“Margot, did you hear that? We can do cannonballs!” Madison shouted.
“That is not what I just said.” Esme looked over at Grady, shaking her head, but I could tell she wasn’t truly irritated. Madison was as excited as the rest of us and was too young to keep it to herself.
Margot, holding Vance’s hand, looked up at her dad. “Can I?” Even though she’d been with Vance and Lila for months now, she still asked permission for almost everything. We had her real mother to thank for that. It would take a long time for Margot to understand fully that love from Vance and Lila wasn’t transactional. It would always be there.
“Let’s wait and see what the vibe is,” Vance said. “Like Esme said, we don’t want to bother the other guests.”
“That could fall on someone’s head,” Madison said, gazing up at a massive wrought iron chandelier that hung from the center of the room.
“There are fortified beams,” Robbie said. “It’s completely safe.”
“What’s a fortified beam?” Madison asked.
“I’ll explain it to you later,” Robbie said. “It might be best if I draw it for you.”
“Can I color it?” Madison asked.
Robbie gave a long-suffering sigh. “If you wish.”
Grace took Madison’s hand. “Come on, little miss curious. Let’s go look at the fountain while the parents check us in.”
“Okay.” Madison managed to skip while still hanging on to Grace’s hand, which was impressive.
The check-in process was smooth, as the studio had arranged everything. Tyler, Hunter and I were in a suite, with one bedroom and a fold-out couch. I hadn’t really talked with either Tyler or Hunter about sleeping arrangements, and, now that we were here and facing only one bedroom, I wasn’t sure what to do. I put it aside as we headed up in the elevator to the Tower’s uppermost floors.
Hunter used the key to open the door, and then held it open for Tyler and me to step inside.
“Mom, this is insane,” Tyler said, setting his small suitcase on the floor.
It must have been at least 800 square feet with a full living room. I stood, taking in the coffered ceilings in warm ochre and cream, hardwood floors, and a deep cognac leather Chesterfield sofa facing two high-backed armchairs upholstered in bold navy and gold Spanish-patterned fabric. Between them, a round black lacquered coffee table held a vase of fresh white flowers. A flat screen television sat on a low console against the far wall, flanked by tall potted plants. Tall windows let in the bright afternoon light where dust or smudges would be evident if there were any. There weren’t.
“Can you imagine cleaning this place?” I asked under my breath.
Tyler headed to the dining area that adjoined the living room, and we followed to find a dark wood table with six bluelacquered chairs beneath an oversized black drum pendant light with a gold interior.
“We could live here,” Tyler said.
The bedroom connected to the living area through signature barn doors of richly stained reclaimed wood on iron hardware. When pulled open, they made one large gracious space. When closed, they created privacy. The four-poster canopy bed had a dark metal frame, crisp white linens with a deep persimmon accent pillow, a velvet upholstered bench at the foot, and a leather wingback chair in the corner.
“Where do I sleep?” Tyler asked.
Where did any of us sleep?
“Wait, this is a pull out couch,” Tyler said, answering his own question. “And you two can take the bedroom.”
Tyler seemed completely oblivious to the complications this set-up brought as he excused himself to use the restroom.
“So, yeah, we didn’t really talk about sleeping arrangements,” I said, flushed.
“And now it’s awkward,” Hunter said, taking my hands. “But I can sleep on the floor. Or a chair.”
I looked up and into his eyes. “Do you want to sleep with me?”
“I think you know the answer to that question. But we’ll take this at your pace.”
“I want that too,” I said. “But Tyler’s here.”
“We can make a bed on the floor for me,” he said. “It’s not like there isn’t space.”
