Chapter Twenty-Four
Roxanne officially moved in weeks ago. Luckily, she was able to break her lease, and a new tenant was found within the month.
It’d all worked out flawlessly. There was a learning curve living with not only Jonah but Cord and Holden.
She had experience growing up with her brothers, but there were adjustments for all of them.
Roxanne dropped the tote on the living room floor and sighed. “This is the last of it.”
SueAnn chuckled. “Well, I should hope so. Not sure you have any more space for everything.”
True.
With Jonah’s new project taking up most of his free time and the boys' busy schedules, she took it upon herself to decorate for Christmas. With the help of SueAnn, she managed to get most of it done in the last few hours.
“I can’t wait to see their faces.” SueAnn glanced around the room with a serene glow.
Christmas had always been a big deal at her house, and even after her mother passed away, she kept the traditions in place, taking over the planning and decorating.
“They’ve decorated in the past, right?”
SueAnn snorted. “A tree and a wreath on the front door. That’s the extent.”
Oh. She glanced around, taking in every inch of the room. Christmas décor was showcased everywhere. By her standards, it was perfect. But they might not see it that way. It was her first holiday living with Jonah and the boys. The last thing she wanted was to push her traditions onto them.
“Maybe I should take the village down.” She glanced at the garland-wrapped banister. “That might be too much.”
“Roxanne.” SueAnn grabbed her hand in a tight squeeze. “It’s beautiful, and they’re going to love it. I always thought this was the perfect Christmas house. It was just waiting for you, apparently.”
“You sure you can’t come on Christmas Eve?”
“I wish I could, but Satan herself has decided to host this year. It’s going to be a shitshow, and I’d hate to miss it.” SueAnn chuckled and took Roxanne in for a hug. “Gotta run, but I’ll see you next week.”
Roxanne waved goodbye and unloaded the last box. It was another hour before three sets of headlights flashed through the windows. She had decided to downplay everything and not make a spectacle of decorating. That flew out the door the minute they walked into the living room.
“Holy shit,” Holden said.
Jonah was in too deep a trance to even scold him.
“What do you think? Too much?”
“Yeah, it’s too much and I frickin’ love it.” Holden circled the room. “Where’d you get all this stuff?”
Roxanne shrugged. “Most of it’s mine, but I added a few things. If there’s something you don’t like, I can change it.”
Holden burst out laughing, walking over to the fireplace. “We got stockings?”
She ignored his question, watching Jonah peer around the room. He hadn’t said anything, and she was having a hard time gauging his reaction.
“Looks good.” Cord’s lips twitched. “Like Christmas shit all over the living room.”
Roxanne chuckled. It would probably be the nicest compliment she’d get from Cord. And I’ll take it.
It was another few minutes of Holden inspecting everything before they retreated upstairs to get changed.
It was Cord’s night for dinner, but he’d lucked out that SueAnn had made a casserole.
They probably only had a few minutes before the boys came back downstairs, and she wanted to hear Jonah’s thoughts about what she’d done.
She walked to the corner of the room where he was standing in front of the Christmas tree, looking at the ornaments.
“Do you hate it?”
The corner of his mouth hiked, and he shook his head. “Cord and Holden don’t remember, but my mom used to decorate a lot for Christmas.” He angled his head, smirking. “Not to this extreme, but it reminds me of how it looked our last Christmas with her.”
This had completely backfired. The last thing she wanted to do was to have this serve as a reminder of what they’d lost.
“If you want me to get rid of some …”
He reached out, hooking his arm around her waist and kissing her.
“I don’t want you to change a thing.” He muttered against her lips. “And I want you to do this every year, alright?”
“I can do that.” She smiled. “I can do even more next year.”
Jonah laughed and hugged her tighter.
Perfect!
****
Jonah stood in the doorway of the master bedroom on the first floor. He hadn’t been inside since the final walkthrough at the closing. It was easy to bypass in everyday living. It was tucked in the back corner of the house, only accessible from the small hallway off the den.
“Jonah?” Her tone was soft and uncertain.
He glanced over his shoulder to find Roxanne a few feet behind him. He turned slightly, and she crept closer.
“What are you doing?”
He looked back into the room. It was double the size of his bedroom upstairs, and had a small sitting area with bay windows overlooking the yard and a private bathroom.
A warmth spread through his veins when her hand gently rested on his back. This was a long time coming and perfect timing.
“Thinking about redoing the room. Add a tray ceiling, switch out the crown molding and refinish the floors.” He grabbed her hand and led her into the bedroom. Jonah felt her hesitation, and he tightened his grip.
“It’ll be beautiful, I’m sure. Are you thinking about using it as a guest bedroom?”
He turned slowly, staring down at her. “It’ll be our room.”
Her mouth fell open, and her eyes widened.
“Figured it’ll give us more privacy, and you won’t have to share a bathroom with Holden.”
She snorted. “I wouldn’t miss that, but are you sure?”
Jonah had never been more sure of anything in his life.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against his chest.
“Yeah.”
It was time to let go of the past and move on to his future.
With her.