come to her and she'd followed up on them as if preparing for a siege.

Chris stood at the large windows, beautifully set and framed-in to accentuate with elegant style the importance of the books to be shown here to the owner's best advantage. "The way you've got it set up, it won't be intrusive like, just looking out at the pool. This is really a small atrium area, a garden, with a little crick inside, trees overhanging, very picturesque. You have like a little mini-park planned, before you get to the pool area."

Yes." Tracy reflected, laughing and dashing at her tears. "I remember. I designed it on the way over to the Gulf before I got.... Married to Raine. Long plane ride. I used to doodle...." She looked away, having forgot her plans entirely, forgot her doodling.....why she'd given these plans to the architect was a mystery to her. What could she possibly have been thinking? This place was truly a fortress.... An imaginary place. She hadn't really ever thought.....

She squinted suddenly. "The teen wing..." she began, remembering what else she'd planned for that area of her home when and if she ever actually built it. Chris pointed and nodded toward a structure, completely framed in and walled, looking impressively done against the less finished counterparts on the other three angles surrounding the pool area. "Is that where there's the other...."

"Pool? Yep. Indoor pool, on the bottom floor over there. Yep. It's all done actually, plumbed, lockers, just like you asked, and on the other side, the indoor court. Could be basketball, could be tennis, probably could even have a volleyball tournament there if you want. The apartments are all above there, six apartments and the game room, the other inner-rec room is also there. Just like your blue prints...." He trailed off as he saw her turn around and walk back the way she had come, quickly, purposefully.

"Through here?" she pushed on a sliding door and went up some stairs. "This is the main house? This is where I'm going to live?"

"Well, it surely looks more like a livable place, actually." Chris said following her as their footsteps echoed in the stillness.

The stairs dropped them off in another hallway, and Tracy knew, three bedrooms would be found to her left, over looking the front of the non-livable space. Ahead was a bathroom. To the right a smaller living space, and then one open side with a railing overlooking her actual living room. Sky-lights dotted the ceiling, the huge staircase that led back down in the center of the house and doved-out to either side of a beautiful statue she'd gotten in New York..... the statue wasn't there yet.... Across from that, the family fireplace, a huge wall, a portrait wall, for all their children..... she could see them having family night, talking about the gospel, playing games. Lots of room here, and more floor to ceiling windows overlooking the river, and Jules's island getaway.....

To the right of this vista was the kitchen, much of it in boxes right now, but the bare minimum available to peruse. She remembered her ideas about a large dining table, a formal dining room, a theatre room, a game room, a separate dining area for more mass seating, kids and their friends. Would she ever need all this space? Would she have to hire a team of professional housecleaners and invite them to live with her like Alice on the Brady bunch?

Rather than going back downstairs to view her splendorous living room which she knew was too big and unrealistic for anyone even in her position to ever want.... They could host the state pinewood derby down there! She wandered through the dining area, over the hallway where there were separate entrances to the pantries, and down the hallway where she had once pictured her children sharing large comfortable rooms. The problem was, she'd already fixed up bedrooms, three of them on the other side of the house, where she'd first come upstairs. Three kids, three bedrooms. Made sense. Made sense till you walked down this hall and saw the identical huge bedrooms....three upstairs, and three downstairs.... For twelve kids, or.... More. And at the end of the hall? A storage area, and then..... the teen wing met back in to the rest of the main house.

"So, can I ask you something?" Chris was watching her as she became familiar with her new home.

Tracy nodded, wondering what asinine question she was about to answer. Her dream home.... Yeah, this was it.... But it might not be it anymore.... That was three years ago.... And many childhood fantasies away. Had she thought to house an orphanage here?

"Down those stairs.... The ones behind the garage? Lots of storage space?"

She tried to remember, but she hadn't even looked at the notebook with her blue prints again before giving them to her contractor months ago. She nodded, not showing him her ignorant mental shrug.

"So, the concrete place? The basement alongside your other basement? The one that's... you know.... Set up like....."

He was chuckling at her, and she knew why, and suddenly she was chuckling too. "Don't laugh." She quipped and turned away hiding her red cheeks. "I had gone to a preparedness fair or something. It was a while ago. Anyway, there's nothing wrong with being prepared."

"Not at all. I think everyone should have their own bomb-shelter."

Now they were both laughing and the sound brought Danny running head-long into their midst. "This place is so cool, momma!" he yelled, listening to his own voice echo on purpose. Blaze was meandering along behind him, up the grand staircase.

"Awesome, Trace." He said and eyed her appreciatively. That one look said it all. It was mocking and serious. He had grasped the significance of stability, the luxury yet the closeness. He saw the possibilities in an instant, and from their prior conversations, had picked up on the underlying security she was seeking. He was nodding and rubbing his nose, an indication that his thoughts were amused at her extravagance. He was giving her the deep-eyed stare that also spoke of assurance, of identification. He understood. For two seconds, Tracy heard his music, and felt the urge to hug him, to rest her shoulder against his, and have that arm come up and encompass her. She looked away before he could read that thought as well.

*****