Page 31 of Property of Stone
However, she wasn’t doing any of this for Stone. She was doing it to help protect Wren. Her son would always be her priority.
She was also doing it for Sunny, even though she hadn’t met Stone’s daughter yet. With the poor girl’s mother currently in prison, the thought of a woman like Juicy taking care of an impressionable young girl…
She turned and studied the back of the house. He was right. It might be small but it had a backyard surrounded by a chain-link fence. Even though the size of the fenced area was half-decent, most of the space was taken up by an above-ground pool and a play-set that included a tunnel slide, swings, and objects for the kids to climb. Wren would love that.
Attached to the rear of the house was a small deck that looked like it had been built in the last few years. On that deck was a grill, a small table, and a few folding chairs.
She could picture Stone kicking back on the deck with a beer in hand and eyes on his daughter while she swam.
“Let me show you inside so you know what you’re gonna need to bring from your place.”
Probably not much except for some personal items and clothes for her and Wren. And, of course, the stuff needed to do her job as a personal chef.
Being able to bank her earnings while living rent- or mortgage-free would also be a benefit of moving in with Stone temporarily.
She’d be able to afford more therapy for Wren, if it was needed, as well as not having to rush to find a new home. She could take her time and find the right place.
When he headed through the gate, she followed. “When did you buy this house?”
Stone held open the screen door with his boot while he unlocked the door leading into the house. “Few years ago. Bought it for my mother when she was sick. Wanted her close. And despite the house bein’ old, it’s got good bones. Thought about sellin’ it after she died, but never thought I’d have Sunny full-time. Now I do, got no choice but to keep it unless I wanna buy a bigger place.”
“I’m sorry about your loss,” she murmured, crossing the threshold behind him.
The back door led into a tiny entryway. When they headed to their right, they entered the kitchen. Stone might be comfortable on a Harley, but she always felt at home in a kitchen.
Cooking was her passion. She was lucky she could turn it into a career.
Fortunately, the appliances had all been updated more recently. Despite that, the cabinets most likely hadn’t been touched since the seventies, except maybe for adding anothercoat of lime-green paint. Neither had the curtains. Or the decor.
“The kitchen’s bigger than I expected.” It might not be as huge and modern as a newer home, but it was functional.
“Mom couldn’t do the steps toward the end so I moved her into the livin’ room. Blew out the fuckin’ wall between the kitchen and dinin’ room to make it bigger and added another full bathroom downstairs. Before that, the house only had one bathroom up on the second floor.”
That made sense. It was also very practical to expand the kitchen, since most people—unless they had huge families—didn’t use a dining room very often. It tended to be wasted space.
She stayed on his heels as he made his way through the kitchen and past the full bathroom located at the front of the house. He hooked a left toward the front door, where the staircase to the second story was.
If she was standing out on the covered front porch looking at the house, the kitchen and bathroom took up the left side and the living room took up the right. That meant that there were only three rooms on the main floor. That might be tight for four people.
He tipped his head toward the stairs. “Gonna show you the rooms, then we can decide the sleepin’ arrangements.”
“I already know I won’t be sharing your bed.”
With a snort, he shook his head and headed upstairs.
At the top of the steps, she realized there were only three rooms up there, too. To the right of the stairway was a bedroom easily recognizable as belonging to his daughter. Not only because of how it was appropriately decorated for a ten-year-old girl but because of the bunk beds.
“You weren’t lying about the bunk beds. She already has one.”
“Yeah. Hate ‘em ‘cause they remind me of whenever I’m in the joint, but got it in case one of her friends wants to spend the night.”
Taryn stood in the center of the room, slowly turning in a circle to take it all in. It might be tight for two kids, but it could work temporarily. Sunny might hate sharing her room but Wren would probably love it. In the past, he had bugged her for a sibling. Maybe this would get it out of his system and he’d never ask again.
She could hope, anyway.
“Does that happen often?” If she had a lot of sleepovers, she’d need to find other accommodations for her son during those times. Taryn doubted the girls would want Wren to join them.
“Never.”
