Page 52 of The Broken Hearts Club

He sat me down on the bed and crouched to take off my shoes as I murmured, “It’s so beautiful, Miller. I can’t believe you did all of this.”

“I wish I could have done more. I would have loved to paint the white walls, but I didn’t find the time.” He straightened up and arranged the pillows so I could lean against them. After I shifted around and gathered the new gator into my arms along with the little one, Miller covered me with the puffy, deep purple comforter.

Then he sat beside me on the edge of the bed and said, as he picked up a remote from the nightstand, “Here’s the best part.” When he pushed a button, a television rose out of a cabinet near the foot of the bed. “I always wanted a TV that did that.”

“That’s super cool, but is the rest of this even sort of your taste?”

“Some of it is. I really like those yellow chairs, and the TV cabinet. And it’s not like I hate the color purple. But I kind of assumed you’d take a lot of this with you when you were well enough to move into the front room. We’re talking two or three months from now, by the way. I want you to stay in here until you’re fully healed.”

I had to hold back tears as I whispered, “I’m totally blown away.”

He tried to downplay it by shrugging and saying, “It’s no big deal. I ordered all of it online, so all I had to do was set it up.”

“It’s definitely a big deal, Miller. It’s huge, as a matter of fact.”

He looked down at his hands, which were fidgeting with the zipper on his hoodie. “I just wanted you to have some nice things to look at while you recover. You’re going to be stuck in here for a while, and the way the room looked before was pretty grim. I would have felt bad if I’d subjected you to that.”

He’d been willing to do all of this for me, but he’d let himself live in a room he considered grim for a year. That was kind of depressing. It really made me wish I was able to take care of him in return.

He got up and asked, “Would you like a smoothie? I stocked up on all of your favorite ingredients, so I can make one any time you want.”

“Thanks, but maybe later. Right now, I think I really need to sleep. I’m pretty wiped out.” I hadn’t done much, but I’d still managed to drain all my energy.

“Yeah, of course.” He helped me rearrange the pillows so I could lie down and said, “I’ll be right across the hall if you need me.” He took the air horn out of the nightstand and placed it beside the remote with a grin. “Curtains open or closed?”

“Open. I like the sunlight.”

“Okay. I’ll need to leave in about three hours for the meeting with my art director, but I texted JoJo this morning and let her know you were coming home. She can come over if you need anything while I’m gone.”

“I’ll be fine, Miller. I promise.”

“I know.” He smiled at me before leaving the room, and the cat immediately jumped onto the bed and curled up beside me.

I burrowed deeper under the covers and looked around me. On the wall beside the bed was a large, framed print of one of Matisse’s collages. Its primary colors were purple, white, and yellow, which brought the whole room together perfectly.

He’d tried to say it was no big deal, but Miller had made a real effort here, and he hadn’t selected this stuff randomly. There was thought and care behind it. He’d been paying attention to who I was, and what I liked.

He got me. That was incredibly touching. I didn’t even know what to do with all the emotions it stirred up in me.

By the time I woke up from my nap, Miller was at his meeting. I petted Kate before climbing out of bed and heading to the bathroom. After a nice, warm shower, I made my way to the walk-in closet.

Miller had moved his stuff to one side and unpacked all of my clothes. Some were grouped by type and hung up, the rest neatly folded on the shelves. My shoes were lined up according to height, flat sandals at one end, tall boots at the other.

I went for pure comfort with a pair of sweatpants and an oversized T-shirt. Once I got dressed, I was exhausted again, so I returned to bed for a while.

Eventually, hunger motivated me to get up again and make my way to the kitchen. Miller had left a note on the counter, telling me there was a smoothie in the fridge. I took out the insulated cup and gave it a shake before taking a sip. It was exactly how I liked it.

When I turned away from the refrigerator, I noticed the adjoining room that used to hold nothing but moving boxes had been transformed. All of the boxes were gone now. The built-in shelves were full of books, and several modular storage cubes held a massive record collection.

He’d also added two chairs with a mid-century modern vibe, a small, round table, and an area rug in an interesting abstract pattern. The room was big enough to hold a lot more furniture, but this was a great start. I was proud of Miller for finally taking steps to make his house a home.

I browsed through his record collection, which was surprising. Almost all of it was stuff you’d imagine playing at a cocktail party in 1968. It was all very swanky, and now that I thought about it, the mid-century chairs and the pattern on the rug fit this same theme. So did his car, which dated from the late sixties. I’d had no idea that he was into this cool, retro aesthetic, and I was excited by this discovery.

After I selected an album, I looked around and realized there was no record player. How did someone own this much vinyl without a way to play it? And why wasn’t that the first thing he’d bought for himself when he finally started furnishing his home?

By now I was tired again, so I grabbed my smoothie and went back to bed. Miller had brought in my bag from the hospital, and he’d left my phone on the nightstand. He’d even plugged it into a charger. His thoughtfulness was next level.

I messaged Jeannie to let her know I was home, and to tell her about all of the surprises Miller had waiting for me. We texted back and forth for a while, until one of her kids started wreaking havoc and she had to switch into mom mode.