Page 93 of Menage a Passions
“What about this room?” the large man with a hardhat asked as they walked out of the nursery-turned-office and into the room that wassupposedto be the office across the hall. Jane took one look at the slit of a window at the top of the wall,declared it “too dark in here to do any work” and instead came up with a fantastic alternative that should please both of her partners.
“Ah, yes. This shall be our recreation room.”
“Cool! So, are we thinking home theater, game room, or…”
Jane informed the contractor that this was the one room he had nothing to do with. That honor was going to a separate firm that women like Monica Warren hired. In fact, it was the same one that had helped her renovate the flat next door to Le Salon after she finally took the plunge and bought it with funds from Adams & Wong.
“I want a rack here. I think a false wall to cover it should suffice. I do have a snoopy minor living with me now,” she explained to a different representative the next day. The woman in a crisp black suit and with her dark hair tied up into a smooth bun screamedsubmissive wenchto someone like Jane, but she kept her cool and held back from flirting. This was professional business, after all, and she had a feeling that the rock on the rep’s finger and the tight choker around her throat wasn’t mere fashion.She belongs to someone. They might get annoyed.Caitlyn would have to chastise her for it, there would be a mini-argument before they let it go…
Yeah. Not worth it.
“Do you think this ceiling can support a swing?”
Jane knew this was overkill, but she didn’t care. They had the room, so why not? Better to have their intimate dungeon on this side of the house than a… what? A library? A game room? What evenwasa game room?
It would be simple and understated at first. Their cozy couple’s room where Jane didn’t even have to be present to let Caitlyn and Rebecca in if they wanted to play for an hour. They could host parties with friends in this part of the house.Am I… turning into my mother?Hosting parties? Inher house?
Granted, the kind of people Jane was thinking of inviting would make Willow faint to meet, but this was Jane’s big American house, wasn’t it?I’d like to see them try this in White Fir.
Caitlyn had the primary contractor to herself on other days, but neither she nor Rebecca knew about the brand-new dungeon with fun equipment going in on the other side of the house. Construction started on Jane’s side while they organized a proper moving day sometime in February, assuming everything went to schedule.
When she was given the all-clear, she sent in the other contractors, most of whom worked in the evening when the by-day contractors went home after remodeling the kitchen and Caitlyn’s new bathroom. (The woman wanted her favorite bathtub, and she would get it. Jane ensured that.) And when everything was done on her side at the end of January, Jane went shopping for a new bedroom furniture set to match her newer, brighter room, since she was tired of Rebecca always whinging about the dark palette of her current room.
She would miss that flat. While this move was good for the whole family, Jane could be sentimental. The flat was where she and Caitlyn first lived upon returning to America. It was where they built a new home with Rebecca and – as Jane could not be remiss to forget – it was where she and Rebecca first made love.Ah, look at me, getting all teary-eyed about it.
While construction moved to the other side of the house, Jane in turn began moving in her new furniture, clothes she didn’t wear as often, and crisp linens that made her new room feel homey while the old one lost some of the pieces she was intent on keeping. The only person to come see the new bedroom, closet, office, and bathroom was Cecelia, whom Jane drove over one day after school so she could see how everything was coming along.
“Can I see my room?” was all Cecelia asked as they stood in front of the large windows overlooking the backyard.
“It’s not done yet,” Jane told her. “You wanted it painted, remember?”
“I also wanted my own bathroom.”
“Youdohave your own bathroom.”
“But it’s across the hall.”
Jane groaned. “Sometimes, we must make sacrifices. Your auntie Rebecca made a sacrifice to let you have your own room when you moved here, and now it’s your turn.” Out of the five proper bedrooms, two didn’t have en suites. There was no question that Caitlyn was taking the other primary suite while Rebecca got the room next door that also had its own plumbing.Never thought I’d see her cry over having her own room back.Jane hadn’t quite realized how badly Rebecca had needed her personal space again.Was Ithatbad of a bedmate for the past five months?To be fair, Jane was happy to have her own room again. Even if it would be quite lonely all by herself on that side of the house. Instead of taking ten seconds of quick walking across the flat to get to her, it would now take at least a minute cross the house.I’m in the mother-in-law suite, aren’t I?
“At least I got to pick which room I wanted…”
“There you go,” Jane said. “Looking on the bright side. Just think of the lovely housewarming we will have when this place is finished and we are all moved in. Do you want to invite some friends from school?”
Cecelia was quiet as she tested Jane’s newly installed bed. Can I invite Benny?”
“Is that the bloke you are dating now?”
“Yeah… we’ve only gone out a couple of times, but…”
So there is a good chance they’ll be broken up by the time the party rolls around.Jane would keep a good attitude about it, though. Ever since Cecelia stopped hiding what she was up to inher personal life, Jane had thewonderfulopportunity to know every boy Cecelia had been out with since what’s-his-face, the guy she never heard about again since marching in on him and Cecelia.I probably scared him off for good.
But it hadn’t deterred her niece from going out with a few other boys since then. Even during Christmas, when everyone was dragged to Des Moines for a big American holiday with the Adamses, Cecelia was flirting with one of Caitlyn’s nephews who thought she was the hottest thing since a Midwestern summer. Jane tried not to think about it.
Guess if she does something stupid, I’ll be the first to know.So far, Cecelia had been reasonable in her requests to go out with whatever boy tickled her fancynow.
“Sure. Ol’ Benny can come if you want. Maybe it’s time I met one of your boys, huh?”
Cecelia rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”