Page 44 of Tell Me Why
With canopies.
And tassels from the canopy.
Was it gaudy?
Was it out of place?
Downstairs - the main floor - had been modern and elegant andlean, not completely different from Tell’s penthouse at Viella, but with a distinctive southern feel to it, butthis…
This was almost old-country stuff. It wasn’t antique. Everything wasnew. But it was non-standard and baroque andrichin color and texture, and…
Tina just wasn’t settled on whether or not it was too much.
It was probably too much.
But she liked all of the individual pieces of it.
And would anyone look at the ceiling at the Sistine Chapel and say that there were too many clouds?
“Are they listening here, too?” Tina asked, a bit bored with the sitting-in-silence thing. Tell looked over at her wryly, then shrugged.
“I don’t know yet,” he said.
Tina waited.
“Boy am I excited about our daily consignment of yogurt,” she said, and he laughed.
“The waiting gets easier as you get older,” he said. “But not a lot.”
“I’m going to go take a shower,” Tina said. “And see if there’s a hairbrush and hair dryer up here.”
“I’d wager on both,” Tell said. “They’re a fan of big hair, down here.”
Tina wondered if that was specifically for Isabella’s benefit, but she didn’t say it.
She went into the bathroom - she’d never evenseenthe other one, because she’d had some kind of dread reaction to the idea of it - and found a very normal if very elaborate, baroque, and lush facility there. She took a long shower for something to do, then dried and styled her hair. When she came back out, Tell was lying on the bed reading a book.
“Are you ready?” he asked, laying it aside and rising.
“Oh, are we doing something?” she asked, and he grinned.
“What’s the point of boundaries if you don’t test them?” he asked, offering her his elbow. “Our yogurt is late. I suggest we find ourselves the path to the kitchen.”
She took his arm, raising an eyebrow, and he winked.
“I’m not going to let things get too settled,” he murmured. “I’ve seen situations like this draw on for decades, as everyone gets used to them, and while I think things are likely moving too quickly, here, for that to happen, I’m not going to contribute to the risk.”
“Are they not listening, then?” she asked as he went to open the door.
“Yes,” he said. “They are. But I want them to know it, same as you. We aren’t here to be kept pigeons. I’m not the type, and I won’t let you become it.”
She nodded, and they went out into the hallway.
Isabella was sitting on… it was a throne. Itwas.
“I wondered how long it would take,” she said. “I told Daryll under an hour. He thought you’d actuallystay.”
“She took a long shower,” Tell said evenly. “Are we going to go for a walk?”
