Justifying Jack (The Wounded Warriors Book 2) by Simone Beaudelaire, J.M. Northup Page A

released each other and then Mike looked around the little kitchen they were standing in. “So what's wrong with this house?”
    “Marithé loves to cook. She needs a little bigger kitchen and it has to have a dishwasher,” Jack replied without thinking. When he realized what he'd said, he looked at his friend with wide eyes, not sure if he'd said something he ought not to have.
    Mike just smiled at him. “Well, we should probably make a list. If I know what you're looking for then it'll make it easier for me to help you find it.”
    Jack smiled at Mike, grateful for his unconditional friendship. “Wow. You're an amazing guy, bro. It's nice to know I'm not alone and that I have someone I can talk to.”
    * * *
    After an intensive week of viewing homes with Mike, Jack finally found the house he was looking for.
All I need now is her stamp of approval
, he thought as he glanced at the woman beside him, then back at the children belted in the back seat of his new car.
    I sure appreciate you coming with to have a look at the place,” Jack commented.
    “It was sweet of you to ask, but are you sure you don't mind having the kids along?” Marithé fretted as the children giggled at the cartoon they were watching on Jack's iPad.
    The sound of the children behind him was like music to his ears and Jack replied honestly by saying, “I wouldn't have it any other way. Besides, I want to know what they think too. I mean, I do hope to have a family one day and it'll be good to see how a woman and kids look at the place before I invest in it.”
    “Okay,” Marithé shrugged dismissively. “So Shonda said you looked at like, I don't know, an outrageous number of homes before you found this one?”
    He chuckled.
Of course, my mother would have kept her informed about my progress.
“Ah, yeah, that's a bit of an exaggeration. I looked at probably… thirty?”
    Marithé raised her eyebrows in surprise. “You don't think that's a lot?”
    Now Jack shrugged. “I guess not. I mean, I just wanted to be sure I got what I wanted, needed.”
    “I get it,” Marithé nodded. “It's a lot of money and a big responsibility.”
    “Yeah.”
    “So where is it?” Marithé asked, looking out the window to note their location.
    “It's down the next street actually,” Jack replied as he checked the traffic, flipped on his blinker, and crossed into the turning lane.
    Thoughtfully, she remarked, “well, this isn't too far from your parent's house or the church.”
    “Nope,” he said with a smile. “I wanted to stay in the same neighborhood.”
God knows, I didn't want the kids to have to change schools and I wanted an easy commute to work.
Turning onto a residential street, he voiced, “I've had enough changes in life. I didn't feel like adding more to the list.”
    Marithé smiled. “I can definitely understand that.”
I know you can and that's why I wanted this neighborhood so badly.
    “See the tan colored rambler there?” Jack pointed ahead of them through the windshield. “It's the one on the left there, with the crepe myrtle in the front yard.”
    “Oh, Jack!” Marithé gushed. “What a nice place and I just love crepe myrtles.”
    “There's a magnolia tree in the back yard,” Jack mentioned, knowing it was another of her favorite trees.
    “No there isn't!” she gasped in surprise. “If the kitchen is as nice as the yard then I'm sold!”
    “I want to see! I want to see!” Andres chanted, kicking his legs about as they hung over the edge of his car seat.
    “Me too!” Elena chimed in, dropping the forgotten iPad in the seat beside her.
    “Jack is thinking about buying this house right here,” Marithé explained to the tots as Jack pulled into the driveway and killed the engine.
    “Really?” Elena squealed, releasing her seatbelt, and jumping up to pat Jack excitedly on the shoulder. “Can we go inside? Huh, can we?”
    Seeing his sister free from her seat, Andres started to fuss, struggling as he tried to