Page 28 of Killian
“Coleen, hey. Sophie called you? I see. He’s picked a bed, yeah.” Briar clapped me on the back, and Jack set the bedding on the mattress. “I’ll see you at four. You can take that from here.”
Jules kissed my cheek, and together, we counted spaces for the bed, the new bedding, and us home. The bed didn’t fit in his alcove, and he pouted over that. The tears were coming and I scooped him up again. “Don’t fuss now. Let’s go see if Jenkins is still here?”
Jules nodded and put his head down, shuddering against me. I walked through the house, and Sophie came too, wanting to know why Jules was upset. He hadn’t cried. He just fussed in French.
We reached the porch, and Jenkins stood by one of the work trucks. When the door opened, he looked up, and Sophie motioned for him to join us.
“Something wrong, my lord?” Jenkins asked.
“Papa got me a new bed an’ it doesn’t fit!” Jules grumbled.
I put my hand on his face and smiled at Jenkins. “He’s not ready for his own room. His toddler bed was cold, and he chose a new one that looks like a large pet bed, really. Comes with bedding. It’s really nice. It’s just huge.”
Jenkins laughed and touched the top of Jules’ head. “If I could see?”
I invited the man in, and he followed us through the pool room to my bedroom.
Jenkins went into the nursery and began moving wall panels. “These are to create the wall here, separating your papa’s room from yours. They aren’t sealed at the bottom; the air is coming beneath the wall.”
Jules’ bedroom extended to the outer wall of the hall, and he had a bathroom, too. I’d assumed it was wasted space. Jenkins and I hung half the wall separating Jules from me and hooked it into the floor so it didn’t move. Everything locked into place like a giant puzzle, and Jenkins stored the last panel in Jules’ closet, leaving the panel door on the left side. Jules’ closet opened into the bathroom, and he had one window now above his bed.
“I was expecting to tear out walls,” I laughed, and Jenkins smiled.
“No, my lord. Zee designed this because Axl hadn’t thought beyond Jules being two. Boys grow into men and will want their own space. This works for a few years,” Jenkins said. “I’ll let Zander show you the other secrets of the house.”
“There are other hidden spaces?” I asked, and Jenkins roared with laughter all the way to the front door.
Jules and I washed his new bedding and rearranged his bedroom. His toiletries went into his bathroom, and I placed the tablet on his little desk beside the bed.
“Papa, can I show Alex and Rhys?” Jules asked.
I checked the time and pulled up Indy’s contact info, showing Jules to press the video button. He placed the call, and when Indy answered, Jules went off in rapid French about everything and then asked to speak to the twins.
I changed the sheets on my bed, leaving him alone with his first phone conversation, and gathered the laundry to wash.
My pride would most likely know I chose not to see Barnham for a bed, but Jules was happy.
Chapter nineteen
Zander
Jenkins told me about the bed, and the man thought it was hilarious that Killy didn’t want to see Barnham. I thought it was funny, too, and Barnham deserved it. He’d spurred Gerald into thinking MacLaden Pride didn’t like Killian as our King.
I reached Killy’s by four, finding Briar, Killy, and Jules deep in conversation with Jenkins. The pavilion was finished, and it looked good. The same panels I’d fashioned for the house were used to make the space warm in the winter and made with materials to withstand the elements. Killy winked at me as I joined them, and Briar lifted his chin. He’d been warned not to touch me if he didn’t want to know when he’d die. The man’s first thought when I walked up was ‘Tarot.’
Killy slid his free hand into mine, and Jules patted my cheek from the comfort of Killy’s arms. Unlike other MacLaden Kings and Queens, Killy would not hide his cub from the Pride. I had a feeling Killy would kill anyone who messed with Jules, too.
We rode out to the site for the homes and the hotel, which would be side by side. MacLaden Pride came out to watch. The humans were oblivious.
Briar and I discussed the three homes he needed to get rid of, and we sketched a rough plan of the new development while we stood there. Miss Gerry from the ice cream shop brought Jules a cup of strawberry ice cream, and Killy talked to her. He tasted the ice cream first, said it was delicious, and Jules dug in. Miss Gerry had no idea Killy was taste testing to make sure she hadn’t tried to poison his cub.
Briar asked me what I thought about the hotel. I didn’t do commercial, but Yael showed me images of what Killy wanted, and I sketched those out for Briar, too. The King was too young to have seen a hotel in the seventies, and when he’d asked his architect, the man came up with something too modern.
We headed back to the diner. The humans were returning to Cypress Wood for the night, and Sophie joined us with Coleen. Charlene brought us supper while we discussed how many homes, a gate, and a little country club with a pool and a lifeguard. Killy was keeping with the seventies theme, and the Shifters who’d come in to listen to us were pleased. They were happiest in the seventies and eighties.
Jules ate from my plate, and Killy’s, after Killy and I had tasted everything. Briar noticed and took mental notes about keeping his Pride at arm’s length without letting them know he didn’t trust them.
Killy paid for our supper, and we left the diner, driving back to Killy’s. Briar wanted to see Jules’ bedroom, and Killy invited the man into the house. Briar was interested in how the walls locked into the floor, and I showed him the design.
