Page 66 of The Hotel Room

And for once, James didn’t try to defend himself.

Instead, he swallowed hard, his hand flexing at his side like he wanted to reach for her—but didn’t.

“I’m not hiding from you, Kate,” he said quietly. “I know it feels like I have been. And I know I don’t deserve your trust.But I’m—” His voice caught, raw in a way that made her chest tighten. “I’m doing something. And it’s for you. For us.”

Kate folded her arms tightly across her chest, holding herself together.

James shook his head, the pain in his eyes almost unbearable to look at. His voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m trying to figure out how to show you...what you mean to me. Not with words. Not with promises. Just—something real.”

Kate blinked, trying to hold back the sting behind her eyes.

The betrayal still sat heavy, unyielding, but—

This? This man in front of her?

The man she had loved for so long—

He felt like a contradiction she couldn’t make sense of.

James exhaled shakily, then, with quiet determination, met her gaze.

“Come with me.”

Without another word, James led her toward the door.

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James led her out to the garden. His hand hovered near the small of her back, not quite touching but close enough that Kate felt the heat of it.

Things between them had been so carefully distant for weeks, like walking on eggshells—close enough to function as co-parents, yet so far from the intimacy they once shared.

And yet, there was something different in his expression tonight.

Raw. Vulnerable.

When he stopped in front of the shed, her first thought was confusion. The small building had always been a forgotten corner of the property, filled with old boxes and unused tools. But now, it looked...different.

The door was freshly painted, the trim neat.

James turned to her, his face pale and drawn, the tension in his jaw obvious.

“I—” He exhaled shakily, voice trembling in a way that caught her completely off guard.

“Just...let me show you.”

He opened the door.

Kate’s breath caught.

The space was transformed.

Sunlight filtered in through a massive window, nearly floor-to-ceiling, casting a warm glow across the newly finished wood floor. There was an easel, simple but sturdy, set near the light. A drafting table rested against the back wall, carefully sanded smooth, waiting.

It wasn’t complete. The shelves were empty. The walls unpainted.

Kate pressed a hand to her chest, words failing her as the realization settled deep in her bones.

“You—” Her voice cracked. “You did this for me?”

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