Chapter 6
The weekend arrived quickly as busy as the Lit Center kept Trish. She had a ton of work to do, but she put it aside, so she could organize the upcoming move. She’d already told her parents and the kids that she’d signed a lease on a house. She got mixed responses, but the excitement came in first. The kids viewed it as a new adventure.
Trish had very little to pack other than clothes, toys, and books. There were a few personal items, but it could all be carted over in just a few trips, more than likely. She’d arranged with Eva and Callie to stop by on Saturday to see the furniture they wanted to get rid of. She decided to take a bedroom set, a dinette set, and a desk set from the girls and a living room set from Jake. Everything looked in good shape, and although she might not have chosen the exact pieces herself, everything pleased her, none the less. Settling on a price for everything proved to be the greatest challenge. She’d gone on line and priced similar pieces and averaged the prices she’d found, but without exception, every one of her argued that the prices she offered sounded too high.
It was a scene out of a comedy as the buyer argued and bargained to pay more money, and the sellers insisted that the buyer pay less. Crazy! At one point, Trish just threw up her hands and started laughing. The men left it all to the women except for the moving and lifting. They finally reached an agreement, and by the end of the day, her new home had some furniture in it. She still had personal item to move, but not much. She’d do that tomorrow. She spent the rest of the day with the girls shopping for the other household items she needed which included pretty much everything.
They went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and bought dishes, pots, and pans, flatware, glasses, towels, bed sets for both the kids, although she still needed to buy another bedroom set. Actually, she needed to buy two more sets, but she figured she could either double up with Lexie or sleep on the couch for awhile. She bought a shower curtain and rugs for the bathrooms and the kitchen. Then, she went on to kitchen appliances and bought a toaster, a coffee maker, a wall clock as well as an alarm clock, kitchen utensils and knives, and a microwave oven.
Exhausted, but excited, the girls all called their men – although Trish insisted that her relationship with Jake differed from their relationships – and they all decided to go out to dinner together.
The girls all went home to shower and get ready, although, all three men insisted they already looked ready, not to mention gorgeous. All three women just shook their heads and laughed as they headed for their prospective homes. The temperatures had dropped in the evenings, so Trish wore a light sweater with jeans. Eva, Josh, Callie, and Cade arrived in one vehicle at Trish’s parents’ house, and Jake and Trish went in their own car. After much debate, they decided on Chinese and were seated at a round booth.
“So, when are you moving into your new place, Trish?” Eva asked.
“I think I’m going to move the clothes and other things at my parents’ house over tomorrow. Plus all the stuff we bought today. I might just spend the night there tomorrow night.”
“Neat! Can I help? Moving out is such a drag, but moving in is fun. You get to decide where to put everything, and you know where everything is for awhile.” Callie rubbed her hands together in anticipation.
Trish smiled and shook her head. “True, but no matter how organized I set it up, it’s not likely to last long, Callie, with my two little munchkins around. I am excited, though.”
“Speaking of the kids, when do they get back?” Eva looked over the top of her menu.
“Next week, on Wednesday.”
“I bet you’re excited to see them.” Eva smiled widely at her friend again.
“I sure am. We’ve never been apart this long. In fact, we’ve never been separated overnight. We talk on the phone a lot, but I can’t wait to get my hands on them. They’re really excited to see the house. I want to be all moved in by the time they got here.”
Jake put his arm around her. “Where’s everyone going to sleep? You only have one bedroom set. You think you can find another two sets before Wednesday?”
“Even if I could, I’m broke after buying all that stuff today. We can all either share the bed – it’s a queen size, so we’d all fit – or I’ll sleep on the couch until I can buy more furniture. No big deal.”
Jake frowned. “I’ll be happy to help you out with that, sweetheart. Before you say anything, you can pay me back every last dime if you want to. I don’t want you to have to sleep on the couch or with the kids. You won’t get enough rest.”
Trish tried to reign in her temper and barely succeeded. “I appreciate the offer, Jake, but we’ll be fine.”
You could’ve cut the tension that settled around the table with a knife.
“Alright, Trish.” Jake went back to looking at his menu along with everyone else who suddenly found the listed food extremely interesting.
In an effort to smooth things over a bit, Callie broke into the conversation. “Ladies, it’s about time for our monthly business meeting. When’s a good time for y’all?”
“Let’s try to meet before the kids get back, so I won’t have to worry about a sitter, you want to?”
The awkward moment passed, but Jake acted more subdued the rest of the evening and elected not to spend the night. He kissed Trish goodnight when he took her home after dinner and left.
A Matter of Trust Page 11
