"Max, are you sure about this? It's kinda out in the middle of nowhere," Jonathan said, looking at the narrow winding road through the hills that Max was taking the Bentley on a little fast.

"What're you talkin' about?" he protested. "It's just up the hill from Rodeo Drive. Bel Air ain't that far from nothin'. Remember you wanted to look at land we hadda take a plane to see? This ain't far."

Jonathan chuckled. Max was right. They'd looked at the land in the desert, and it was really beautiful. Maybe one day they would buy some property out there and build something. But it had two very important drawbacks for them now. First, Max was right that it was way in the middle of nowhere and for them to use it as a primary residence just wasn't practical. And second, they would have to build something. Building took time. And Jennifer hated the penthouse. Jonathan wanted to find something for them as soon as possible so they could move in right away. They were getting married in ten days, so time was running short. He really did want to find them a home before they got married so they could move in as newlyweds.

As Max continued to drive to the address he'd found in the newspaper listing, Jonathan found himself pondering the idea of a home and what it might be like to find it up in these hills. The trees were denser up here. It felt quieter than LA proper. It was even above the smog; the air was cleaner. And from what Jonathan noticed, the houses were all set back from the street, so it probably felt pretty secluded. Maybe Bel Air would be a nice place to live.

But it wasn't just living here. It was having a home here. That was a strange sort of concept for Jonathan. One he hadn't really thought of until Jennifer brought up this idea of them buying a house somewhere together. Jonathan didn't remember having a home as a child. He'd been brought to Mission Street at three years old, and he hardly remembered anything before that. And Mission Street hadn't been much of a home. He had a bed and he had three meals a day, but there was very little love or comfort to be found there. And then with Max, Jonathan had bounced around a lot of places. The Navy was a home of sorts, he supposed. College was the first time he'd ever lived on his own in a place of his choosing. And then he just lived places to have somewhere to lay his head and keep his paltry personal belongings until Jonathan Hart Industries took off. Jonathan travelled as much as he could for the company, since he didn't really care about being in one place for too long. Hart Towers gave him the first semblance of a place to call his own that he could be proud of. But Jennifer had been absolutely right when she said the penthouse didn't feel like him. It wasn't a home. Not in the way people are supposed to have a home.

Maybe that's why this house hunting had been so challenging for him. Jonathan was looking for something he'd never known before. All he knew was that he wanted a home with Jennifer. He wanted a place to be theirs, to build a life together and make dreams and memories together. Somewhere he and Jennifer could always come home to after their adventures, to live with Max and maybe a dog one day. He wanted to find their home. And none of the dozen houses in Beverly Hills he and Max had visited had felt right. But Max had found this listing in Bel Air. Maybe Bel Air would feel different.

The Bentley reached a large wooden gate with a call box. Max leaned out to push the button and announce that they were here for an appointment with the real estate agent to see the house.

Jonathan's first thought was that the gate seemed a little pretentious. He expected to see a house appear right behind it over a short driveway. But when the gate opened, he was proven wrong. The driveway went over a little bridge over a creek and wound around through some trees on the edge of the hillside, looping around to an enormous house that was anything but pretentious. It was tucked behind trees, and the masonry work on the façade immediately felt warm and inviting.

And Jonathan smiled.

"Darling, I want your honest opinion, alright? I want to know what you think of the place. Don't worry about my feelings, just your—"

"My honest opinion," Jennifer interrupted. "I got it, I got it."

The way Jonathan was acting, Jennifer wasn't sure if she could actually give him her honest opinion. He was practically buzzing with excitement to show her this house. It was the first one he'd taken her to see, and that certainly spoke volumes.

For the last two months they had been in LA, Jonathan and Max had been house hunting. Jennifer had wanted to help, but Jonathan had rightly pointed out that she had enough to do with trying to finish her book. And as the wedding got closer and friends and family came to town, there was so much more taking up her time. If she had insisted on also going with Jonathan to look at houses, she would be at her wits' end before they got married, and neither of them wanted that.

But now he had obviously found a house he loved and wanted to show her, and good god, what if she didn't like it!? If the décor of the penthouse was anything to go by, Jonathan's taste in real estate was not the same as Jennifer's.

Max drove them in the Bentley up into the hills. Jennifer had seen these hills from a distance and assumed people lived up here, but she'd never been here herself. And it was beautiful. She could almost feel the fresh air fill her up, even from inside the car. The trees and the hillside and the views were all stunning. It reminded her a little bit of some places back east, only they didn't really have hills like this. And the sun never shined this much.

"I didn't know places like this existed in LA," she commented.

"I've never spent much time in Bel Air, but there's a beautiful country club nearby. I'm not much of a golfer, but there's a tennis club there," Jonathan said.

"I do like tennis. And I wouldn't mind learning golf," she replied.

Jonathan smiled. "This property has a tennis court on it, so maybe we can play together. You know how much I like it when we play together," he said, his voice dripping with innuendo.

Jennifer chuckled at him for that. She had never lived anywhere with a tennis court. Elliot had a place in upstate New York with a tennis court, but Jennifer had only been there for a weekend and it was winter so they hadn't played tennis. And Elliot was so damn competitive that she hadn't enjoyed doing things like that with him anyway. But playing tennis with Jonathan on their own property might be very fun. Especially if they could play tennis together and then do other things together, all in the seclusion of their backyard.

Max reached a big wooden gate and rolled down the window to punch in a code on a call box. Jonathan explained that the real estate agent had given them the code and the keys to take a look on their own today, and he'd meet them later in the afternoon.

"You know," Jennifer mused, "that gate might be pretty painted white. And maybe with some kind of decoration."

"Like a pattern or something?" Max asked from the front seat as he drove them through.

"Maybe an H for Hart in wrought iron," Jonathan suggested.

Jennifer smiled. "That would be perfect." She was already thinking about this property as theirs. And now seeing the property, she was pleased with her instincts. The drive went over a little bridge and through more trees, and it was more beautiful than she could have ever imagined. She hadn't even seen the house yet.

"Here we are," Jonathan announced as they pulled up to the front of the most charming façade she'd ever seen. It was like a mountain lodge but bigger and more elegant. It felt woodsy, matching the trees on the grounds. Very California, somehow.

Max came to open the door for Jennifer, and Jonathan got out on the other side. Jennifer just stared up at the place.

Jonathan gently put his hand on the small of her back. "Come see the inside."

She allowed him to lead her in. The front door was large and old and creaked a little bit as he unlocked it. And then Jennifer was met with the most magnificent interior of any house she'd ever seen.

"Apparently it was designed and built sometime in the 1920s by Lawrence Freeman, the famous architect. He lived here for decades. The house was purchased from his estate but the owners had a nasty divorce and never actually moved in, and it's been vacant for years now," Jonathan told her, relaying the information that had been given to him.

Jennifer made a slow turn, taking in the dark wood and the staircase and the elegant living room with a bar off in the corner. Just the entryway was exquisite. She could hardly wait to see the rest of the house. She turned back to Jonathan. "Can I have a tour?"

The three of them went from room to room. The living room and the bar were lovely. There was a big fireplace that Jennifer could already imagine snuggling up in front of in the wintertime—did it get cold enough for California? She'd have to wait and see. There was a formal dining room that could probably fit a table to seat twenty if they wanted. Through there was the kitchen, which was large but certainly needed updating after being unused for so long. And from the kitchen, Jennifer could see outside to a little patio area and…

"Is that a pool!?" she exclaimed.

"Yes," Jonathan answered, opening the back door to lead them out to see it. "And the tennis court is back beyond that open area there."

The yard was enormous. There must be a few acres of land, at least. A beautiful sweeping lawn and a little well were off to the left. There was a path veering off to the right from the house leading to the pool. And the tennis court must have been back behind that copse of trees.

"I want to show you the upstairs, and then we can wander the grounds if you want," Jonathan said.

They went back inside, and Jennifer was reluctant to leave the beauty of the outdoors until she did return into the house and was reminded all over again how beautiful it was. They mounted the stairs to the multiple bedrooms, all with simple but pretty décor. The master bedroom had double doors and a huge amount of space and a large window looking out over the yard and the pool. The master bathroom also had a dressing area and a huge bathtub that Jennifer immediately wanted to get into with Jonathan.

When they'd seen all of it, Jennifer had to figure out what she was going to say. Jonathan had wanted her honest opinion, and she wasn't quite sure how to give it to him.

She stood in that master bedroom and looked around one more time before turning to Jonathan. He was watching her expectantly. "You like this place, don't you?" she asked.

"I do. But I want to know if you like it."

Jennifer shook her head. "Tell me why you like it."

Jonathan frowned slightly. He obviously didn't want to tell her his thoughts, perhaps not wanting to influence her. But Jennifer just waited. She wanted to hear what he had to say. He told her, "I like that it's private and has a lot of space. I didn't think we could have anything like this in LA, but it feels like a getaway when it's only a ten minute drive from civilization. The views are stunning. I like the pool. And the house just…I don't know, it feels like home."

A smile spread on Jennifer's face as he spoke. She couldn't help it. She crossed over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, not caring that Max was right there. Jennifer leaned in and caressed Jonathan's lips in a kiss, trying to impart all her feelings through it.

In her entire adult life, she had never been in a place that felt like forever. Jonathan felt like forever. This house felt like forever. It was just as he said. It felt like home.

She pulled back and asked, "When can we move in?"