After breakfast, I’d come back to my room to be alone.Today wasn’t a good day.I’d had nightmares again last night.The ones where I was there as my parents were killed and I couldn’t get to them.I screamed, and nothing came out.I tried to run, and I couldn’t move.Then I saw their faces, void of life, and woke up with a jolt.
A knock on my door snapped me out of my dark thoughts, and I stood up from the chair by the window.I’d sat there for a while, lost in my thoughts, horror, and nightmares.I glanced over at the clock by the bed to see it was eleven thirty.
When I reached the door, I took a deep breath and checked to make sure I hadn’t been crying.I was sure I had at one point, but the tears had been silent.My face was dry, so I took the handle and turned it.
Noa stood on the other side of the door.She was a gorgeous blonde, who I had been told was a best-selling romance author.We had only been around each other for the first time last night.I hadn’t expected her to be who was at my door.
“I need some help,” she said sheepishly.“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
I shook my head.“No.What do you need?”Having a reason to distract myself was probably a good idea.
She smiled brightly.“Well, Winslet and Oz just announced at his parents’ house that they’re expecting.It’s a girl!Apparently, the only person that knew about it was Halo.She was the one who looked at the gender that the doctor had put in an envelope and prepared the gift that they gave to Ellender.Her opening it was their gender reveal.Anyway, Halo just called to tell me where the pink decorations are and that there are cookies she had made hidden in the pantry.I need to get it all up and ready before they return.Could you help me?”
A baby.Wow.That was nice.Their family needed something to lift their spirits.A baby would do just that.I wondered what Forge thought of it.His being an uncle.
“Of course,” I told her, stepping out into the hallway and closing the door behind me.
“Saylor called.She’s coming over to help too, but she’s stopping by to get pink balloons first.You’ve not met her yet, I don’t believe.She’s a bit of an over-the-top party planner, so when she gets here and starts barking orders, don’t take it personally.She means well.She will most likely show up with more than balloons.”
I simply nodded.I was good at following directions.I didn’t mind.
I listened as she rambled on, “Okay, um, so the decorations were hidden in Halo’s closet in her bedroom.She also said there was some stuck in Hawks’s closet as well.We need to go find all of them, then carry them to the great room, I guess.There’s probably something in there for the front door, and we can put balloons there too.”
When we got to the master bedroom, I hadn’t been prepared for the size of it.Most apartments weren’t this big.Then Halo’s walk-in closet had a sitting area in it and a flat screen.What the actual hell?
The stack of boxes that covered up a mirrored wall were impressive in number.
“That’s them,” Noa said, pointing to the boxes.
“All of those?”I asked.
She giggled and nodded.“Halo said she might have gone overboard.”
No kidding.
“Let’s get these out there.Maybe Saylor will be here by the time we get this all to the great room and can figure out what to do with it.”
“How much time do we have?”I asked.
She scrunched her nose.“Cressida said about an hour.”
Dang.This Saylor person needed to hurry up.
We began carrying the boxes to the great room, and it only took five trips with both of us doing it to get them all there.In Hawkins’s closet were two pink wreaths for the front double doors and five more boxes.While we stood, looking at the overwhelming task and taking a minute to decide what to do first, there was a faint chime that I’d learned meant someone had just come through the gate.
“Please, Lord, let that be Saylor,” Noa sighed and glanced at me.“I guess we can start with getting these open.”
Sounded like a plan.
We made it through several boxes each when the sound of the front door opening was followed by a female voice saying, “No, leave those here and bring the others into the great room.Then go get the rest of them out of the Escalade.I’ll need those in the kitchen.”
Noa grinned.“She’s here.”
Whew.Because I myself was not a party decorator or planner.And there were things in these boxes I had no idea what to do with.
I started opening another box, then glanced up at the sound of heels clicking on the hardwood, getting closer.
“I need the arch there.”
