Chapter 7
Trin wanted to make love to Audon but knew that with all the things that had gone on tonight, he might not be in the mood.
She knew that she wasn’t entirely in the mood; she’d been thinking about those two men all evening, and all she could think about was what a pain in the ass they’d been.
Just as she was starting to work, Audon came into her office and sat down. She waited for him to speak.
“I have money.” She told him that she did as well.
“Are you the type of person that believes that one person pays all the bills, or do you want to put it all in one account and pay the bills from one account? I’m good either way.
I just thought, we’ve been together for a couple of days now and we should be thinking about that sort of stuff. ”
“I usually pay the bills from my personal account. I mean, what little I had. Now that I’m living here full time, I guess I’m going to have to—we’re going to have to figure things out together.
I’d like to put your name on the deed with mine.
And we need to get a will made out. Thankfully, Milly and Robert had one before they were killed.
” He asked about the house. “Do you want to live here? Is that what you’re asking me? ”
“Yes. I love this house if that matters to you any. But I’ll live anywhere so long as I can have a building put up someplace so that I can work.
” She asked him about that. “I was going to talk to you about having a studio put up so that I can have someplace to work. I can paint anywhere, but I need a building to do it in.”
“I understand. And yes, it matters to me if you like this house or not. I think that it’s a little big, but there’s no reason to believe we can’t live here.
” He nodded, and she thought about something else.
“I have my home that’s paid for. It’s on the market right now.
I believe you and your brother both looked it over and found that it was too small for what you wanted. ”
“I wanted a big house. I don’t know why; I’m not expecting you to fill each of the bedrooms here. But I’d like to have more children with you if you’re willing.” She said that she’d love that. “And on that, I’d like to adopt Lizzy. If you don’t mind.”
“No. I think that would be the smart thing to do.” She smiled at him. “We probably should have had this talk before we got married.”
“Yes, but things didn’t work out that way.
” She nodded, and he got up to pace. She had no idea why, but she thought that he was sexy pacing across the room and back.
“Do you think we were stupid for getting married after only a couple of days? I love you very much and am glad that we married, but were we stupid?”
“I don’t think so. I’m happy if you are.
We get along well. And Lizzy loves you.” He smiled, and she could feel his love for her daughter all the way across the room.
“I think we were smart for not wasting any time in getting married. I feel as if I’ve been married to you forever and not just today.
You make me feel like I’m going to be able to live a good life with you. ”
“I feel the same way.” He still paced, and she watched him.
He had a lot on his mind, and she was glad that he was able to talk to her about it.
Just as she was going to say something about the two houses that she now owned, he spoke again.
“I travel a great deal, especially in the fall months to early spring. I’ve been all over the world with my art, and I’d like for you and Lizzy to go with me too.
I usually just show up then leave when it’s over, but I can see us having fun while around the world and making a fun vacation of all the places I have to go. ”
“I’d love that.” He looked so relieved that she was glad that she’d not made a joke about them going together. “I’ve not been anyplace but here. I don’t even have a passport.”
“We’ll have to get you one and soon. I have a travel date in March.
I know that sounds like a way away, but we have the holidays coming up too in a few months, and I don’t want to forget.
” She said she’d get right on that. “I have no idea about Lizzy traveling with us. I don’t know if she’ll need a special passport or not, but we need to look into that. ”
“I’ll do that first thing in the morning.” He nodded and looked happy. “I guess you have one already.”
“I do. I’ve been traveling for some time now.
I have my passport stamped so many times that I might have to get a new one.
” He laughed. “This will be epic from now on. I never stayed. I would go there for a couple of days and return before jet lag even kicks in. I’m excited for you to be going with me. ”
They talked about other things, just the two of them. He told her how he’d gone to college to become a medical doctor and had to take an art class for a rounded-out education. He’d loved it so much that the next quarter he’d switched his major and became the artist that he was today.
“Did you like painting before? I just realized that I’ve never seen any of your work.
” He pulled out his phone and showed her some of the things he’d done.
He was especially proud of the murals that he’d done at the hospital.
“Then there is the work you did in Lizzy’s bedroom. I’d forgotten about that.”
“Yes, so did I. I didn’t remember it until recently either, until you sent me the check. I had forgotten about it even before then.” She told him how she’d found the bill on Robert’s desk under some paperwork. “Yes, that’s what Burno said.”
They talked for hours. Just as she was yawning for the third time in so many minutes, she looked at the clock.
It was nearly one in the morning, and they’d been up since five-thirty.
Locking up the house, the two of them held hands as they moved around the lower levels, making sure that the house was as safe as they could make it.
He would stop her a couple of times and kiss her, and she knew then that he wanted her.
As they made their way upstairs, she asked him about the master suite.
“I’m sure that she meant for us to use it.” He looked in the room as they walked past it. “It’s a lovely room. If it makes you feel better, we can get a new mattress to put in there so it’ll be all ours. I think that would be the best way to go.”
“I agree. We’ll sleep in the room after we get that taken care of.
” Closing the door, she said that she’d go through it again this week to make sure that all of their things were moved out.
“It might be hard on me, but it really needs to be done. I’ve moved out all the clothing that was in there of theirs, but their personal things will be hard on me. ”
“We can hire someone to do it if that’s what you want.
” She said she’d get it. “All right. But if you change your mind, it’s no problem getting someone in there to make sure that we have a good place to start our lives in.
It’s going to break your heart to have to dispose of the things that they had in the room. I know for a fact that it would me.”
She looked up at him and began to think about how hard it would be for her. When she’d taken out their clothing, that had been hard enough. She knew that getting their personal touches to the room would just about break her heart.
“You’re right. I’ll go through their jewelry and personal things like that, but you’re right, we need to have someone go through the rest of the room so that we won’t be bothered by what’s left in there.
I’ll have it donated like I did their clothing.
That was hard enough.” He told her that he’d take care of it in the morning.
“Thank you. I know that it’ll be easy on me to know that someone else is going to be doing that for me. ”
They were getting ready for bed when she realized that her room was very much her own.
She’d been living in the room since she’d found out that she was going to have their baby, and she’d forgotten that the room really didn’t belong to her.
Now that it did, she was going to have it cleaned up as well.
She’d only brought a few things from her house and put the rest in storage when she’d moved out of her house.
It had only been a temporary thing, and now that it was more permanent, she was going to have the room redecorated so that it was ready for guests that they might have over.
Just as soon as they were in the big room.
The master suite was a great deal bigger than the one that she was sleeping in.
It had only been a few months, but she was ready to move on. Milly would have been pissed at her for not using the master suite when she was married. She wished her sister was here with her now so that she could tell her how happy she was. And how well Lizzy was doing.
“I think I’m going to go to the cemetery tomorrow and talk to Milly.” He said that he’d watch over Lizzy, but she had to be careful. “Yes, the Jacobsons. I’ll be extra careful. I’ll take Burno along with me so he can be there in the event they show up.”
“I’d feel better going with you too. Why don’t we have the nanny watch Lizzy for us?
I won’t interfere with your talking to your sister, but I can keep an eye out for the other two while you’re there.
” She hoped he’d say that and was glad that he had.
“I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to my family.
Especially to my parents. I love them both so much that I’m not going to be good when they pass on. ”
“I love your parents as well. Your dad is wonderfully nice, and he gets around really well.” His dad had had a stroke a few months ago, and he’d been recovering while the boys, as they were called, went on with their lives, making sure to go to their house daily.
“He said you guys took very good care of him while he was laid up.”