Annie stared at me. “Are you kidding? He’d rather do Bikram yoga than go furniture shopping! So,” she adopted a very brisk tone, “we’re going to use this app. I used it when I did my house and no one can believe I did everything myself. I didn’t use a designer at all.”
She was clearly waiting for a response, so I said, “Wow, that’s impressive!”
Annie preened. “I really have an eye. If I wasn’t so busy with everything, maybe I would go into interior design.” She got a faraway look in her eyes. “You know what? Maybe I will now!” She directed herself back to the laptop. “But first things first. I already put in the dimensions of the rooms of his house. I’m just guestimating, but I’m sure it’s close. I’m really good with spatial stuff.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Really?”
She shoved my arm. “Interior spatial stuff, ok? And I’m doing much better driving with my glasses.”
“Um, Annie, about that…Charlie kind of ratted you out to Luke about the whole bike incident.”
She sighed. “That’s ok. I certainly would never ask a child to lie about something like that.”
“I don’t think Luke’s mad. I explained it.”
“Oh, I’m sure he’s mad,” she said breezily. “I’ll be hearing about it. Anyway, the house. It’s kind of quaint and cottage-y, right? I mean, not my style. But I don’t think we should go all-out country. A few pieces of chippy furniture, but mixedwith some more industrial looking things, that’s what I was thinking. I know some great places to go antiquing. We even could go the Ann Arbor antique market this summer! But what do you think? I have to have your opinion on everything!”
“Yeah, that sounds nice. I don’t really have a lot of experience decorating. Unless you count buying a rug at Ikea.”
“Oooh, sometimes you can get some really interesting accents there! I’m totally not a decorating snob,” Annie assured me. “Are there any pieces of furniture that you particularly love in your house now?”
I was confused. “Um, my Nana’s dresser? It’s not worth anything, but I love it.”
“Oh, I know the one you mean! It’s really pretty. It’s in the bedroom where—" She stopped. “I helped clean up a little so I was in there.”
“Thank you,” I said quietly.
“Anyway, let’s start with the master bedroom, then. We’ll put the dresser here.” She resized a rectangle with two fingers then dragged it into the master bedroom area marked on her screen. “I’ll put it on this wall. I’m just guessing on the dimensions of the piece, so we’ll have to measure.”
I was confused again. “Why would Luke take my Nana’s dresser?” I asked her.
“I mean, you’d bring it with you when you move in!” Annie exclaimed.
I got really hot. It was really hot in the pool that day. “You’re assuming too much, Annie. We don’t have any plans to movein together.”
She scoffed. “Please! I have eyes, don’t I? And I know Luke. He’s not one to hesitate in getting what he wants!”
“Annie—”I broke off.
“You wear a lot of blue—is that your favorite color? Are there any other colors that you really love, or ones we should stay away from? Here,” she opened her bag. “I brought a ton of decorating magazines. Sometimes it’s helpful to just look at stuff to start to find your style, if you don’t really know yet. Unless you already have Pinterest boards. I have a ton for décor. But Pinterest can be so overwhelming if you’re just starting out!”
“Yeah, overwhelming.” I felt a little sick and I stood up. “I’m going to go get some water. I’ll be back.” I hurried, stumbling, off the bleachers and went around the corner to the drinking fountain. I stripped off my sweater and leaned my cheek against the cool tile wall for a moment. When I had calmed myself down, I went back to my seat and let Annie talk while I blindly turned the pages of her magazines.
Luke came over to dinner that night, bearing grocery bags and a recipe. “I’m going to cook ziti with sauce and vegetables,” he announced, giving me a kiss hello. “I brought more eggs we can scramble if this goes sideways.”
Charlie and I helped him measure, chop, and stir. Well, I did the chopping. As someone with a background in dissections, I felt very qualified.
“You were quiet at dinner,” Luke said, as I washed the dishes and he dried. “Did my culinary skills overwhelm you?”
Overwhelmed. Yes. “Dinner was good,” I told him. “Nicejob.” I paused. “Hey, did Annie talk to you about redecorating your house?”
“Mmhmm. She said she was clearing everything with you.” He seemed fine with that. “I told her not to go too crazy, because we’ll tear it up when we renovate.”
We.
“Is this dirty or scratched?” He held up the glass lasagna pan up to the light.
“Scratched.” I turned off the water, dried my hands, and took a deep breath. I had to talk to him about this.
