Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Everything really did look different. It was tough to not feel a little bit of sadness at how it used to be.
But the changes weren’t bad. In fact, she truly was happy that the house had children in it again and was housing a family.
Helping a family heal from a terrible tragedy.
Although, when he had talked about his wife at the festival, he didn’t really say anything about her sickness or her death.
Or how he felt about it. Maybe it was obvious.
Of course he was sad, but…there was something that seemed a little off, and she felt like there was maybe more to the story.
He pointed out the three bedrooms that his children had claimed and then pointed at the end of the hall where his bedroom was.
“That was my old bedroom,” she said with a smile.
He nodded, and she wondered if he had chosen that on purpose.
No. That was ridiculous. Except, he would have known which bedroom was hers because it was the only one that truly looked lived in when he had gone through the house with the realtor. But he was a man. Did men really notice those things? No. Surely not.
But she didn’t know why he would have chosen that room. It didn’t have a bathroom connected to it, and it was the smallest of all the six rooms, since the new bathroom that her mother had put in had taken some of the room from that bedroom.
“All right. I guess I’ll take this room,” she said, pointing at a room that had been empty the entire time she’d been growing up.
It had a beautiful view of the backyard, and she always really liked it because it got the morning and afternoon sun, sitting on the corner the way it did.
It didn’t have a bathroom though, which possibly was the reason his children didn’t choose it.
The room that her parents had shared had been taken by Larissa, and that made her smile. It was the largest room and had a huge, massive bath, a jack and jill sink, and a tile shower as well as a separate clawfoot tub.
She had loved that bathroom, and occasionally after her parents had passed, she had soaked in the tub.
“All right then. I’ll help you carry the rest of your stuff up. Does it all go up here?”
“I have the plants that you specifically requested,” she said with a grin.
“I can’t believe how much of a difference they make in the kitchen. I was so disappointed when I got in the kitchen and realized that you’d taken the plants with you. You’d left so many other things.”
“I should have said something. But either I was going to hire a mover to move them into a storage facility, or I was going to let you do it. Because after all, Sunny certainly couldn’t handle all that in her small apartment above the bakery.”
“I had figured as much.” He laughed. “I thought that if you could take anything with you, you’d have taken the horses and then fit them in that tiny apartment before you took that furniture in that formal living room.”
“Doesn’t it look so uncomfortable?” she said with a shudder.
“Oh my goodness, yes. Uncomfortable, and it looks like I’m going to break it if I sit down in it.”
“I’ll let you know a little secret though. Two of the chairs beside the windows are recliners, and they are much more comfortable, and sturdy, than what they look. You can trust me on that.”
“I didn’t think anyone had ever been in that room. It looked undisturbed. Like King Tut’s tomb or something.”
They laughed as they walked outside, and she realized she was having a great time with him.
They chatted some more as they carried the rest of the stuff up, and then he said, “I made pancakes for breakfast this morning, and I doubled the recipe but didn’t put them all on.
Would you like me to cook a couple before we go out to do the fence? ”
“Hang on a second. I’ll bring in the scones that I brought from the bakeshop, and we’ll have those and the pancakes as a little brunch.”
He grinned at her, and she ran out to the truck.
She’d forgotten about the bag that she’d left on the front seat.
For some reason, she had wanted to go in and make sure that everything was still kosher.
It just felt like too good to be true, and he might have changed his mind between when they talked at the festival and this morning, even though she’d seen him in church and he was still on board with everything.