Page 59 of Forever Fallen

“I can keep my hands off of you,” he said bluntly, “Or I can roll out a sleeping bag.”

He walked off before she could answer or say a word – and she followed him through the house, realizing where he was going and why.

Ryan headed towards the master bedroom that had been closed and shut the moment she’d arrived. As he opened the door, she felt a wave of emotion roll over her, swallowing it back, as she realized that her grandmother would never occupy this room again.

“Can you get some sheets, Sophie?” Ryan said coldly, not giving her a moment to process what was going on. He was going to strip the room and remove her grandmother’s things.

“Get some boxes and you can go through the things later when it doesn’t bother you. Start washing our linens upstairs and let’s get the guest rooms ready. Go on,” he barked tightly, his voice snapping orders at her. “I don’t need your help in here.”

“Ryan…”

“I’m not going to argue with you, Sophie,” he said coolly. “I can tell you that time doesn’t heal things if you have a mausoleum to her waiting here, tucked neatly behind a door. This is just four walls – and that’s it. Now, get out of this room and start the laundry, woman…”

Seething and feeling such hurt, she practically ran from the room hearing his soft curse behind her as she fled tearfully.

Racing up the stairs, she ran into her room and slammed the door – almost like a teenager, but instead of flinging herself onto the bed and sobbing?

She began stripping the bed, getting to work as Ryan had said, and trying to busy herself so she didn’t think about him taking apart her grandmother’s room, piece-by-piece.

He was right… but it just hurt all the same. She knew he was saying these things because he’d dealt with identical issues when he cleaned out his mother’s house a year ago… alone.

Flinging the sheets down the stairs angrily, she moved to pull some totes out of her closet that she’d used before to move things back and forth to Dallas in the past when she needed something.

She could hear Ryan moving around downstairs and while part of her was curious at what he was doing – another part of her didn’t want to know.

An hour later, she came out of her room carrying a massive tote that was draped with her clothing on hangers. The sheets at the bottom of the stairs were gone and obviously Ryan had moved them. The smell of food was wafting from the kitchen – and once again, he’d handled getting their dinner out of the oven.

He seemed to pick up where she left off, or simply would take over doing some of the things she needed, but couldn’t ask for. He goaded her, ordered her about, or made her angry – just to get her away or distract her… but this time, she was going to confront it.

It just took her a minute because the topic hit so close to home for her. Taking a deep breath, she walked towards the master bedroom where she could hear him moving around, humming, and hesitated.

“Good,” Ryan said quietly from the bedroom before he looked out to see her standing there. He took the tote from her arms and then turned to walk off. “Come in and I could use your input.”

Sophie started to walk slowly into her grandmother’s bedroom and hesitated. It was nearly bare and some of the furniture had been moved around.

The bed was neatly made with clean sheets… and it dawned on her that this looked nothing like her grandmother’s room without the frilly trinkets and knick-knacks everywhere. Instead, the room felt sterile and bland, not tinged with pink and warmth.

The pink sheers were gone.

“I’ve moved a lot in my life,” Ryan said quietly, not looking at her and standing there with his arms crossed while her tote sat on the bed, untouched.

“Home isn’t aboutwhereyou are – it’s what youmakeof it. Things are just things, but when you remove them? You find that every place, every set of four walls are all the same,” he said began. “Let’s make the roomyoursso you feel at home. Do you like the bed here or would you prefer it on that wall? I thought over there would be nice in the mornings.”

“I’m sorry…” she croaked out instantly, watching him – only to see him look up at her, before nodding and looking away.

“I’m not such an unfeeling jerk that I would want to hurt you deliberately,” Ryan said quietly. “Putting away things, taking them down, and packing them up is painfully final… and I didn’t want you to suffer or have you going through that gamut of emotions.”

Sophie walked over and immediately wrapped her arms around his middle, hugging him. Ryan’s arms enfolded her as she felt him kiss the top of her head gently.

“Don’t always think the worst of me…” he whispered softly. “I do mean well, sometimes.”

“I know,” she breathed. “It’s just a lot and sometimes the feelings are intense. You were right though. It would have hurt to put away her things.”

“I could do it much faster because I have no emotional ties to them,” he offered, explaining. “Everything is stacked neatly in boxes, and I took them down to the basement when you are ready.”

“You did?”

“Yes – and started the sheets in the washer. We can get some personal effects from your room, so you feel at home here.”

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