“I always stay out of trouble,” I mumbled as Uriel hauled me into a hug.
“Sure you do.” He framed my face and kissed my forehead. “If you need me—”
“I know. I’ll call.”
His eyes twinkled. “Good.”
“Bye, Uriel.”
“Bye, Riley.”
His skin glowed, and from one blink to the next, he was gone.
Chapter Two
Walking over the threshold, I was assaulted with the scents of recently dried paint, glue, and dust. Jai took my hand and led me into their apartment, an apartment that looked very different from the one I’d left behind.
To make room for the door connecting the apartments, they’d destroyed the breakfast bar. The only separation between the kitchen and the living space was a metal threshold strip where the laminate ended and the carpet began and a load-bearing pillar in the corner of the kitchen. The carpet itself was new. It was a similar light color, but the aged bloodstain where Jai had almost bled out over Christmas was gone. The walls had been repainted a pleasant light blue.
The L-shaped couch and coffee table were gone. A small loveseat sat in the middle of the living space, facing the TV. Two black beanbags flanked it. Behind the loveseat was a small, round dining table with four chairs. It was cramped with the extra furniture but homey. The lack of a breakfast bar helped open the room to give the illusion of space.
“Wow.” I stopped to take it all in. “It’s so different.”
“You like it?” Noel asked, leaning against the back of the loveseat.
I nodded. “I didn’t expect… It’s nice.”
“Well, your apartment’s better.” Jai jerked his chin toward the door. “Go take a look.”
Nearly shaking with nerves, I fished my keyring out of my pocket and fit the key into the slot. I turned it, and the lock disengaged. With Gideon’s body heat warming my back, I pushed the door open and walked into my apartment.
The carpet matched theirs, a light gray, but the walls weren’t blue. They were a warm shade of yellow. A huge bed stood across the room from me against the far wall, covered with a gray bedspread with yellow accents. A chest of drawers was beside it next to the back wall made of windows.
A sheer yellow curtain was drawn across the windows and glass patio door for privacy, but it didn’t impede the natural light. Standing in the center of the studio apartment, I spun in a circle.
Opposite the bed stood a sturdy wooden desk and a yellow desk chair. The perfect spot for me to do my homework. Above the desk, they’d nailed twine to the wall in a zigzag pattern. Hanging from the twine by mini clothespins were pictures.
Selfies we’d taken. A picture of Noel cheesing at the camera, brandishing a Sharpie as he crouched beside a sleeping Jai, a Sharpie mustache drawn on his face. The photo of all four of us in front of our horribly ugly Christmas tree and one we’d taken the night of my surprise birthday party.
There were a few pictures I’d never seen before. Me lying on my belly in Uriel’s living room, coloring with Delilah or playing checkers with Obie. Me sparring with Uriel in the training room. Even a few pictures of me with Danny, Bethany, and Sharon. It was a collage of my life over the past year, the perfect smorgasbord documenting my time since I’d truly started to live.
Tears pricked my eyes. “It’s wonderful,” I said.
“It was Noel’s idea,” Jai said with a squeeze to my shoulder.
I turned to Noel, who leaned against the still-open door. “I love it. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He smiled softly.
With a grunt, Gideon laid my suitcase on my bed to join the backpack Jai had already deposited at the foot. I looked past him to the corner kitchenette and laughed. True to his word, Gideon had remodeled the little area.
A two-burner stovetop sat on one side of the L-shaped counter, and the sink took up the other side. The small fridge stood at the end, near the hallway leading to the bathroom. It was tiny, but for me, it was perfect. It was just enough space for me to store quick breakfast foods I could grab before class or snacks should I get hungry in the evenings.
The last piece of furniture was a short bookcase that spanned the wall between my bed and the other end of the kitchen cabinets. I now understood why Noel had asked Uriel for my books two days ago. My Harry Potter series lined the top shelf. My well-worn Robinson Crusoe book sat on the top of the case, level with the bedside table.
It was modest and small, but I’d never stood in a more perfect room.
After we investigated the tiny bathroom, Noel dragged me through the patio door and into the backyard. They’d already torn down the fence separating my yard from theirs, but they hadn’t begun landscaping yet.
“I thought you wanted a bigger garden?” I asked Gideon as he and Jai joined us outside.
Scratching his chest, he cleared his throat and avoided my gaze. “Well, yes, I did. I do. I mean, I’m planning to expand.” He tugged on his ear. “I thought, perhaps, if you’d like, we could do it together. A project for the two of us… you and me. Together,” he finished with a wince.
I approached my flustered angel slowly, biting back a smile. “I can help?”
“It’s your yard, too.” He shrugged, adopting his stoic mask as he slipped his hands into his pockets. “We don’t have to plant anything if you don’t want to. It’s your space, so—”
“I’d like to help plant the garden,” I said softly, tracing a finger down Gideon’s toned forearm.
His Adam’s apple jumped. “Good. That’s… good.”
My heart was so full I feared I’d explode. Instead, I swallowed the swell of emotion clogging my throat and faced my angels. “This is the most amazing thing anyone’s ever done for me. Thank you.”
“We can always redecorate if you don’t like something,” Noel said in a rush. “We just didn’t want you to feel stressed about furnishing the apartment since you’re starting classes soon. So, if you want to change anything—”
“I think it’s perfect.” I hugged him tightly. “I love everything about it.”
“Oh, good.” He slumped against me. “I’m glad.”
After I gave Jai and Gideon another a hug, Gideon took my hand and led me back into my apartment. The air conditioning was a godsend, and I made sure to shut the patio door swiftly to preserve the cold.
“How did you even get permission to do all this?” I grazed my hand over the back of my desk chair. “Isn’t it hard to renovate apartments?”
“The building’s owned by the Council, Riles,” Jai said as Noel opened my suitcase and started transferring my clothes to the dresser.
“All we had to do was apply for the apartment and pay for the renovations ourselves,” Noel finished.
My lips puckered. “Oh. I can pay you back. I mean, not now. I didn’t make a lot over the summer, but eventually—”
“That’s not necessary.” Gideon patted my head, then tugged my laptop out of my bag and placed it on the desk. “We didn’t do this with any preconceived notions of you repaying us. We did it because you needed a place to stay, and we wanted you close to us. We did it because you’re family, and family takes care of each other.”