The weekend stretched out long for both Clay and Emma. They spent Saturday distracting themselves with home improvement tasks around the house. The contractor who owned the house before them worked on fixing it up as a side project while he ran his business, but an emergency relocation back to his hometown in the Midwest caused him to sell before finishing. Consequently, when Clay and Emma purchased the home from him, parts of it were rehabbed completely with top-of-the-line fixtures while other parts remained the same as when the house was built in the 1970s.

Emma decided to strip the ancient wallpaper in the room she used as her place to write music, but Clay found it more difficult to settle on a task. He completed some minor jobs, but none kept him busy for long. Finally, he chose to go ahead with the demolition of the first-floor powder room. They had planned on leaving that remodel until later, but the physical demands of the job were exactly what he needed. Each hit of his hammer on the ugly pink, black, and white tile helped him burn off the frustration and helplessness he felt.

This house represented the future he and Emma mapped out for themselves. By continuing their intended improvements, Clay committed himself to making it happen no matter what occurred with Emma's health.

The rhythmic sound of banging from the bathroom filtered down the hall to Emma as she worked. Her arms ached from scraping at the stubborn wallpaper. No matter how much she soaked it, the heavy, fruit-patterned paper did not want to come off the walls. But the hard labor coupled with her "working on the house" playlist helped her keep thoughts of her coming biopsy at bay.

Working steadily, Emma slowly revealed the original bare walls, now discolored from the wallpaper paste. Her satisfaction grew as more and more of the old paper hit the floor. Even without fresh paint, the room appeared larger and much brighter now that the dark paper was gone.

When she and Clay first visited this home while they house hunted, this room dismayed Emma. With its thick brown carpet, dark velvet drapes, and dreadful wallpaper, it stood in contrast to the other updated rooms of the house. The realtor explained the room was one the owner had decided to fix up later as the work was only cosmetic, while other areas of the home needed more extensive repairs.

Janine, their realtor, brought them for a showing of this house almost immediately after the owner came into the realty office to put it on the market. Emma remembered their agent's call and her urgency about them viewing the home right away. Clay being in Virginia Beach and not on a spin up at the time had been lucky timing. He received permission to leave the base early, and they met Janine at the address she texted to them.

As they pulled up in Clay's truck outside the house, their real estate agent stepped out of her car. She met them at the base of the house's driveway. "Let's enter this way." She gestured to the side door.

In hindsight, Emma realized how smart Janine had been to bring them into the house through the kitchen. Walking in, Clay and Emma had been impressed by the newly remodeled space.

Emma ran her hand along one of the counter tops. "I love these. Are they quartz?"

"They are." Janine smiled at Emma's obvious appreciation of the room. "The owner is a contractor. He remodeled this kitchen himself in the last year."

Clay studied the updated fixtures and frowned. "Are you sure this house is in our price range?"

Janine nodded. "It is at the higher end, but not above your limit."

Emma's eyes widened. "This kitchen is fantastic, and more than I thought we could afford. Is there something wrong with the rest of the house?"

"Not wrong, but not all the rooms are this finished. Working on this house was a side project while he lived here and ran his contracting business. He didn't complete all the work, particularly the cosmetic updates." Janine gestured to the living room area. "Come see what I mean."

They walked into the main living area, furnished with a big television, a huge leather couch, and a crate turned on its side acting as a coffee table. Emma laughed. "You can tell a guy decorated this."

"Hey!" Clay pretended to be offended.

Smiling at them, Janine walked over to the fireplace. "As you can see, the brick here and the mantel have been modernized. Also, the chimney was fixed and relined, but the walls need fresh paint and the floors should probably be refinished."

Leaning down, Clay ran his hand over a scuffed spot on the floor. "Yeah, but it doesn't look like a huge job."

"You'll find most of the house like this. The roof and the windows are new, but the half bath here on the first floor is the original. There are rooms with wallpaper you'll most likely want to replace, along with some carpet, but the master suite is lovely and all new, along with the second bathroom upstairs. Let me show you." Heading down the hall, Janine motioned for Emma and Clay to follow her.

They toured the rest of the downstairs. Janine pointed out the space Emma stood in today as a possible music room. The owner had been using it as an office, keeping a large desk and his computer there. Emma found it difficult at the time to picture the room as a possible work area for her with the dark colors and lack of light, but Clay, pleased at the thought of her having her own spot to create, made a few suggestions on how to brighten things up.

Next, they visited the basement while Janine gave them the listing price for the house. She also talked about what they might do to make their offer more appealing. Knowing the current owner needed to sell quickly, she thought Clay and Emma were in a good position as they could be more flexible on a closing date.

After a quick viewing of the overgrown backyard, good-sized but with a falling apart deck, they headed to the second floor. Much like the rooms downstairs, the two smaller bedrooms upstairs would need their floors done and the walls painted. However, the bathroom between those rooms had been updated with new fixtures and clean, white tile with aqua accents.

Emma grinned at Clay. "These rooms would work well for kids." She had begun to imagine their future in this house, building a life together here one memory at a time.

Clay smiled in return. "They would."

Being a successful real estate agent, Janine knew when to push and when to step back. She pulled out her phone. "Why don't the two of you view the master suite while I answer some emails from the office?"

Clay gestured for Emma to proceed him into the hall. "Shall we?"

"Let's check it out." She headed down the hall with him following close behind.

Upon entering the master bedroom, Emma stopped in the middle of the room and slowly turned around. "What a great space. So bright."

"It is. A lighter paint color will make it brighter." Clay glanced at the double bed placed in the corner. "We could fit a larger bed in here too." He waggled his eyebrows at her.

Emma smiled. "Definitely a bigger bed." Her expression grew more thoughtful as she studied the space. "A lot of other furniture would fit as well, even with a larger bed."

Crossing the room, Clay opened one of the two other doors. "This walk-in closet is huge."

Emma joined him, sticking her head inside. "Wow, it is." She stepped into the space. "It's fantastic."

"Room for lots of shoes." He shot her a teasing grin.

"Exactly."

While Emma continued to examine the shelving in the closet, Clay went to the other door. Opening it, he found the en suite bathroom. He let out a low whistle. "Em, come look at this. I think you're going to like it."

Walking up behind him, Emma peered over his shoulder. "Whoa, the tub is giant." She stepped around him and entered. "I can picture myself soaking in this."

"Me too." A wicked grin grew on Clay's face. "In fact, I can picture us both in there."

A mischievous smile crossed Emma's face. "Sounds good, sailor."

"You know where else we could both fit?" He sauntered across the room and opened the glass door of the shower. Stepping inside, he crooked a finger at her.

A shiver of desire ran down Emma's spine as her gaze met Clay's. Moving towards him as if mesmerized, she stepped into the spacious stall and his arms. "There's plenty of space for us in here."

"Space for all kinds of things." Clay's arms tightened around her as he pressed his lips to hers.

Remembering their realtor down the hall, ended their kiss. "I think we should buy this house."

Clay kissed her again then lifted his head. "I agree, but we should talk sensibly about it and not get carried away by the bathroom."

"I suppose." She leaned in for one more kiss. "But I like this bathroom."

He grinned. "Me too, but we need to think logically. There is a certain amount of work we'd have to do or pay someone to do."

"A lot of it is cosmetic though. We can handle scraping off wallpaper and painting." She paused and frowned for a moment. "Do you know how to deal with the floors?"

"Yeah, it's not a terrible job, and some of the guys would probably help." He rubbed his chin. "I think the biggest tasks are rebuilding the deck and updating the half bath."

Emma wrinkled her nose. "Ugh, that pink toilet."

"I thought you liked pink," Clay teased.

"When I was six and never imagined anything as horrifying as that toilet."

Clay chuckled but grew serious. "Redoing that bathroom will cost us some money though. I can handle the demo, but we'd have to pay professionals to do the rest."

"Okay, but as long as it works right now, we could wait on that." She moved out of his arms and began pacing the small space. "The deck and fence around the yard too. That would give us time to save some more money."

"Are you sure?" He caught her arm and tugged her to face him. "Me operating means it will take us longer to finish all the work."

"I'm sure. I can see us in this house." Her eyes lit up. "Can't you see us living here?"

He returned her joyful smile. "I can."

Grinning, Emma threw her arms around his neck. "Let's tell Janine we want to make an offer."

Emma smiled again as she remembered how excited they were telling the realtor they wanted to buy to this house. Together the three of them came up with points to make in a letter to accompany their offer, and they submitted it that day. The owner needed to sell quickly, and he liked that Clay was in the military. They settled on a deal that worked for all of them with a speedy closing, ending Clay and Emma's house search less than a month after it began.

Glancing around her music room, she admired all the improvements. Underneath the drop cloth she stood on, was the newly finished floor. Before she and Clay moved in, they pulled up all the ugly carpet in the house, and Clay, with help from Uncle Sonny, sanded and refinished all the hardwood. Now the dreadful wallpaper was gone. Next, she'd coat the walls with primer before painting the room.

The sounds of Clay demolishing the half bath had faded. Emma wondered if he finished the demo or took a break. Maybe he stopped for lunch. Although, she thought, he would have asked her if she wanted something to eat too. Wiping her hands off on a work rag, she headed down the hall to find out what he was doing.