Page 22 of Ava
“Thanks, and if it helps.” He grinned at her. “Here.” He handed her something that was at least six inches thick and eight inches long, by about an inch and a half wide.
Morgan hesitated as she took it. “What’s this?”
“Color swatches.” Ava laughed as she took it from him. She immediately opened it to the greens and held up several of them. “I’m partial to greens.” She grinned at Morgan, and the two of them came up with not only the color for the kitchen walls, but also picked out the back splash from the samples Chuck had.
“I’ll let you know about the rest,” Morgan reassured him, and they continued taking the tour with Justin. When they came to a rather large room with shelves along three of the walls, Morgan grinned.
“Office?”
“Yes, as you can see, you don’t need much paint or accessories in this room, just curtains. I figured there’s enough room in here for six desks, so Ava and the others could work from here, and not overcrowd your office.” He paused and studied his sister.
“What?”
“If you agree, once this is done, I’d like to overhaul your office and give you more space.”
“I agree.” She didn’t hesitate to answer. “Did Alan do these shelves?”
“He did.”
“They’re beautiful.” Both women sighed as they ran a hand over them, and Justin felt his heart race, wishing Ava would do that to him. Shaking his head, he backed out, and went to another room.
“What’s this?” Ava asked, because it was the same as the other room.
“Either a library, or another office. You know, save on crowding, and have three or four desks per room. Again, very little paint.”
Ava looked through the swatches, then placed one against the shelving units. When she looked at Morgan, and saw her wrinkled nose, she did another one. They settled on a pale shade of gray for both offices.
“That’s pretty much it for this floor...” Justin said, then stopped at the end of the hall and opened a door. “...except for this bathroom. As you can see, it’s complete, not a half bath.”
The women went in and nodded at the fixtures, and Morgan took the paint swatches and came up with an even paler gray, with accents of blue. They were even able to find a sample of tile that matched. Justin wrote their choices down, and left the room. In the hall he pointed to the walls.
“What?” Both women frowned at him.
“What color for the walls?”
“Cream,” they both said, and fumbled with the choices, and Justin smiled as he wrote that paint number down.
“Wait,” Ava said as she reached out and grabbed his forearm, to stop him from going away. She immediately dropped her hand when it tingled, and shot sparks up her arm.
“What?” Justin shook his hand and frowned at her.
“Is there a pantry, for the kitchen?”
“Oh, yes.” They went back to the kitchen, and the room Ava assumed was the broom closet, Justin opened the door and the two stepped in and stared in awe at the sheer size of it.
“I’m not saying that you’d fill it, but at least you’d have room. I don’t know what each women would like, but in case some have allergies, and others don’t, then there are separate sections and shelves.”
“Ah,” Ava nodded. “Good thinking.” Without being prompted, she looked at Morgan. “White?”
“Yeah.” As Justin wrote that down, they went back out, and Morgan, still holding the swatches looked toward the front door, and held several up. “I personally don’t like it when it’s open like this and the rooms are divided in different colors. What about a pale blue for the dining room and living room?”
Ava held up the swatch, and looked at it, and the rooms. “I like it.”
“Pale blue,” Morgan told Justin. As they headed up the stairs, Justin waited for them to stop at the top.
“Up here, there are four bedrooms, and four bathrooms on each side. Each bedroom has their own bathroom. I figured, this way, the women could have their own privacy while they are up here. The rooms all have one walk in closet, and there is room for a king-sized bed, a dresser, two night stands, and a small desk and chair, and a chair in the corner for reading or whatever. And each bathroom has a walk-in shower, a double vanity, free-standing tub, and toilet.” He moved his arm to indicate they should take a look. At one point, they encountered Morgan’s brothers working, and told them not to stop on their account. They didn’t. It took over an hour to come up with the color schemes and the tiles for the bathroom, and Ava was happy with the choices they had made.
At one point she turned to Morgan, to ask, “Can I pick out my room now?”
