Chapter Forty-Seven
Jessica
After viewing the house on Morning View Drive, Alan, Ruthie, and I went to the bakery for some coffee and pastries.
I took Ruthie to Lainey’s office, then came back out to sit across from Alan at a table near the kitchen door.
“How’d it go?” Lainey asked as she set my cinnamon roll and Alan’s croissant down on the table.
“I loved it,” I confessed as I unrolled my napkin from the silverware and put it in my lap. “It was so bright and cheery, with lots of floor to ceiling windows that let the light in. And the kitchen… it’s perfect. It has amenities I didn’t even know existed!”
Alan had smiled patiently when I’d gasped every time the realtor pointed out something. I suppose being a builder, he knew all about extras and upgrades.
“That’s great! So did you make a decision, or do you want to look at other places first?”
Alan answered, “We get the keys tomorrow.” He’d signed a six-month lease right there at the kitchen counter and transferred the money already.
“We’re going to be neighbors!” Lainey squealed. “Do we get to go furniture shopping, too?”
Alan told her, “No, they left most of the furniture for staging, so we’re just going to use that for now. So, other than the nursery furniture, the only thing we need to get right away is a mattress. The one they have feels like plywood.”
I remember I’d gone beet red when Alan had sat on the bed in the primary bedroom and matter-of-factly told the realtor, “No, this won’t work.”
All I’d been able to think was, “Won’t work for what exactly?”
Then he’d patted the space next to him and said, “Don’t you agree, babe?”
Babe?
Why did I love that so much?
The second I’d sat down next to him, I understood what he meant. The mattress felt like a slab of concrete. But I’d still been embarrassed to be having the discussion in front of the realtor, knowing she knew that we’d be in the same bed together.
Wouldn’t we?
We hadn’t talked about our sleeping arrangements, but I inferred if we were going to give our marriage a real shot, that meant sharing a bed, and everything that meant.
Lainey grinned. “Besides, you don’t want to start your marriage with a used mattress.”
“That, too,” Alan agreed.
My boss tilted her head as she looked at me. “You’re awfully quiet.”
All this talk about our bed was making me squirm, but I thought I was pretty clever when I replied, “I just keep thinking, when are we going to have time to go mattress and baby furniture shopping?”
That wasn’t a lie.
I’d suggested we just move Ruthie’s crib and changing table from my parents’, but Alan thought we should leave it so they’d have it when they babysat her. I agreed in theory but replacing it before we moved in was another story.
“Do it online,” Lainey replied with a wave of her hand. “They’ll deliver it right to your door within a day. Probably even set everything up, too.”
“Shouldn’t we test out the mattress?”
Alan winked at me. “Oh, we will.”
And, once again, I felt my face burning up, but my stomach was doing somersaults at the idea of what that would be like.
Lainey seemed to ignore Alan’s innuendo and stated, “Most places give you ninety days to try one out, so if it doesn’t work, you can send it back and get a different one.”
Alan opened up his phone. “Why don’t we pick something out now? You’ve got time before your dress appointment, don’t you?”
I glanced at my watch. “I do.”
****
Alan
After shopping online for baby furniture with Jessica, I was glad I’d had Lainey make sure to have the bridal shop remove the price tags on the dresses so Jess couldn’t make her decision based on the cost. I’d said in the beginning that money was no object when it came to the wedding, and I’d meant it.
I knew Lainey would have no trouble putting my credit card to good use, so I’d put her in charge of paying.
When we’d looked at furniture for the nursery, I could tell Jess really liked one set, then she noticed the price and quickly changed her mind.
I overrode her and ordered it anyway.
“Baby, you’re going to have to get used to spending money,” I teased as I clicked ‘Buy’.
“That’s not going to be easy for me. My parents are very frugal—they had to be, having five kids and only one income, not to mention tithing the church. Being careful with money was something they instilled in us.”
“I get it, and I’m not suggesting you be frivolous, but I think there’s something to be said for paying for quality.”
I hoped she took that to heart today at the bridal boutique.
Changing the subject, I asked, “Should we plan on having dinner tonight?”
My question made her smile, which my ego appreciated. “I’d like that.”
“Good. I’m cooking.”
Her eyes got big. “Really? You know how to cook?”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m a thirty-five-year-old bachelor, of course I can cook.”
Granted, my housekeeper usually prepped and froze a week’s worth of meals for me every Wednesday, but I still knew how to prepare something.
“I’ll pick up some steaks at the store.”
“Oh, get some potatoes and asparagus, too,” she said.
I tsked at her. “Of course. Do you think I’m just going to serve you a slab of meat on a plate?”
“I don’t know! I’m pretty sure that’s what my brothers would do. Either that, or they’d have mac and cheese as a side dish.”
“That actually sounds good,” I teased.
She must not have gotten my joke, because she countered, “How about we make dinner—together?”
That was the best idea I’d heard in a long time.