Her men gave her the sweetest smiles, followed by a couple of too-sweet and not-very-satisfying kisses. And then they ushered her out the door to the car.
The moment she saw the large facility—and noted there were a few pickup trucks in the parking lot—Alice let her men know she knew where they were.
“Oh! Bailey told me about this place. Jenny did, too.”
“We haven’t been inside, but the cousins tell us it’s a jaw dropper. It’s like a big box store, without any cash registers. Come on, woman, let’s go pick out our furniture.”
Ken stopped her just before they got to the door. “Jake told us that all the mattresses are brand-new, as they’re custom made. Anything else you don’t see that you want, we can buy new. This…” He nodded to the building. “This is just for expediency. Jake said we could be moved in together by the end of the day.”
“I think expediency is one of the highest ideals to shoot for.” Alice kissed him then let him lead her inside.
A big box store, indeed. It turned out those few pickup trucks outside, and the owners and friends of owners of same waiting within, were there to help them get the furniture they picked out into their new house.
Jake had positioned himself just inside the door, his gaze fixed on the three of them.
“I love watching the expressions on people’s faces when they see this place for the first time.”
“Wow.” It was the only word Alice could think of. She’d been forewarned, but still, the impact of the view was…impactful.
“I know, right?” Jake, huge grin on his face, held a clipboard, a pen, and, under the clip on the board, a pad of sticky notes.
“The others are here to lend a hand. So, you point, tell me where you want it, and I’ll put a sticky note on it. The guys will load up and head on over to your house. Oh…” Jake met her gaze. His expression turned what she’d call a bit sheepish. “I hope you don’t mind, but Mother and Ginny should be there about now, getting ready to supervise the unloading.”
Alice smiled. “I love your mother and your wife. I don’t mind at all.” She’d spent a fair bit of time with both women lately and spoke only the truth. Plus, anything that wasn’t positioned where she wanted, she’d just get her guys to move later.
The next couple of hours passed in a blur. Their first stop, of course, was the bedroom suites. There was a set made of oak, a nice burnished wood that looked and felt warm. She turned her gaze first to Ian and then Ken.
“If that’s the set you want, then that’s the set you get,” Ken said.
Seeing the mattresses arrayed along the wall, each one wrapped in plastic, just made her head spin.
I wonder what Sarah and Amanda would think of this? Actually, she imagined those venerable women would think the selection, and the size, was simply awesome.
There was a dining room in the house, not nearly as large as the one at either the New House or the Big House, but a nice-sized one, nonetheless. And the warehouse had a cherry wood suite that consisted of a cabinet, a serving table, and a dining table with six chairs. A leaf could be set in the table, making it bigger, and there were a couple more chairs to be had, which could be set aside when not in use.
Alice turned to her men. “What do you think of this set?”
“If that’s the set you want, then that’s the set you get,” Ian said.
Alice grinned. “Are the two of you going to let me pick out everything?”
Both men nodded enthusiastically. “Except what goes in the man-cave,” Ken said.
“What he said.” Ian grinned as he pointed at his younger cousin.
“You’ll want to pick your home office furniture, too, won’t you?”
Ken met her gaze. “As long as there are three desks and three chairs for the three of us to work together, we’ll be happy.”
Alice kissed Ken and then Ian and then turned to Jake and rubbed her hands together in glee.
“Lead on, Miss Benedict.” Jake raised his clipboard in salute, and Alice did just that.
By the time she returned to their new house, nearly everything had been moved in and assembled. The master bed had even been made up, and the duvet on the bed was a beautiful rose/teal pattern.
What Alice hadn’t picked out or even imagined was the aroma of chili in the air—thank you, Aunt Samantha—the loaves of fresh bread on the counter—thank you, Aunt Bernice—and the sight of Anna Jessop at their front door about five minutes after everyone had left with two large plastic storage containers in her hands.
“Aunt Anna!”
“Hello, dear. I was so thrilled when I heard that you and those two good-looking Kendalls were moving into this house! Why, we’re only about a block from you. I brought you these.” Anna Jessop held out the two containers, and of course, Alice took them.
“Are these what I think they are?” She’d had a couple of Anna’s cookies the first few days she’d been in Lusty. They were the very best cookies she’d ever eaten.
“The bottom one has my pecan cookies, and the top one has some fresh banana bread.”
“Please, come to the kitchen. I’ve made sweet tea. Or, I could brew a hot pot of orange pekoe.”
“Do you know, I think a nice cup of hot tea would go well right now.”
“Me, too.”
The men were in their man cave, setting up their new very big television and working on the sound system. They were in man cave heaven, and they’d been so sweet all day she was happy to see them occupied and let them be.
So Alice led the way into the kitchen then stopped and turned to face her guest. “Do I have to share these with the guys?”
