Chapter 3 #2
He dragged her from room to room, telling her some of the specials about it.
Like, there were plugs in the floor for the couches to be plugged into and not have to run wires around the room.
There was even an electrical outlet high on the wall in the corners so that he could put his Christmas tree there and not have to overload the plugs.
He had given a lot of thought to this house, and it was infectious how excited he was about it. Then he took her into the kitchen.
“I wanted enough plugs around the room that we could plug in everything that we needed. There are even plugs in the walls beside one another to double up the electrical outlets.” He took her to the pantry.
“I’m going to hire myself a cook and have this filled with anything that she’d need to bake up a batch of cookies whenever I want.
I even had a chef go over the plans so that it would be fit for a cook when I hired one. ”
The second floor held the bedrooms. It was a nice layout that had a double wall between each bedroom so that it was quiet in each room.
He told her how, when he was a kid, he could hear people talking in the other room when he was trying to sleep, and thought that it would be nice to have thicker walls.
The bathrooms were lined up in a way that each bedroom had its own bathroom/closet so that they could get dressed right out of the shower/tub.
The master suite was large enough to hold two toilets.
She loved the thought that went into this room and told him so.
“I’ve been dreaming of my own home since I was ten.
I didn’t think I’d ever get one, but I’ve been making notes on what I wanted in it since then.
Once we sold the farm, I had to go back over my notes and revise them, but I think I did all right.
” She said that it was spectacular. “Thank you. I wanted someday to have a family. A big family like the one that I came from.”
“Those are big dreams. Don’t you have five brothers?
” He laughed and said that he did. “I’d like a big family too.
I was an only child. My parents only remembered they had me when something would come up at school, or I’d get hurt.
Mostly, I was raised by nannies and tutors.
Not a bad childhood, I suppose. Much better than yours was, I heard. ”
“Yes, mine was a terrible childhood right up until they were both dead.” She said she’d not heard that his father had died. “Yes, he died a few weeks ago. Not that any of us cared, but he’s out of our lives now, and we couldn’t be happier. I’m sorry if that sounds cruel.”
“It doesn’t. I heard about your family. And what I didn’t read about, people are always willing to have their version of what happened.
I won’t know the true story until you tell me.
If you wish. Otherwise, I’ll keep my opinions to myself.
That’s the way that I get along with people.
I just ignore them until they say something smart.
Which isn’t all that often if you ask me. ”
“I’ll tell you about them sometimes. And just so you know, the worst version of what happened is more than likely the truth.
You can’t imagine what we went through as children living with him around all the time.
And when he killed our mother, that was the end of his being our father for us.
” She told him she was sorry. “No need for that. He wasn’t a violent man, but what he did to our mother made up for all the threats that he put upon us. All because she told him no.”
“I’m truly sorry about that. I read that she was making jam that day with you boys.” Gleason told her that was right. “Isn’t it funny how I’m betting right now that you, none of you, eat jam at all.”
“We don’t. Would you like to see the kitchen again? There are things in there that I forgot to point out to you.” She smiled at him and told him she wanted to see them. “I like you, Candy, or whatever your name is.”
“Hailey. Hailey Sheppard.” They went over the kitchen again, and there were things that he’d not pointed out the first time they’d gone through it.
She loved that he’d put in a walk-in freezer for the winter months and that he was going to put a garden in the back yard.
She could see him living here with someone else.
It saddened her, but she wasn’t going to be getting herself entangled with a man as nice as Gleason was. It just wouldn’t work out.
~*~
Gleason watched as the men unloaded the truck that he’d ordered his furniture from.
There was a lot of it, but he knew that he had a lot of rooms to fill out.
The only thing that would make this day more perfect is if Hailey were here with him.
He couldn’t believe that she’d given him her name so readily.
He wanted her opinion on what he’d picked out for himself.
To see if she liked it as much as he did.
There were other things that he wished he could have asked her, and that was where she wanted the lamps to be put.
The table for the living room? Was it too large?
He didn’t think so, but he wanted to go get her and ask her where he should be putting things.
When one of the men came up to ask him where he wanted the third couch, he realized that he needed a woman’s touch in his house, or that’s all it was going to look like was a house.
“Just put it in the semi-circle with the other two.” That sounded like something that he wanted, but he was second-guessing himself all the way around. “The lamps can just go in the corner, and I’ll set them up as I need them.”
He was going to go and get Hailey as soon as this truckload left.
He only hoped that she’d come with him, as it was something that he needed done with her.
He supposed that he could have called any one of the other women, but he needed Hailey’s opinion.
And he didn’t know why. As soon as the truck was out of the driveway, he got in his own and went to find her.
If she was at work, he didn’t know what he’d do, but he might have to kidnap her or something.
Lucky for him, it never got that far because she was at the greenhouse.
“I need you.” She laughed at him and asked him what on earth he needed her for. “My house is going to be a disaster if you don’t come with me right now and tell me where the lamps go. I could see it in my head, but now all I can think of is you telling me where things go so it’ll look good.”
“I doubt very much my opinion will mean all that much about your house, but I’d love to go see the furniture you bought.
” He nearly dragged her to the truck and shoved her into it.
She was still laughing when he got in on his side and started the truck.
“Why are you still driving this old thing? I mean, don’t you have like lots of money? ”
“It still runs.” She seemed satisfied with that, as it was the best answer he could give her. “I’ll get me a car for the winter months. This thing is no good in the snow. But I’ve been researching cars since I started my house. I need something to get around in when it’s cold outside.”
“That makes sense. I used to have a car too, but I had to leave it at the restaurant when things went bad. It’s under the Candy name, so they’ll never find me, but it’s just sitting there with stuff in it that I used when I was traveling.
” He asked her if she needed something to drive.
“Someday. Not on a pizza salary, but someday. Someday I want to own a house too. Not as big as yours, but something smaller and more compact. However, I’m going to be living in your house in my dreams.” He laughed with her and had a sudden thought of her living in his house all the time.
It was as real as anything he’d ever thought of before.
Just as they were pulling into his drive, the second truck came too.
He was ready to face the day now that they were all here, and he could get Hailey helping him.
Gleason had no idea why it was so important for her to be there for him when he got his things unloaded, but he did, and she was willing to help him.
They worked well together. While she was helping in the living room with the lamps, he was directing the movers to the upper level and the bedrooms. There had to be a third truck coming because he was missing things, but he wasn’t worried about that right now.
Hailey came to find him when she had a question.
“I can’t find where you ordered any side tables.” He asked what that was. “The tables that would go between the couches for drinks. You know, on the side tables.”
“I ordered four of them. I know that one came on the truck earlier, but I’ve not seen any more.
I’ll have to call the furniture store to ask them if there’s a third truck.
” She nodded and told him that UPS was here too, delivering things that he’d ordered.
“Those things can be taken to the kitchen to unbox. Most of it goes in there anyway. And if you find the tea maker, could you set it up? I’d kill for a cup about right now. ”
She said she’d do that and went back down the stairs.
One of the men commented that he had a pretty wife, and he didn’t tell him she was just a friend helping him out.
Maybe they’d not hit on her if they thought that she was his wife.
That was what he was going to tell her, too, if she asked.
Smiling to himself, he helped the mover put the bed together and flip the mattress on it.
So far, they were getting things done in a timely manner, and he was having a good time.
“The third truck will be here in an hour.” He thanked her for that and asked her if she had any trouble. “No. Once they figured that I was your wife, they didn’t give me a lick of trouble.”