I chuckled to hide the fact that yes, I was very much indeed after said heart. “Just wait until I show you what else I got.”
I unloaded each item one by one, Belle lighting up at the popcorn first, and then the chocolates. But I saved the best for last, pulling the two hoodies I’d draped over my shoulder up for her to see.
“Oh, my God,” she said, reaching for the smaller of the two and clutching it to her chest like it was a lifeline. “Where did you find these?!”
“Merch booth. Figured they could be a souvenir.”
“A very useful souvenir,” she said on a laugh, and in the next breath she had the hoodie pulled over her head. She sighed as the warmth surrounded her, and I was glad I bought the larger ones, because she tucked her knees up to her chest and covered her entire body with it. “Oh, my God, this is so much better.” She looked up at me. “Not all heroes wear capes.”
“Nope. This hero wears a hoodie that matches the damsel in distress.”
Belle laughed as I pulled on the other hoodie, and then I plopped down next to her, pouring us each a glass of wine and carefully nestling the bottle on the floor between us.
“So, I’ve started getting deliveries,” I said, cheersing her glass with mine.
“Oh?” She feigned innocence, but her eyes told me she knew exactly what had been delivered.
“Mm-hmm. I’m excited to see it all come together.”
“One room at a time, but we’ll get there,” she said, and then she bit her lip, cupping her hands around her wine glass. The hoodie was so oversized that it practically swallowed her, just her fingers poking out from the sleeves. “I have an idea for the sitting room.”
“Yeah?” I asked. We’d gone over plans for the bedroom, the living room, the kitchen and even the guest room. We were still trying to decide what to do with the extra space that could be an office or a workout area — mostly because I was keeping that space for football. Of course, I couldn’t exactly tell her that. At least, not yet.
“Well, I know you wanted to make it feel a little like home, right? And, well, with your love of wood… I was thinking…”
She bit her lip again, shaking her head as if for courage before she took out her phone and pulled up a vision board.
“What if we did a Polynesian theme with a Chicago flare? Here, let me show you what I mean.”
She swiped through each photo, which showed large wooden tiki totems, brightly colored Polynesian art, and lush tropical plants.
“Now, before you go thinking I’m going to turn your sitting room into a tiki bar, let me explain. I was thinking, what if we sort of told a story with the room? I know that’s a big part of Polynesian tattoos.” She paused, looking at me then. “Yes, I Googled. Anyway, what if we used each wall to tell a story, using the totems, tattoo-inspired art, like these?”
She showed me a mandala lined with symbols that I knew stood for war and love, and then a beautiful, oversized canvas print of lava flowing into the ocean in what looked like Kilauea.
“I thought we could paint a story of your homeland, but fuse it with the boldness of Chicago. We’d put in bright, statement furniture pieces, like this yellow couch,” she said, showing me the couch, which had an older style to it, like it came right out of the 20s or 30s. “And we’d keep architecture in mind the whole way. I’m thinking huge wooden bookcases, geometric tables and lamps, low lighting, really hygge.”
“Hyooh-what?”
She chuckled. “Hygge. It’s a Danish word that essentially means warm and cozy.”
I smiled. “I like that.”
“I know you’re here during the summer, which is gorgeous,” she said. “But trust me when I say that the winters can be brutal. And long. So, having this nice, cozy space is an absolute must. And we can fill it with books and board games, make it a place you love to entertain your family and friends in. No television,” she said quickly, holding up one finger. “That’s reserved for the living room.”
I chuckled. “I think this sounds perfect.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded, taking the phone from her hands and swiping through a few more pictures. “It’ll be a nice effect, taking the cold metal and contrasting it with the warm wood, the stark