upset.”
I chuckle, “You’ve been a trooper.”
“We need some distance,” he circles back to our previous conversation. “We shouldn’t be living in the same house. Sharing the same room is great because sex with you is my favorite thing of the day. It’s great, until the next morning when you don’t want to talk about us—because it’s over, and there’s no point to rehash.”
I lean my head against his shoulder and mumble. “I love you, and I hate that you’re right.”
He kisses the top of my head. “I know, but I want you to say it the way you used to before you learned to hate me.”
Snuggling closer to him, I confide in him and tell him about the hormone therapy and that in November, I’m going to try to get pregnant.
“You’ll be a great mom,” he whispers.
We remain quiet, and I wonder if he’s regretting this conversation, but I choose to enjoy the silence between us.
This might be the last time we’re together like this.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Leyla
After our long talk, Pierce moves out of the bedroom. Everyone in the house promises to keep their mouths shut about our new sleeping arrangement. He stays on the sofa bed we have in the living room.
The next couple of weeks pass with painful slowness.
I take care of Arden, check on the animal hospital, which will be done three weeks ahead of schedule, and finalize the hiring process so everyone can move in time. I’m thrilled that Bobbi and her family are coming to live in Baker’s Creek. Dan, who finally graduated from vet school, is also joining us.
Grace, Beacon’s friend, visits us more often. When she stays in the house, Beacon sleeps in his studio. One day, when we’re alone, she suggests we go to Beac’s place to play music with Arden.
That’s when she tells me that there’s a house underneath it. She even shows me how to get in through the garage. The tunnel from the garage to the house is a long wide hallway with bookcases, hung memorabilia, and shelves with pictures of Beacon’s grandparents and some from his childhood with Grace and her family. There are many of the band, and I love how the first room is like a music-living room.
Arden points at a big drum, and Grace takes him to it. She picks him up and bangs the drum with one hand, waiting for him to copy her. They do that a couple of times before he wiggles himself out of her arms. I take a seat on one of the couches and observe them interact. He’s trying to decide which instrument to touch, and Grace shows him a triangle.
“Listen,” she says before playing Twinkle Little Star.
He claps along with her and says, “Mo.”
She walks him to a plastic trunk. When she opens it, she says, “Look at all those toys.”
It’s filled with instruments that are perfect for his hands.
I gasp along with Arden. “Wow. You got that for him?”
“Beacon and I have been collecting them,” she explains. “Ever since he learned that he was going to be an uncle, he asked Mom what instruments were appropriate to have handy, and we began to gather them. She’s a music teacher, among other things.”
She pulls out a pair of castanets and says, “Beac bought this and a tambourine in Spain when he went to visit me. I played with the Málaga Philharmonic Orchestra last summer.”
I have so many questions for her, like how long have Beacon and Mills been close? Why the two of them created this close brotherhood and didn’t reach out to the others? Does she know Beacon is in love with her?
I choose an easy one, “Did your mom teach you how to play music?”
She smiles and nods once. “Ever since I was in the uterus, Dad claims.”
Arden shakes a maraca and laughs when Grace starts dancing. So he repeats it again and again. “Join us,” she invites me, handing me a tambourine.
We dance and play until Arden gets bored and goes to the toy box to look for something else.
“You’re good with kids,” I point out.
“Mom runs an academy. Sometimes I teach music to the preschoolers,” she explains. “Plus, I was the oldest of my cousins.”
Arden is so happy around her.
Comfortable enough that I have an idea. What if she helps us with him during the days Mills is working and I have a hospital shift?
I have to wait to talk to Mills first, though. Grace and Sophia’s parents would be perfect for helping us with