Divine Phoenix(Divine Creek Ranch 10)(90)

Once that was accomplished and she arrived home, he showed her what he’d done in each room and asked her what she thought of his plans to fix up the house.

Later, he sat on one of the new barstools at the kitchen counters and talked to her as she rolled out the dough for the dumplings. She’d cooked and deboned the chicken the night before, so all she’d had to do when she came in was make the dumplings and let it simmer.

“I think it was sweet of you to work in here all day, but I like your house the way it is, Del. Don’t change anything for me.” Unsaid was that she still evidently looked upon herself as a houseguest.

“Lily, this could wind up being your home. I went out and bought things today to make it a little more comfortable, but I intend for it to be the way you’d want it. What if things work out for the three of us and Clay decides to sell the house in town? I thought we could make this into a home for the three of us.”

“Is that what you’d like, Del?”

Struck by the lack of hesitation, Del replied, “Yes. It is. I’ve been thinking about it. We’d need a little extra space. Room for Clay’s studio and a space for you, for whatever you want to use it for. A larger bedroom, maybe? With a connected bath.” He grinned when her interest was piqued by that suggestion.

“Wow, that’s an awfully expensive undertaking.”

“I’ve been overseas, accumulating an income that I didn’t spend very much of. Wouldn’t you like a gigantic tub to soak in? Big enough to soak in with one or two others?” When her jaw dropped, he grinned knowing that he’d hit a hot button with her.

“Yeah?” Her tone assured him she was imagining just that before she blinked her eyes and chuckled. “We’re putting the cart before the horse, aren’t we?”

“Maybe, but now that I’ve gotten started thinking about it, the ideas are coming to me.” Lily would be blushing to her roots if she knew what sort of ideas were coming to him.

Changing the subject, Lily said, “You were happy about sleeping all night last night. Are you having nightmares or insomnia?”

“Both. The insomnia is brought on by the nightmares.”

“I know I offered before, but do you want to talk about it? I don’t mind talking with you about what happened to me. It could help.”

“Lily, answer me one question honestly. When you told me what happened before, you gave me the glossed-over version, without all the heartache, pain, and emotions that went along with it, right?”

Lily paused for a moment before nodding slowly. “Right. Yes, I suppose so.”

“There’s no way for me to gloss over what happened. I don’t want to talk about it with you because no one should have to hear about the things I’ve seen…and heard. I don’t want to put those memories in your head, knowing how they haunt me. I don’t want to do that to you.”

Lily bit her lip and hesitated before asking, “Del, were you required to do bad things that you didn’t want to? I know sometimes—”

“No. I was justified in any action I took, but I had to stand by and do nothing when every fiber in me wanted to take action. I was duty-bound.”

Lily leaned against the other side of the counter, facing him, and replied, “Okay, but maybe it would help you to leave it behind if you told an impartial person…or maybe wrote it down. You could write everything on paper and then we could burn it or shred it.”

Del didn’t think it was that simple or easy, but he could see the concern in her eyes and her obvious desire to help. “I’ll give that some thought.” Honestly, her idea was worth trying because working himself into a state of exhaustion wasn’t cutting it.

Clay called while the chicken and dumplings were simmering, apparently to flirt with Lily, if Del was going by how many times she blushed while she had the phone to her ear.

Supper was another feast, just like the night before, and he was stuffed when they settled down in front of the television, only to discover that the thing no longer worked. The television had sat derelict in the ranch house from one season to the next for eight years, so it wasn’t surprising that it didn’t work anymore. They wound up playing Chickenfoot with the old sets of dominoes he’d discovered in the second bedroom while cleaning.

Del thought they had more fun talking and playing than they would have in front of the television but told her they’d go shopping for a new one the following week.

Lily yawned at ten o’clock. “I imagine that tomorrow night at the sleepover is going to be a late night so I’d better get my rest. Mind if I say good night now?”