tell me without me asking. I wasn’t falling for that again. “What exactly am I grateful for?”
“You’ll see. It’s a surprise. But you’ll know it when you see it.”
I shook my head. “Does it make up for the fact that you purposely pissed off James last night?”
“When did I piss him off?”
“When you kept asking him all those questions about Penny.”
“Oh. That. I don’t think he minded.”
James definitely minded. “Just for future reference, when he does that whole thing where he lowers his eyebrows? It means he’s pissed.”
“I don’t think so. It means we’re having an engaging, intellectual conversation.”
About his wife’s happiness?
“Your friends are a hoot.”
A hoot? I would have called him out for using such a weird word. But he said stuff like that all the time. I heard Bill’s feet on the stairs and put my phone back in my pocket.
“Did you do anything to update the room that’s locked upstairs?” Bill asked.
My fingers tightened around my phone. “It’s the same as the other spare bedroom.”
“Do you mind if I take a peek?”
I patted down my pockets, pretending to look for a key. “I think I left the key at the office,” I lied. “But really, it’s almost identical to the other. Even the same crown molding as the master.”
He nodded. “Well, I’ll definitely be able to turn a nice profit on this place for you. Not a problem at all. And what are you looking for next? Besides four bedrooms?”
I didn’t really know. Did I want another fixer upper? Or some empty apartment? None of it sounded great. “I don’t know. I’ll need to think about it.”
“You’ll need to think fast. This is going to be a hot home for a family. I’ll pull some ideas for you in the meantime. Maybe we’ll be able to pinpoint your next investment. Or where you’ll settle down.”
Settling down. I wasn’t sure that was something I was interested in. But I nodded anyway.
“Great. I’ll work on the listing.” He took a peek into the family room. “And we’ll need some stagers asap.”
I didn’t see why there was anything wrong with my furniture. Maybe families preferred less leather and more…throw pillows? I had no idea. “Whatever you think it needs.”
He snapped a few pictures with his phone. “And I’ll get some photographers out here to take pictures once everything is ready.” He pushed an end table two inches to the left and I laughed. “It was blocking the natural flow,” he said.
“Sure.”
Bill chuckled. “I’m not going to pretend I know about interior decorating, but I’d definitely run into this thing all the time if it was at my house.”
He wasn’t wrong. I’d hit my shin on it a few times, but didn’t care enough to move it. I’d needed a place for whatever I was drinking when I was stretched out on the couch. And as far as I was concerned, an end table went by the end of the couch.
“Does all that sound good?” he asked. “I’ll text you the times for the stagers and photographers.”
“Sounds great, Bill.” I shook his hand and watched him leave before heading up the stairs. I needed a shower before I met up with Penny. But instead of heading toward the master, I pulled out the key that was very much in my pocket, and unlocked the door to the third bedroom.
I pushed it open and smelled the calming aroma of paint and sunshine.
The floor was covered in tarp and there was an easel in the center of the room with a half-finished portrait.
Another thing I did when I was missing Brooklyn? I painted her. I stepped into the room and looked at the canvases stacked along the wall. Dozens of them. Everywhere. They almost filled up the whole room.
If I could paint anything else, I would. But I only ever came into this room when I wanted to think about her.
Some days I couldn’t look at pictures of her without falling apart. Other days? I felt like I couldn’t remember her face. On those days, I’d come in here and look at old photos. And sometimes I’d paint her face from them. It was all I had. An old photo album and some memories. This room was the main reason I didn’t have anyone over. Because if any of my friends or family saw this, they’d look at me the way they did after Brooklyn died. Like I was broken. I hated when people looked at me like that. Even if it was