Page 209 of The Holy Grail
In the master bedroom, Jules watched with amusement as Paige’s eyes widened at the sight of the enormous bed, then widened even further when she saw the mirror on the wall. Jules could tell by the curious—and intrigued—expression on her friend’s face, that she wanted to ask a few questions, so Jules waited.
“Is that for … sex?” Paige finally asked.
“Yes,” Jules answered. “It even tilts down, for a better angle.”
“It isn’t weird … watching yourself?”
“Not at all. It’s actually pretty helpful, because you can see things you might not be able to see, depending on what position you’re in.”
Paige blinked at that information, then began looking around the room, searching for something less sexual to talk about, only to spot the mermaid lamps on the nightstands. In an instant, her mild embarrassment flipped to annoyance.
“Those fucking lamps,” she said.
As they were heading back to the kitchen, and Jacob dashed past them with one of Malcom’s chocolate chip cookies in hand, something occurred to Jules. Stopping, she asked Paige in a low voice, “What, if anything, did you and David tell Jacob about me, Evan, and Mal moving in together?”
“Just that the three of you were moving in together,” Paige answered.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it. He accepted it was happening and didn’t ask any questions about it, which told me he wasn’t very curious—if he was, he would have asked a ton of them. And if hehadasked any questions, like why you three were moving in together, we would have told him you guys liked each other a lot and wanted to live in the same house. You know, keep it simple, give him just enough information to satisfy his curiosity, because what he’s not meant to understand right now doesn’t need to be put out there. But later, as he begins to understand more things, he can be given more information, as needed.”
“So, he probably just thinks me, Evan, and Mal are good friends and roommates?”
“Probably.” Paige lifted a shoulder. “If he even thinks about it all—”
“Squirt, where do you want this?”
Both women turned to see Evan holding up Jules’ framed poster ofThe Godfather.
“Squirt?” Paige asked.
For a moment, Jules sort of froze, and Evan patted her on the head, before smoothly answering, “It’s because she’s tall. It’s an ironic nickname.”
Paige seemed to buy it, but David, who’d also heard the explanation as he exited the half bath, simply raised his eyebrows in suspicion, before walking away.
With Paige watching (and also with a baby in her arms), Jules was unable to give Evan an elbow to his ribs, so she turned her attention back to the poster. “I thought it was going in the formal living room with a couple of my other posters.”
“I decided to switch yours out for mine, because I think mine looks better in there.”
“You have one, too?” Paige asked Evan. Then, remembering the one hanging in the regular living room that belonged to Malcom, she added, “God, you all do.”
“Great minds think alike.” Turning back to Jules, Evan prompted, “Well?”
“Switch it back, because I want your poster to go in the formal dining room.”
“You’re going to hang a poster ofThe Godfatherin your formal dining room, and formal living room?“ Paige asked. “You guys are so weird.”
“The formal dining room is going to be our game room, and his poster is the one with Brando holding a cat, so it’s kind of fun. As for the formal living room, it’s not very formal.”
At that moment, Jacob came running back over to them. “Malcom has a room with crystals in it!”
It was said with such childish exuberance that the three adults chuckled. Jacob then took Paige’s hand and pulled her toward the journaling room, to show her.
“Wasn’t the door to that room closed?” Jules asked.
“It was, but he’s a kid, and closed doors aren’t much of a deterrent,” Evan pointed out, before picking up the heavy framed poster and heading back toward the formal living room to make the switch.
Once Paige, David, and the kids left, the work began again in earnest.
