Page 38 of Returning to Everton

“What’s going on in here?” Nate questions and I roll my eyes. Ugh, men. I swear.

“I’m giving the guys a tour of the house so they know where to put stuff as they take it out of the truck,” I inform my grumpy friend.

I turn around and address the guys. “And this is the kitchen,” I say. “So, anything kitchen,” I chuckle. “Guess that’s pretty self-explanatory. Huh?"

“I think we got it,” Nick winks at me. And now Nate is starting to turn red, uh oh. “Where’s your room?” Nick asks suggestively and Nate looks like he wants to punch him. This isn’t going to be good.

“Why are you asking her where her room is, little boy? You wouldn’t be able to do anything in there worthwhile anyway,” Nate snarks.

“Oh...um...” Nick stammers. “There’s some boxes that say ‘master room’. That’s all, wasn’t trying to suggest anything like that. Sorry,” he assures Nate.

“Good. Let’s keep it that way,” Nate snaps back.

Well ooookay then. “Come on I’ll show you my room, it’s just down the hall,” I tell the guys.

“No need. Just put them in the living room, and I’ll move them to her room,” Nate growls.

“Sure thing, sir,” Tim replies, trying to defuse the situation. “The last thing we put up yesterday was the patio furniture, so that’ll be the first to come out. Do you have a spot picked out for it yet? Or do you just want us to put it on the back porch?” he asks.

“Oh, I have no idea,” I shrug, “I honestly have only been out back once and I wasn’t really paying attention to the porch. So anywhere will be fine. Thanks, Tim,” I explain.

With that, the guys head out to the truck to start moving everything in. I turn to Nate once they’re gone,

“What is going on with you? Are you feeling okay? You’re looking a little red there Nate,” I probe.

“I’m fine Rowe. Just don’t want them in your room. That’s all,” he attempts to disarm me.

“And why would that matter to you?” I demand.

He takes in a deep breath and slowly lets it out. “I’m sorry Rowe, I guess I overreacted,” he concedes.

“Yeah, you sure did Nate. For a second there I thought you might have been jealous. But I guess I thought wrong,” I bait him.

“Jealous of what Rowe? You got something going on with one of those kids?” he takes the bait.

I look over at Quinn and she winks at me. Ahhh so that was her game all along. It even happened early so she was here to witness all of it. Sneaky bitch.

“If I had something going on withanyone,you would know about it Nate,” I inform him hotly.

I shake my head and point my finger at Quinn. “You’re bad,” I announce as I walk away. I can still hear her cackling from the back yard, where I see Violet’s new playhouse. It looks like a mini version of our house, and it’s freaking adorable.

I walk up to the mini porch and ring the doorbell. Violet answers with a huge smile on her face. “Mommy! Mommy! Come in and look at what Nate did!” she shouts at me.

Oh no, whatever he did sounds like it’s the best thing in her life. Now I’m really scared. I take a deep breath and go to step into the playhouse, getting ready to duck my head. But I don’t have to… I’m not too big for this playhouse.

I walk in and look around, admiring the effort Nate put into this playhouse. It’s beautiful in here. Doesn’t look like a toy for a five-year-old at all.

“Nate said it adjusts to the people that are in it. That means it gets bigger when you come in here than when it’s just me, Mommy. Isn’t that so cool?” she asks excitedly.

I smile at her. “It sure is!” I agree. “It’s a lot bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside,” I tell her as I continue to examine the house.

“Yeah! It’s amazing what all you can do with magic, Mommy! Nate even taught me some magic I didn’t know!” her eyes light up as she talks. “I like Nate. He’s nice Mommy. You should go on a date with him,” she informs me.

I roll my eyes at her. “Did Nate tell you to say all that stuff?” I question her.

“No Mommy,” she huffs, “I really do like him. He might have said something about wanting to take you on a date, but he didn’t ask me to tell you or anything,” she bites her bottom lip. “He might have even told me to leave it to you and him to talk about,” she cringes. “I just happen to think that you should go out with him is all,” she confesses.

“Well, we’ll just have to see okay? Just because someone made you your dream playhouse doesn’t mean I’m going to marry them or anything okay Violet?” I try to reason with her.

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