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“Callan, what is all this?”
He takes my hand and slowly starts walking us up the stairs. His gaze partially holds mine, and I can practically feel his pulse racing through his hand. “After our first visit with Mrs. Bible didn’t go so well, I realized something. You’ve lost so much. Your apartment has been destroyed, and most of your belongings along with it. You’ve been living in my house, but you have nothing of your own here except for your clothes.”
He takes in a breath as we reach the second floor and pulls me to a stop at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the third floor.
His eyes are full of apprehension. “Layla, this doesn’t have to mean anything you don’t want it to. You need to know that ahead of time. I wanted you to have something that was all you. Just for you. A place you could go where you’d feel comfortable and escape to if necessary. It’s my way of saying thank you. It took longer than I thought it would to finish, but it’s finally done.”
My heart is racing in my chest, my skin hot and prickly with nervous anticipation. “Okay…” That’s all I can manage.
We continue up to the third floor, but I don’t see anything other than how it’s always been. The couch, the huge television, the bar—it’s all the same. Only Katy is jumping like a kangaroo in front of the bathroom door.
Callan turns me to him, his gaze intense. “The previous owners of this house had this floor as their master. When I moved in, I moved it back downstairs and turned this room into what it is. But they had a huge walk-in closet that I used mostly for extra storage. I turned that into your office slash reading room.”
I blink at him. And then again. And then I turn to Katy, who has the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. Callan nods to her, and she opens the door beside the bathroom. The one I had never given any thought to.
He squeezes my hands, holding me in place. “Like I said, this isn’t meant to imply anything you’re not comfortable with. However long you choose to stay, whether it’s for six more weeks or… longer, I want you to be happy here.” He licks his lips. “I thought this might help with that.”
I’m trembling like a leaf when he finally releases one of my hands and guides me toward the room. It’s painted in the most stunning periwinkle, like a summer sunset. It’s also bigger than I thought it would be for a former closet. It’s double the size of my bedroom in my old apartment.
The hardwood floors from the media room continue through, but there’s a light gray rug taking up the center of the space. On the right is a large picture window, and beneath it is a reading bay with a matching gray cushion and plush throw pillows. Taking up the majority of one wall is a built-in white bookcase, half filled with books. On the other wall is a large desk with two monitors and my closed laptop sitting on top. On the left is a set of overstuffed cream chairs with a small table between them.
The wall above the table is loaded with framed pieces of art my mother did. Ones I haven’t seen in years. Not since I was a kid. There is also a picture of a mermaid in the ocean with blonde hair that is very obviously Katy’s masterpiece.
“Callan. Where? How?”
I cut myself off there with a gasping hiccup of a sob. I cover my mouth to stifle it, but that’s useless against the tears as they cloud my vision.
He leads me over to the bookshelf, turning to face me as I face the bookshelf, staring at one spine after the other. “You told me, and then you told Katy about the books that belonged to your mom that you lost in the flood in your apartment, but I didn’t know which specific books you had. Amelia filled me in on some of those and said a few were first editions, but I couldn’t replace them all because some I couldn’t find. I know they’re not the same. I know they’re not your mothers. But I also know what they meant to you, so I did what I could.”
I shake my head. I can’t breathe. It’s too much.
He releases my hand, and lifts a small painted wooden box, cradling it in his large hands. “Katy made this for you. Stella told us about your box. About the things you used to keep in it. And while we can’t replace the memories you lost with it, Katy wanted to give you some new ones.”
He flips open the box and inside is a seashell Katy and I picked up the day we went to the beach. There’s a rock in there I immediately recognize as the one Callan had been playing with the night we went to the cemetery. There’s also a fake jelly sushi, and I snort out a laugh when I see it.
My fingers run over the box, over the items in it, and then along the spines, my hand still over my mouth, my head still shaking, utterly incredulous, completely blown away. No one has ever done anything like this for me. The work that must have gone into this room.
“When—”
Fuck. I can’t speak without my voice cracking. Stella and Amelia helped with this. They never hinted at a thing. Not even today.
“I had my contractor working on it for the last month. The bookshelves and window seat are custom, and that’s what took some extra time. Plus, he had to work on it when you were out of the house. Today Katy and I spent the day putting the finishing touches on it.”
That’s when I break down. Absolutely start bawling my eyes out. My hands cover my face, and I cry in the most unladylike way.
“Does she hate it?” Katy asks, despair in her voice.
“I love it,” I croak. “That’s why I’m crying. I love it so much, Ladybug. So much.” I fall to my knees and drag her into my chest, hugging her to me, kissing the top of her head, her forehead, her cheeks. “I love it as much as I love you.”
I pinch my eyes shut because that slipped out, but it’s true. I love this little girl.
“I love you too,” she whispers against me, and what am I doing?What am I doing?I wait for the panic—for the need to run—but it never comes. Instead, this room does exactly as he intended. It makes me feel like I’mhome.
Only it’s not the room doing that, I realize. It’s them.
I’m home with them.
I glance up through my watery eyes to find Callan staring down at us, a look on his face like I’ve never seen before. His eyes hold mine, and I see everything he’s feeling. Love. Fear. Hope. Desire.
