The look of awe on her face had me biting back a chuckle. “It’s all yours, but we can change anything you want.”
She flew at me, throwing her arms around my waist. “It’s perfect. How’d you know purple’s my favorite color?”
I tugged on a bow in her hair with the same color. “Just a lucky guess.”
She released me and made a beeline for the bookcases, surveying the contents. Anna came up alongside me. “You didn’t have to do all of this.”
I looked down at her. “I wanted to. And they deserve a little spoiling right now.”
She pressed her lips together. “I guess you’re right. Lyla Bean, are you going to keep on the tour with us?”
“Can I stay here? I want to look at my new books.”
“Sure, we’ll come back and get you when we’re done.”
Justin might’ve been a too-cool-for-school teenager, but he couldn’t disguise the look of excitement in his eyes. “Can we see my room?”
“You’re up next,” I assured.
We headed out of Lyla’s room and into the room next door. The designer had gone straight ahead in this room since I didn’t have the first clue what Justin’s favorite colors were. The walls were a pale gray. But the furniture had industrial accents that made the space a bit more unique. She’d also worked in Justin’s love of soccer with prints over the bed and a few signed soccer balls from nearby professional teams dotting his bookshelves. There was also a sitting area where he could have friends over and a full gaming setup.
“This is sick,” he said as he explored the space.
“That’s the good sick, right?”
Justin grinned. “Totally good.” He sobered a bit. “Thank you, Mase.”
“Happy to do it.” They deserved more than this after everything they’d been through. They deserved everything.
Justin moved to the gaming system, checking out the games I’d stocked for him. Anna moved a little closer to me. “I think we’ve lost him, too.”
“Well, I can show you the rest of the house.”
She paused for a moment as if not sure she wanted to be alone with me. “Okay.”
“We’ll be back,” I called to Justin. He just nodded absentmindedly and waved us off.
I motioned towards another set of stairs at the end of the hall. “It’s really just my bedroom up here.” My architect had designed a suite that stretched the length of the third story. But I honestly didn’t spend much time up there unless I was asleep.
Anna’s steps faltered. “Are we—? We have to share a bedroom, don’t we?”
It was something I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about since starting the project of Justin’s and Lyla’s rooms. There simply wasn’t a workaround. “Unless you want to bring the kids in on what’s going on—”
“No. I won’t put them in that position. They need to think this is real.”
We reached the top of the stairs that opened into a sitting area lined with built-in bookshelves. Two overstuffed chairs and a small table were tucked into the space. Anna sucked in a breath. “This is beautiful.”
The window looked out over the property, the pool, the lake, forests, and then those gorgeous mountains. “It doesn’t get used nearly enough.”
Anna sent me a tentative smile. “Maybe I’ll have to remedy that.”
“It’s all yours.” I liked thinking about her curled up in one of those chairs, reading or relaxing. It fit somehow. As if I’d designed the space for her, even though we hadn’t met yet.
I motioned to the open double doors. “Here we are.”
Anna started inside, but her steps were hesitant as if she were checking for landmines as she walked. “It’s a great room.”
The bed was against the far wall, with a view of the massive windows looking out on that gorgeous view. And there was another sitting area in front of the windows, including a large couch. I gestured to it. “I can sleep there.”
