“I have an idea. I’ll sketch something and send you a photo. Okay?”
She nodded and stood.
“Why do you look so glum?” I asked.
“Because even though Kurt is probably sabotaging your business, and me by association, you have a hot biker who’s head over heels for you, and you’re having his baby. I kind of envy your life.”
“He’s not head over heels for me,” I protested. “And you don’t want my life. Trust me. It’s a friggin’ mess.”
“He is absolutely head over heels for you,” she insisted. “And I’d take your mess over my mess any day.”
“Your Homer mess, or your home-life mess?”
“There is no me and Homer because he refuses to—never mind. I’ll see you later.”
Chapter29
Joni livedin a Queen Anne Victorian that was in a state of fixer-upper status. “The upstairs is done,” Joni explained when I walked into the foyer. “But the living room…”
She waved her hand in the direction of the room. There was a couch, and it was pointed at a wall. That was about all.
“Don’t even get me started on the kitchen,” she muttered.
“Has the kitchen been gutted?” I asked.
“Not yet. It’s functional but ugly as hell. It needs a complete overhaul, but it will be the last room in the house we’ll do.”
“I made six pies. Is that enough for us?”
“It better be,” Joni joked. “Leave them on the counter. I want to show you upstairs before everyone else gets here. They’ve already seen it.”
I followed Joni to the second floor, and she opened a door and waved me inside. It was a nursery with yellow walls, a collage animal rug and a beautiful crib and matching changing table.
A brown teddy bear sat in the crib.
Joni wound the bumble bee and flower mobile above the crib, and it began to twirl.
On the far wall were framed photos of two sets of baby feet. One had Joni’s name and birth date and the other Zip’s.
“Zip’s name is Beau?” I asked.
She nodded.
“I like what you’ve done with this space,” I said softly.
“Does it give you any ideas?” she asked pointedly.
I started. “No, I—I haven’t even thought of a nursery…”
She smiled slightly and went to sit in the rocking chair in the corner. “It’s funny. I know so many women who have this vision of their wedding day. I was never like that, but I always knew what I wanted my nursery to look like. That’s weird, right?”
“One person’s weird is another person’s dream.”
“What a good way of putting it.” She smiled. “You really haven’t thought about a nursery?”
“No. I’ve barely wrapped my head around the fact that I’m having a baby.” I shook my head and smiled. “The morning sickness reminds me every day, of course, but I just…I don’t know. If I think about the nursery, then I have to think about stability. And I’m not sure I know what that’s like.”
“What do you mean?”