“What it sounds like,” Harris said cheerfully. “The room where things go to die.”
“It’s where we put things we don’t want to deal with,” Jax amended. “I’m sure it can be fixed up.”
“I don’t understand,” Gentry said. “Why would you move out of your room, Mom?”
Jax put her arm around her daughter. “Now that your dad’sengaged, we have another adult to think about. I want Shawna to be comfortable.” She hesitated, remembering the junk room was off the kitchen. “Unless you’d have a problem with me sleeping on a different floor.”
Gentry looked at her brother, who nodded. “We’d be okay with it,” she said.
“Then let’s go see what’s going on in there,” Jax said, moving toward the kitchen. “It can’t be that bad.”
Unfortunately it was worse than she remembered. There were stacked bins of Christmas decorations, two rolling racks of clothes, boxes of things no one wanted to deal with but also wouldn’t get rid of. On the far wall, under the window, was an old, musty futon that creeped her out, and the walls were a horrible shade of lime green.
She wove her way through the crap and stuck her head in the three-quarter bath. The vanity was old and ugly and the toilet had a huge crack in the seat lid, but the shower was relatively new and as it was never used, the grout was pristine.
“This would work,” Harris said loudly. “Once it’s cleaned out and maybe painted, it would be fine.”
“It’s not fine,” Shawna said faintly. “It’s...”
“A junk room.” Jax smiled at her. “And a project.”
Yes, fixing it up would be work, but Jax knew she would be much more comfortable to have her own space.
She looked around and nodded slowly. “I can get someone in to replace the vanity and the toilet. Once the room is cleared, I’ll get it painted.”
Harris looked pained. “You wouldn’t paint it yourself to, ah, save money?”
She stared at him. “No, Harris, I wouldn’t.” She knew he was balking at the hit their joint “house maintenance fund” would take but she didn’t care. “The kids and I will work on cleaning out the room this week. I’ll move the stuff you have to decide on to the garage for you to deal with.”
She would order a new bed and linens. There was already a dresser in the room and the closet was a decent size. Once the room was emptied and updated, it would suit her just fine.
“So we have a plan,” she said. “I’ll talk to Marcus tomorrow to see if he could send over one of his guys to do the work.”
Everyone trooped out of the room and went back to the kitchen. Shawna put the kids to work setting the table as she went to check on the crockpot.
“You’re really going to move downstairs?” Harris asked quietly.
“Yes. You wouldn’t have a problem with me sleeping in your bed on the off weeks because it’s what we’ve always done, but it’s not going to be comfortable for Shawna or for me. There’s a level of weirdness that doesn’t need to be there.”
“I don’t get it but I believe you.” He hesitated. “You’re being really great about all this. I appreciate it.”
She pulled him into the living room and lowered her voice. “You know this is real for her, don’t you? She thinks you’re wildly in love and want to get married. She’s planning her future with you, Harris. She wants to get pregnant on your honeymoon.”
He physically flinched. “No, she doesn’t. We haven’t talked about having kids. I don’t want more kids.”
“Then you should tell her that because she has no clue this is all a game to you.”
“It’s not a game. I care about her.”
“Do you really want to marry her, because she thinks you do.”
His gaze slid from hers. “We probably shouldn’t talk about this anymore. Thanks for what you’re doing with the junk room.”
“You’re going to hurt her, Harris. You’re going to rip out her heart and for the rest of her life she’s going to know that the man she fell in love with played her.”
“I’m not playing her. This relationship matters.” He looked at her. “What are you going to tell her?”
“Nothing. I’m not getting in the middle of this. You’re the wrongest of the wrong, but this is your life. Screw it up however you like. Just next time, make sure you give the kids a heads-up that one of your women is moving in. They deserve to be warned.”
