“Stop it!” I snapped, pushing him away. “This isn’t what I was… Don’t do that again!” I couldn’t help the fresh tears that rose to the surface.
“I’m sorry, Leese, you just feel so damn good to me. I didn’t mean to-”
“You are sleeping in the other bedroom when we move in.” My trembling hands moved to wipe away the tears.
He sighed, “I’m sorry, really I am.”
I turned and walked out to where she was waiting for us, “Let’s get this done because I want to be in here by tonight.”
“I’ve never seen anyone move in that quickly,” she laughed. “It might take you-”
“I’ll be in by tonight,” I stated firmly.
When we sat down to complete the lease she tried unsuccessfully to get our driver’s licenses, “I can’t accept checks or charge cards without-”
I pulled out twenty thousand dollars and laid it on the table, “Would twelve months rent in advance make this a little easier?”
She sat there with her mouth open.
“The name is Smith,” I said pointing to the line for our names. “Ryan and Michelle Smith. I’d really like to hurry this up because I’ve got a lot of shopping to get done if we’re moving in by tonight.”
She filled in the names as I instructed and we signed the lease and left with the keys to our new home. I asked to use her telephone book before we left, copying down the addresses to three different furniture stores. We stopped at the first store and went inside. As mad as I was over what he’d done, I was excited to let the shopping trip begin.
“First question, how do you expect to get furniture delivered today and secondly, who is Michelle?”
“Later, Ryan, just follow me,” I headed straight back to customer service. “Hello, I want to purchase a complete houseful of furniture this morning, but I want it delivered by five or six o’clock tonight, can your store handle that or do I need to shop somewhere else?”
The young boy just stood there and looked at us for a moment and then said, “You’re serious?”
“Yes.”
“Let me get my manager.”
Within moments a medium aged-dark haired man came to the counter and shook my hand and asked what he could do to help me.
“I’m furnishing a house today,” I stated, laying the paper with the three furniture stores names and addresses on the counter. “If you can’t deliver today, I’ll have to choose one of your competitors. Can you help me with this?”
“How are you paying for your furniture?”
“Cash,” I said, folding the paper and returning it to my purse.
“If you’ll take floor models, since they’re unboxed, assembled, and ready to go, I think we can rework the schedule for this afternoon to get what you need delivered. There is a standard delivery charge that applies.”
“I understand, and floor models are fine with me.”
“I’ll have Charlie walk around the store with you and he can mark down everything you want, but please look it over before you decide to purchase it. Floor models are sold as is and might have damage.”
I don’t think young Charlie ever had customers quite like the Smiths. It took a total sum of forty minutes to pick out two full bedroom suites with mattresses, a dining room set, living room furniture, an entertainment center, lamps, tables and accessories and a couple area rugs.
Thirteen thousand dollars later, we had a furniture delivery scheduled for four-thirty that afternoon. It was five minutes to eleven in the morning and we were headed back to the Citadel.
“So who is Michelle?” Ryan asked as we climbed back into the car and pulled out onto the road.
“Me. Annalisa Michelle Peterson Winslett… Gavarreen,” I added, knocking myself right off my shopping high.
“You want to tell me what happened back at the service station,” he asked softly.
I mumbled what I didn’t want to say, but it was enough to send the Javelin off the road and onto the shoulder.
I braced as we came to a sudden stop.
“Pregnant? Did you just say-”
“I said I’m not pregnant,” I sobbed.
“You wanted to be?” he asked incredulously.
“Micah didn’t want me pregnant and to tell the truth, no-I don’t think I’m ready, but we knew there was a chance.”
Ryan’s face was turning red as he was struggling to say something to me, “So you’re not on anything-no bir-birth control.”
“No, I didn’t want to take anything.”
“If we cross any lines then… I mean if you asked me to… We’d be taking the same chance?”
I nodded, still crying over the fact I had been secretly hoping my period wouldn’t start. I’d ignored my calendar and today was the day. I knew the moment I asked him to pull into the service station that any hope of carrying Micah’s baby was gone.
He leaned across the seat and held me for a few minutes, “You could have told me about this sooner, Leese. I wouldn’t have changed my mind about helping you if you thought you were pregnant. Matter of fact, if you were and you decided we had a chance, I’d love you either way. I don’t have to be the first guy, I’d just be happy to be the last.” He kissed my temple as he straightened in the seat and put the car back in first gear. “Maybe we should do this shopping thing another day. The furniture is all we need for tonight.”
I dried my eyes, “You know who ever turns out to be right for you, she’s going to be a very, very lucky person.” Then I gave a smile and told him I was fine and we should continue shopping.
We met Candace in JC Penney’s just before three o’clock and took her back to her house in the cram-packed car. Poor Ryan was exhausted, but shopping only seemed to give me more energy. We had bought dishes, cookware, utensils, bedding sets, bath and kitchen towels and such to the point that we literally had no more room in the car. The trunk was packed and there was only a small space for me in the backseat as I was surrounded by bags. Even Candace had to give up a little space because there were a few bags on the floor board by her feet.
“I’d love to see your new place, and I don’t mind helping you unbag everything and set things up,” she offered. We had pulled into Naomi’s driveway as we crawled out from the bags and boxes.
“That would be awesome to have some help,” I admitted, accepting her offer. Besides it was another chance to see how she and Ryan were around each other.
“Great, then I’m going to go change my clothes and I’ll be back over at Naomi’s in a few minutes.” With a wave of her hand, she crossed the street.
Another wonderful aroma hit us when we stepped inside.
“Where the crap have you two been all day?” Ty exclaimed when he saw us.
“Blowing wads of money,” Ryan replied as he literally flopped into a nearby recliner. “Don’t ever go shopping with Leese. She can kill a mortal man.”
“Ah,” Ty said with a sly smile, “I think I could handle a day with her.”
“But could you handle a night with me?” I asked. I had spoken it before I realized how very badly it came out. Both he and Ryan looked like their eyes were going to pop out after I uttered it. “What I mean is that I was hoping you and Andy could help me and Ryan tonight get moved into our new place.”
“You guys got a place today?”
“Who’s got a place?” Andy asked as he came into the room.
“Leese wants me to spend the night with her,” Ty laughed lightly with a wink to me.
“Whoa,” was all Andy managed to get out of his mouth.
“That’s not exactly what I said.”
At this point Ryan and Ty were starting to double over with laughter as they confirmed I actually did kind of say it that way. I snatched up two throw pillows and hit them both.
“Would you be willing to help me and Ryan get some furniture moved around our new place this evening?” I asked, turning to Andy.