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Anna took a sip of her coffee. “I’m not sure, a while ago.”
“I think you should take the entire day tomorrow and pamper yourself. Call up Rose, El, and Mom and make a party of it.”
Anna considered his suggestion for a minute. “You know, I think I will. Thanks for the idea, sweetheart. And thanks for taking care of the nursery. Even though it didn’t work out, painting it yourself was a really sweet idea.”
Cade kissed her knuckles. “I would do anything for you, but maybe next time I try to be a manly man, I’ll do a better job of it,” he said chuckling.
“Believe me, you’re a manly man in bed every night,” Anna said, her eyes heating over the rim of her cup.
“You had better behave, or I’ll carry you back to bed, workmen in the house be damned.”
“Promises, promises,” she teased.
Anna had plans with Emma, which was just fine with him. He didn’t want her around the new paint or new carpet fumes. By nine that morning she was out the door, and the painting contractor, Nick, had arrived.
“Did a disco dancer blow up in here?” Nick asked as he turned in the center of the room to get the full effect.
Cade scowled irritably at the mess. “No. My brothers and stepson did.”
Nick gave him an odd look but didn’t ask for clarification. “Give me a few minutes to prep the room and paint a test patch for your approval.”
“All right. Do you think the paint will come off the woodwork, or do I need to have that stripped and re-stained?”
“I’ll try to clean it off and if there is a problem I’ll let you know. Since you used a latex paint, it should come off fairly easily.”
Cade nodded; he like that answer. At least one thing was going right. “I’ll be in my office, down the hall. Yell when you need me.”
A little over an hour later, the room was primed, and the contractor needed approval to proceed.
“Cade? I have the test patch ready,” Nick yelled.
“On my way,” Cade shouted back.
He took one looked at the test color and breathed a sigh of relief. It was perfect, soft and yet just enough color without being garish. Anna was going to love it, and he would be out of the doghouse.
“You just saved my hide, Nick. Thank you,” Cade smiled approvingly. “The color is exactly what I wanted.”
Cade was feeling much better about the baby’s room. With the stress from the paint disaster under control, he could concentrate on the file spread across the desk. Lucas had emailed ideas for the ranch in Texas and wanted him to look them over and advise him on how to move forward. The new project of a cattle - dude ranch combination had his creative juices flowing like nothing had in quite a while.
*****
Anna waddled across the yard to the main house. She had a morning tea date with her mother-in-law, Emma, to discuss a baby shower and family heirlooms. Knowing a shifter lived to be fourteen hundred years, heirlooms could be from almost any century.
By the time she cleared the top step on the front porch, Emma had the door open with a welcoming smile.
“How the heck do you do that? Were you watching for me?” Anna asked as she hugged Emma.
“I have my secrets, and as queen I have an extra power or two, but we can talk about that another day.” She grinned and then began to rub her hands together. “Today is all about my grandchild and your baby shower.”
“One of these days I’m going to make you tell me all your deep, dark secrets. You know that, right?”
“Of that I have no doubt. But the time and place to pass on the secrets of the queen’s powers is neither today nor is it in my living room. So, what flavor would the baby like today?”
“Rooibos would be wonderful.”
“My granddaughter has good taste.” Emma grinned as she steeped the tea. “Let’s talk about the shower first.”
“All right.”
“I was thinking,” Emma said as she poured the tea, “since this is our first grandchild and the future queen of the shifters, I would love to involve the entire family in the shower.”
Anna frowned. “Entire family?”
“Yes, a men’s and women’s shower,” Emma stated like it was a normal thing.
