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He takes a deep breath in, then lets it go. “I envy you,” he says. “Grief, death, and old age is something my family shuts away in boxes. We don’t like to think about them.” He sighs and takes out his phone. “I should make some phone calls.”
“Okay. Would you mind showing me where Leia and I are going to sleep? I’ll change her and put her in her carry seat for a while, and then I’ll make us something to eat, if you like.”
“You don’t have to do that,” he says.
“I know.” I smile.
He clears his throat, then he gets to his feet. “My room’s that way.” He gestures to the east wing of the house. “I thought maybe you’d prefer a room on the other side.” He picks up the change bag and my case and walks off to the west wing.
Is that because he thinks he won’t hear Leia as much if I’m that side? I follow him across the living room and then along the corridor.
“There are four bedrooms this side,” he says. “Feel free to use whichever you want, but I’d suggest this one. These two have an interconnecting door, so we could convert one of them into a room for Leia temporarily.”
Temporarily. So he’s not expecting to keep her, then?
I pause in the doorway of one of them. The rooms are both large with king-size beds, both made up with lavender and light-green bedding respectively. It doesn’t look as if either of them has ever been used.
I watch him put the bags into the lavender-colored room. “Why do you have such a big house?” I ask, only realizing as the words come out that he might think it a rude question.
“I like space,” he says, the corner of his mouth curving up.
“Well, there’s definitely plenty of that here.”
He glances around as if seeing the house for the first time. “Honestly? I don’t know. I wanted somewhere spacious and quiet. Somewhere I could escape if I needed to.”
I think of his comment about Maddie’s house: She said she felt she could finally breathe. It suggests they both felt constrained or constricted in their childhood. Maybe their father was terribly strict. Adulthood brings a certain kind of freedom, I would imagine, if you’ve had a childhood like that.
“I bet Cassie’s missing the house,” I tease.
His gaze comes back to mine. “She never came here.”
My eyebrows rise. Henry didn’t tell me that. “What do you mean? Gaby said you bought it ages ago.”
“I did. I always met Cassie in my apartment in town. I’ve never brought a girl here. Now I have two.” He gives me and Leia an amused look.
I don’t know what to say to that. He seems to leave me speechless a lot.
He gestures at the door. “I can get a lock put on there tomorrow, if you like.”
“Oh James,” I scoff, “don’t be silly. I know you’re not going to come in in the middle of the night and ravage me.”
“Probably not,” he says.
“Damn it.”
We both give a short laugh.
He meets my eyes for a moment, and I remember when he kissed me at the airport, the gentle way his lips moved across mine.
Then he sighs and backs away. “I’ll make those calls,” he states, as if feeling bad that he smiled.
“Okay.” I watch him leave, sigh, then go into the lavender-colored room. Lifting the bag onto the bed, I unpop the change mat and lay it out, then lower Leia onto it. She wakes and mews a little, but I talk to her softly as I change her, and she soon quietens. I clean her and put on a new nappy, then dress her in a pretty lemon-colored onesie with a duck on the front.
Lifting Leia into my arms, I take the nappy into the next room, which I decide will be Leia’s room eventually when we get a bassinet, and deposit the nappy in the rubbish bin that has a lid on it. I’ll have to remind James to bring back the nappy bin from Maddie’s house tomorrow.
Picking up her Pooh Bear and the dummy, I carry her back into the living room. James is out on the deck, walking up and down as he talks into his phone. I bring the carry seat into the kitchen, lower Leia into it, tuck Pooh beside her, and position her so she can see me. Then I start exploring the kitchen.
The cupboards are well stocked—pasta, rice, tins of beans, chickpeas, and tomatoes. The fridge contains cheese, bacon, cooked chicken, bread, butter, condiments, and lots of fresh vegetables, plus there’s a box of strawberries and one of blueberries. A bowl of fresh fruit rests on the counter—bananas and apples.
