Living In The Shallows (UK Crush #1)

Chapter Fifty-Two

"Birdie? We're home. Come on, let's go in and get you cleaned up." We were in the carport of a large two-story house with a small front yard, and from what I could see, a nice sized back yard. There seemed to be a wall all the way around the whole property, and we were going in through a side door that led into a kitchen area from the carport.

"I'll give you the tour later, when you're awake and feeling better. For now, I think you should just take a shower and get into bed, okay?" He looked at me.

I nodded. A shower and bed had never sounded so good. "Just point the way." He led me down a hallway to a bedroom. "This will be your bedroom while you're here, if it suits you," he said. "I had your clothes from the storage unit unpacked in here, but it's no problem to move them if you'd prefer another room. You can look around tomorrow and see if there's another room you like better."

"I'm sure this room's fine," I said. "And you know, it's a good thing you had all my stuff brought here, because all my other stuff was on the plane. If you hadn't done this, I wouldn't have anything to wear at all."

He smiled at me. "So anyway, your clean things are in this chest of drawers, your bathroom is through there. Go shower, get changed, then come and find me, and we'll get you all sorted out, okay?" He planted a kiss on my forehead. "Welcome home, my love."

I took a quick look around. It really was a lovely room. I looked out the window, which looked out on the back garden, which was full of flowers; I could see honeysuckle, lilacs, and roses, just to name a few. I had no idea Teddy loved flowers so much. It was really beautiful, and I couldn't wait to spend some time exploring it. My bedspread was covered with flowers also, as was the rug next to the bed. And the vase next to the bed had fresh roses in it. Tears sprang to my eyes. My impulse was to sit on the bed and have a good cry, but I forced myself to go into the bathroom and turn on the shower. I noticed that my bathroom supplies from Trader Joe's had been unpacked and placed in the bath, and again came the urge to cry. I undressed, put my by now extremely dirty clothes in the hamper and got in the shower.

By the time I got out, twenty minutes later, I felt a little refreshed. I dried off, wrapped a towel around my head and went out to the dresser to see what I had available in the way of pjs and underwear. I was pleased to find an old summer nightgown that snapped all the way down the front, in light pink cotton, very cool, an old favorite that had somehow missed the cut for my trip to Japan. Next to my pjs I found all of my undies, and I wondered in passing if he had unpacked all my things himself. Hmm. I pulled out a pair of pink ones, so I'd match, I figured, and pulled them on.

I took the towel from my head and brushed my hair. It was more humid here than in LA, though nothing like Japan, and I wondered how bananas my hair was going to go. I then went in search of Teddy, wondering how long my second wind would last before my fatigue came crashing down on me, bearing me under like a lead weight.

"Teddy?" I called as I wandered down the hallway. There were some gorgeous prints on the walls, and I could see a beautiful sun-filled room at the end of the hall, but he responded from a room that opened to the left, so I followed the sound of his voice and entered what looked like a family room, very comfortable, with a massive sofa, a couple of squashy easy chairs to the side, big screen TV and sound system, with a fireplace, rug, and coffee table. He was sitting and holding a book, which he put down when I entered. He patted the sofa next to him and I sat, putting my head on his shoulder.

"Everything okay?" he asked, stroking my hair.

I nodded, covering an enormous yawn.

"You think you want to try some food now, or you want to just go straight to bed, and eat after you wake up?" he asked me.