I stole her away, knowing Luke would take care of everything. Especially now that the manager was on our side. Walking slowly with her out of the department, I wrapped her up and paused. “Do me a favor?”

“I can try.”

“I give you permission to enjoy yourself, Esme. The same way you liked picking things out for your nest. Please, for me, try to stop feeling guilty. Trust us to enforce our own boundaries the same way we respect yours, and vice versa. If there’s something we can’t do or don’t want to do, we’ll tell you.”

She sighed and relaxed into me. “Okay, but on one condition.”

“Name it.”

“I get to pay for dinner for everyone tonight so I can feel like I’m contributing something.”

My instinct was to tell her she was contributing simply by being herself, but she wasn’t ready to hear it. And if this day could be a hundred times better by letting her pay for dinner? “You got it. Now let’s go pick some furniture.”

Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

________

ESME

I was creating a fairytale. The paint for my room and the giant bed with posts which looked like the trees in the wallpaper. Dark furnishings with beautiful carvings, a big cabinet in a peacock green with the same bird on the front. It had so much space, I could keep some of my personal art supplies in it. All my big stuff would stay at my studio.

The thought froze me, and I set it aside, not ready to actually let it surface.

We went into the chairs and couches section, and everyone sat on everything, even Luke when he came back from working whatever magic he had.

“I don’t need a couch in my room,” I said, lounging on a gray velvet one which would look beautiful with the color scheme. “That’s not me being stubborn. I just don’t see why I need a couch when there’s a living room.”

“I don’t know,” Kade said. “We all have couches and chairs in our rooms. It’s convenient.”

They did. I’d forgotten. Running my hands over the one I sat on, I loved it. The arms curled over in swirls in an older style, and the matching chairs were perfect.

An entertainment center which could hide the giant TV they insisted on buying and a plush purple rug later, and I was starting to slow down. It was a lot of decisions, and I didn’t usually make them this quickly.

Twisting Ben’s gift on my wrist, I lifted the beads to my nose. It was like getting a hit of all their scents at once, mixing into an indescribable cocktail that calmed me and energized me all at once.

Kade reached over and pulled me into his chest. “You can have the real thing right here.”