AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Phoebe plopped down on the end of the bed and wiped her brow with her forearm. It was early April and the day was just warm enough that they had the windows open. A cool breeze made the curtains dance. But moving furniture around in a two-story house was hot work.
She considered the ancient wicker shelving units facing the bed. A lifetime of books were crammed on those shelves. It had been years since she’d read most of them. “Maybe I can put the shelves downstairs somewhere.”
Duncan leaned back against the dresser that stood awkwardly just inside the bedroom door. “You shouldn’t have to move your books out of reach. I don’t want to turn your whole life upside down here.”
“That’s silly, babe. You’re moving into my life. Mine’s not the one getting turned upside down. And downstairs isn’t out of reach.”
He studied the bookshelves, then did an eyeball tour of the rest of the room. “I like this room as it is. Everything in here is a part of you.”
That was sweet, but they were currently trapped in this magical Phoebe exhibit, because his dresser was wedged in front of the door. The place they’d thought it would fit was not a place it would actually fit.
She stood back up. “Duncan. This room is not my room anymore. It’s our room. You should be present in it, too. And it’s past time it got a redo, anyway. It’s looked like this for basically my whole life.” Taking a step to her own dresser, she picked up a little china figurine of two cats lapping milk on a bale of hay. There were several similar pieces on the dresser, as well as a few ancient bottles of Avon perfume her grandma had given her way back in the day.
Phoebe hadn’t worn perfume since about middle school.
Duncan was wrong; this room wasn’t her almost at all. Aside from the books on those shelves, she’d picked out virtually nothing here. It was all hand-me-downs, castoffs, and gifts from a sweet old grandma who’d died when she was nine. Maybe because he’d first seen it the night they’d met, Duncan associated all this old crap with her, but really, it looked like this because she hadn’t cared to change anything. Until now.
She held up the kittens on the hay bale. “I don’t even remember getting this thing. It’s just always been here. I don’t think I’m actually a china figurine girl, you know?”
He frowned at her. “What are you saying?”
With a shrug, she did a slow spin and took in the room. “The plants.” She’d chosen those—and nurtured them. “I want to keep those up here. I like plants in every room; they make me calm. We need the bed, and we both need a dresser. For now, we have this furniture, but I’m good with moving the books someplace else and putting your dresser there, and then maybe thinking about what we want our room to look like. We can take down the wallpaper and paint, redo the floor, different furniture, whatever. Let’s make it look like us.”
Grinning, he came over and slipped his arms around her. “I like that plan.”
As he leaned in to kiss her, Phoebe, feeling suddenly mischievous, shouted, “VIN!” right in his face.
Duncan jumped back, then laughed as Vin called up, “WHAT?”
“GET YOUR BUTT UP HERE!”
“What’s that about?” Duncan asked. “If I’m just learning now you’re into a poly thing after all, we need to talk.”
“No! He can help take books downstairs.”
“Even with his leg?”
“It’s a below-the-knee amputation. He goes up and down the stairs fine unless he’s sore. You’ve seen him.”
“Yeah, but not with an armload of books. That’s okay?”
“I’m fine for hauling,” Vin said in the doorway, “But I’m not so good with parkour, so ...” he indicated Duncan’s dresser. “And I don’t know why you like to yell when a text would be so much more pleasant.”
“That’s why,” Phoebe told him and stuck her tongue out.
Vin laughed. “You’re full of vinegar today, missy.”
