Chapter 6

She knew before she agreed to live in this house with Luke that she was going to feel out of place. Being here, surrounded by decor that cost more than she would ever make in her lifetime, was totally different level.

Paisley held Garrett tightly to her as movers came in and out of the house, asking her where to put things. Luke had hired them yesterday and they had already packed her whole apartment and were in the process of delivering it.

Luke had asked what to do with a lot of things since it wasn't his home, but most of it was trash. It had hurt her feelings to do it, but she had gotten rid of a lot. It wasn't that she was attached to the stuff; it was just that it would be so out of place here.

"Stop," Luke whispered in her ear as he came up behind her. His hands rubbed her upper arms. "Everything will calm down after they leave and we can start putting things away."

"Most of this is Catherine's though. I think I still brought too much stuff." She bit her bottom lip hard. "Should we have gotten a storage unit instead?" She didn't want her stuff to get mixed up with Catherine's.

He came around to face her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I don't want our things to get mixed up." Not that it wouldn't be obvious from the difference in quality. "Or use her things when I have my own."

"Paisley," Luke started. "I bought this house and everything in it. It all belongs to the three of us."

Her jaw dropped like a cartoon character's. "What?"

"This is all ours. Catherine has been living next door for months and all this stuff was new before she moved in because of the things our father did. She has no attachment to this stuff."

It made sense but wouldn't compute in her brain. She didn't get why he would do that. "Don't you have your own place?"

Luke shrugged. "I had an apartment. I'm selling it. You've been there."

She had. It was nice, a great view in a building downtown.

"That apartment was not a place for Garrett. I wouldn't do that. There's a yard here and while the building would give good security, it wasn't kid friendly. That's why I never asked you to move there with him when I found out. Too much partying in that building."

That only served to remind her how much Luke was giving up to have her around. She wondered when he would regret it.

"Tomorrow, we can get things set up for a nursery for Garrett." Luke grinned at her.

There were four bedrooms upstairs. One was mostly empty, aside from a big chair in the corner and a lamp. That was going to be Garrett's room. There had been no discussion about where they would be sleeping.

"Okay." She reminded herself that this was all for Garrett.

The reality was that as much as she'd enjoyed having Luke in her bed again the last few nights, she knew it wasn't going to last. It was a nice break, but now it was settling back in and she needed to put distance back between them before she did something stupid, like fall for him again.

"Come on." Luke took her hand and pulled her up the stairs. "I was busy while you were directing the movers. I know it's not a crib, but I got a few things set up this morning."

He opened the door they had decided would be Garrett's room and she was stunned. This man was full of good surprises lately, and she was having trouble handling it.

"We can paint at some point, obviously, but I think it's a good start." Luke walked all the way in the room.

There were toys opened and neatly set on shelves. A dresser with a changing table was on the wall with a lot of diaper supplies already on it. She was at a complete loss for words when she noticed the toy mat on the floor and toys already spread around it.

"When did you do this?" she managed.

Luke blushed. "I've been busy while you were packing and directing."

She reminded herself that this was why she was here. This was better than anything she'd be able to give Garrett on her own.

Luke reached out to take Garrett from her. "Take a look around and let me know if I got anything I shouldn't have. I kinda went overboard."

Paisley let him take Garrett into his own arms as she marveled at everything. He had definitely bought every age-appropriate toy that was available.

"There are some clothes in the closet already, but I can't take credit for that. I think Catherine went on a spree last night after she found out about us being related." Luke carefully laid Garrett down on the mat to play. "I did too much, didn't I?" He sounded nervous.

It took her a moment to form words. "No. This is, well, it's amazing. I just don't know how to handle all of this. My life, his life changed almost overnight, and I think I'm still struggling to cope with it."

Luke nodded. "It's a lot for you. I can understand that, but if I do too much, you have to tell me."

"Right now, everything is too much." She looked up at him as he stepped closer. "This is so much more than I ever thought that Garrett and I would have and I hadn't dreamed of this. It's a little scary, like I'm waiting for the bottom to fall out."

He pressed a kiss to her lips gently, testing her limits, and pulled back. "No matter what happens, this is yours and Garrett's. I don't want you to think that anything will be taken from you. In a few days, we can get a lawyer to draw up some papers that say you can live here forever and how much child support would start if we don't work at so you know you'll always be taken care of."

She sighed, worried she'd hurt his feelings. "It's not you, Luke. It's just a lot to process and I've been just making things work and now"—she gestured to the whole room—"all of this."

"I want you to know that I will always make sure you're taken care of. I'm sorry for letting my father come between us before. Not for letting him talk me into seeing you because if not for that, I wouldn't have Garrett and a second chance with us."

She heard his words as tears pooled in her eyes. It was everything she'd always wanted to hear from him. It wasn't like he'd made any promises before she got pregnant that he wouldn't leave. In fact, he'd told her often that he just wanted casual.

None of her pregnancy being alone was on him. No, she took the blame for that because she could have tried harder to tell him. She'd fallen too hard and fast for him and had let her emotions control her instead the common sense of taking care of their son.

"Do you want me to give you some space?" Luke asked, backing away. "I didn't mean to make you cry."

She let out a watery laugh through the tears she was spilling in earnest now. "Happy tears, Luke."

"Happy tears?" He sounded unsure.

Paisley threw her arms around Luke's neck and hugged him tightly. "Happy tears."

He snorted but hugged her back. "If you say so."

Despite all the thoughts still rattling around in her head and the knot trying to form in her stomach, she held him. This was as stable as she could ask for, and the fact that Luke was giving it to her was making her rethink everything. Did she want to work toward a relationship with Luke? Her heart screamed yes while that logical brain of hers said it was a big risk.

Garrett made noises from his mat and they stepped apart.

"I'll take him. You've been holding him all morning." Luke bent down and picked him up, baby-talking to him as he did. "Tell Mama that we've got this."

Paisley smiled. "Let's go unpack."

Luke followed behind her. The movers carried in the last of the boxes just as they made it downstairs and he went to talk to them.

While he did that, Paisley tried to reconcile these things in the house as not being precious, instead that it was just a house. If she separated the cost from the place, it would be easier to live her life around these things that were overwhelming her.

"Next week, we can shop for decorations that match us instead of all Catherine's stuff. I don't even think this is her. I'll have to ask if she used a decorator."

She shook her head firmly. "No. This is fine." Spending more money was not on her priority list. It didn't matter how much he had. She knew the value of a simple dollar and spending as much as he had in twenty-four hours was another thing she didn't want to think about.

He looked like he wanted to argue and then thought better of it. "Catherine and Ryker invited us over for dinner tonight so we don't have to cook. I told them I'd let them know, wanted to check with you first."

Deciding to begin as she meant to go on, she nodded. "Not cooking sounds great."

He smiled back at her. "We can pop over whenever she said." Luke used his elbow to motion toward his phone on the counter. "Can you message her and let her know we're in? I should probably make sure you have their numbers since they're our neighbors, too."

She handed him his phone to unlock but he told her the code instead.

"I don't have anything to hide, Paisley. It's a freeing thought to know that everything is out in the open. You can use my phone whenever you want."

That was an odd thought. She didn't have anything to hide either, but she hadn't thought to give him her phone code. As she texted Catherine, she wondered if that was something she should do. Was that what couples did now? She had no idea.

"She said to come on over," Paisley read aloud to him.

Luke looked around and shrugged. "I didn't really feel like unpacking." He laughed.

"Let me get his stuff." Paisley started making a list of everything they'd need. She hadn't taken Garrett anywhere aside from when she was in the hospital, and little thought went into that.

Luke outright laughed this time. "You don't know Catherine. I guarantee you she has almost everything this little man could want. Just grab the diaper bag."