Page 38 of This Heart
Aurora looked annoyed when she asked, “Do you know where the bathroom is?”
Kim smiled at Winnie. “Oh, Liam will show me. Right, Liam?”
“Actually, Kim, Aurora came over early to play with Winnie, and I think Winnie would enjoy that. I’ll give you a tour of the house while they play.” Facing Harper, I added, “Make yourself at home and do what you need to start setting up for movie night.”
Kim looked stunned. Aurora looked relieved, and Harper…well, she was clearly trying not to smile.
Aurora took Winnie back and headed up the steps, Kim watching them until they turned the corner. She turned back to me and said, “I guess I don’t officially start until Monday. You did invite me over for movie night.”
Kim let out a soft laugh, and I wanted to groan. Harper had been right. I was giving Kim the wrong idea.
“You can give me a house tour later, Liam. Let me help you clean up the kitchen.”
“How about we do the tour now, so that on your first day, you’ll be able to jump right into caring for Winnie.”
She smiled and wrapped her arm in mine and said, “That is a great idea.”
Harper looked between us, then cleared her throat. “Right, I’ll just go clean up the kitchen before setting up.”
“Harper, you don’t have to clean up,” I said.
“It’s not a problem at all. Go give Kim the tour.”
Why did I suddenly feel like this was very, very wrong. It was too late to uninvite Kim, so I might as well just get the tour over with.
“Well, I’ll show you the guest bedroom first,” I said, pulling my arm from Kim’s and motioning for her to go up the steps first.
“If you ever need to stay the night, this would be the room you could sleep in.”
We stepped inside and Kim let out an, “Oh!” She walked farther into the room and turned around. “This is beautiful. I almost wish I were a live-in nanny.”
I chose not to respond to that.
The guest room was decorated in blues and yellows, Hope’s favorite colors. The walls were painted light yellow cream, and the queen-sized sleigh bed had a soft blue and yellow quilt that Hope’s grandmother had made years ago.
“There is a bathroom attached to this room as well.”
She smiled.
“There are two other rooms up here. The last door on the left is Mary’s, and across from that is my office.”
“Mary?” Kim asked, her voice sounding a bit tight. “Is that your girlfriend?”
“What?” I asked, letting out a confused laugh. “She’s my sister-in-law. She came to stay with us after Hope passed away. She has her own room since she will be visiting Moose Village often.”
“Oh, that was sweet of her to do.”
I shrugged, then smiled when I heard Winnie and Aurora singing. “This is Winnie’s room right here.”
We stepped inside, and Kim laughed. “Winnie the Pooh themed. Seems appropriate for her name.”
“My wife loved Winnie the Pooh.”
Kim nodded and looked around the room. “It’s really cute. When are you going to be changing the theme?”
I stared at her for a moment. “What do you mean, change the theme? This is what my wife wanted, and I’m keeping it that way.”
Kim turned to face me. “I didn’t mean anything by the suggestion, Liam. It’s just, I’ve seen people change the room theme as the little ones grow. Winnie is in a big girl bed now.”
