“Good for you. Go rest,” I called after him.
Noah had his challenges, but he was one of the rare kids who could appreciate a nap when he was worn out. I could tell his “playing” would end in a few minutes.
“I’ll take you on a quick tour and then you can get settled,” I said to Nina.
“Are youkiddingme?” she whispered to herself as she walked around the foyer. She swiveled her head to take in the space and pointed up at the collection of globe lights hanging from the ceiling at different lengths. “That looks like it belongs in a planetarium.”
I followed her gaze. “Huh. I guess you’re right.”
Henry walked in carrying two of our suitcases. “I’ve prepared the corner suite upstairs for Miss Nina. Does that work for you, Logan?”
“Perfect,” I nodded. “I’ll show you where it is, Nina. This way.”
I strode past her to the staircase that bisected the foyer. Before Noah, it had been completely open and without handrails, like floating modern art. The babyproofing expert I’d hired before Noah was born had walked in and made short order of my clean aesthetic.
“Can I get a map of this place?” Nina joked from behind me.
“It’s pretty intuitive,” I assured her as I strolled down the hallway lined with closed doors. “You’ll see.”
“Says you. How many guest bedrooms do you have here?”
“Eleven.”
She sputtered.
“Your room is right down…here,” I said as I pushed the door open and stepped aside to let her enter before me.
She walked in and paused, almost like she didn’t think she was supposed to be there.
Henry had opted to put her in my favorite bedroom in the house, aside from my own. It was a corner room so two of the walls were actually floor-to-ceiling windows that slid open. The balcony beyond it looked out over the gardens. There wasn’t as much land as our family home, but the landscape architect had worked some miracles to make it look like it stretched on for acres.
“It’s girlier than I would’ve expected,” Nina said, still frozen in place.
“My decorator insisted that we let one room be softer than the rest. She wanted more color, so we compromised with that floral accent wall.”
“Monochromatic poppies don’t really count as ‘color,’ but I get what you’re saying.”
I gestured for her to follow me. “Bathroom is right in here, along with a dressing room and closet.”
She peeked her head in and scanned the space. “This is acloset? I could live in here.”
“Luckily, you don’t have to.”
At least not for the next few months.
What happened after that was a mystery.
“Well,” Nina was wearing a Cheshire Cat smile. “This is going to be fun.”
Normally, I’d bristle at the idea of having a long-term guest under my roof, but for some reason with Nina, it just felt right.
15
NINA
The move-in process was quick. Actually getting used to my new life? Yeah, I could already tell that was going to take a good, long while.
After all of the upheaval, I was exhausted in body and spirit, but my first night in the sleek mansion had me too wired to sleep. It didn’t matter that every part of the guest room was calibrated for maximum luxurious comfort, I was buzzing with nerves and something else that I couldn’t quite place.
