Moving Day
The shelf liner curled up as soon as Merry let go of it.
"Oh, for God's sake."
She pinned it with her forearm and reached for the scissors. The tallboy had held all of Karsten's clothes. She had cleaned it out after he died, and the drawers had remained empty through the move to Riverside. Occasionally she had put something in one, then taken it out again because she couldn't find it when she needed it.
Now Eddie needed somewhere for his clothes.
She had asked him to move in. He had said yes. That morning, over coffee, he had told her he would bring some things across once he finished at the barn. Which had given her several hours to discover that preparing a dresser involved an unreasonable amount of wrestling with paper. She smoothed the liner into the bottom drawer and glanced at the bed.
Eddie had slept there often enough for her to know how warm he was and how difficult he could make getting up in the morning without doing anything except reaching for her. She smiled. Tonight he wouldn't have to remember to bring a clean shirt. Tomorrow they could get up, have coffee, and start the day together. She liked that thought very much.
There would be adjustments. Her bedroom would become their bedroom, and she was accustomed to having things where she wanted them. Eddie would undoubtedly arrive with possessions she hadn't anticipated and opinions about where they belonged. She pulled out the next drawer.
Karsten had always insisted on keeping his oldest sweaters. She could still remember him holding up one with a hole in the elbow and telling her it was perfectly good for wearing around horses. She had heard herself make the same argument about a jacket only last week. The memory made her smile as she measured another piece of liner.
When the dresser was finished, she went into the walk-in closet and began moving hangers. Her clothes had spread across most of the rails. She gathered shirts together, shifted the jackets, and folded a few things that didn't need hanging. By the time she was done, her hanging clothes occupied half the closet. She stood back to check the space.
Was she ready to share her life with a new man? Hell, yes.
A footstep sounded on the stairs, followed by a soft thump against the wall.
"Everything all right?" she called.
"Aye. Misjudged the corner."
Eddie appeared carrying a box, with a holdall slung over his shoulder. Merry took the bag from him before it caught on the doorframe.
"What's in the box?"
"Clothes."
"It looks like it weighs a ton."
"Quite a few clothes."
She set the holdall on the bed while he lowered the box to the floor. For a moment they looked at each other, both smiling a little.
"Where would you like these?" he asked.
"The tallboy's yours. And that half of the closet."
He looked through the open closet door. "You've been busy."
"I've discovered I own more shirts than I thought."
"Aye, I had much the same revelation."
She opened a drawer for him. He ran his fingertips over the liner.
"Very nice."
"It had better be. It was a struggle."
He glanced at her, amused, then leaned down and kissed her. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
She kept a hand on his arm for a moment before letting him turn back to the box. The first things he unpacked were sweaters. Merry laughed.
"What?"
"Nothing. Put them in the deeper drawer."
He crouched beside the dresser and began filling it. She took his shirts from the holdall and carried them into the closet, where they hung beside hers. When she came back, he was struggling to close a drawer.
"How many have you put in there?"
"They'll fit."
"Eddie."
He looked up at her, then reluctantly removed one sweater.
"Better?" he asked with a crooked grin.
"Much."
She sat on the edge of the bed while he tried again. This time the drawer slid shut.
"There," he said.
"Only three more loads to go?" she asked with a laugh.
"Perhaps four."
Merry laughed again, and he sat beside her. His hand settled over hers on the quilt.
"Having second thoughts?" he asked.
"About the closet space, possibly."
He smiled, but she could feel him waiting for the rest of her answer. She turned her hand beneath his and linked their fingers.
"I'm so glad you're here." she finally said.
***
By the time Eddie came down for breakfast, Fritz had made him eggs. There were rather a lot of them.
"I wasn't sure how many you wanted. I made three, but one broke, so I did another, and then I thought three might not be enough."
Eddie looked at the plate. "Were you expecting me to bring the horses?"
Fritz laughed, then turned toward the counter.
"There's toast. I put yours in, but it hasn't—oh."
The toaster popped.
"Right. Perfect. Do you want butter? Mutti, where's the—never mind."
"The butter is in your hand," Stefi said.
"I found it."
He put it down beside Eddie's plate, went back for the toast, then stopped at the cupboard.
"Coffee? We've got the big mugs. Unless you want a little one. Why would anyone want a little coffee?"
"Fritz," Merry said. "Let him sit down."
"I'm getting him a mug."
"I've got one."
"Oh. Okay. Where are you sitting?"
Eddie pulled out the chair beside Merry. Fritz beamed. They had discussed Eddie moving in well before he brought his things over. Fritz had been delighted then. Actually finding him on the landing that morning, in his socks and on his way downstairs, had apparently exceeded every expectation.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked.
"Aye."
"Because the pipes knock sometimes. That's normal. It sounds like someone's in the wall, but there isn't."
"Reassuring," Eddie said.
"And the bathroom handle—you have to lift it. Did you know that? I can show you."
"He's used the bathroom before," Stefi said.
"I know, but sometimes it works without lifting it, and then you think it always does, and then you're stuck. I got stuck once."
"For about ten seconds," Otto said.
"It felt longer."
Merry handed Eddie his coffee. He thanked her quietly, his fingers brushing hers around the mug. Stefi watched her mother smile. She liked seeing Eddie's jacket beside the back door and his boots beneath it. She liked that Merry had set out his mug without asking whether he was staying for breakfast. Her mother seemed happy, and Stefi was quietly glad of it.
"Eat," Merry told Fritz.
He sat, picked up his fork, and immediately turned to Eddie again.
"Are you going down to the barn after this?"
"Once I've eaten."
"I could come. I've got a question about Scout. Actually, two questions, but one's about the cart, so—"
"Breakfast first," Merry said.
Fritz took a bite. His knee bounced beneath the table. He leaned sideways to see past Eddie toward the back door.
"Is that your other jacket?" He was still chewing.
"Swallow," Merry said. He did.
"Is it?"
"Aye."
"The waterproof one? Because the zip on mine sticks. Carl said you can put something on it, but I can't remember what. Wax, maybe. Do we have wax?"
"Have another bite," Merry said.
Fritz looked down at his plate as though it had just arrived. Across the table, Otto broke a piece off his toast. He had helped carry one of Eddie's boxes upstairs. He knew what they had agreed to. Still, seeing him here without a coat, with no suggestion that he would leave after breakfast, felt different.
Five months wasn't very long.
His mother looked happy. Eddie was listening to Fritz, who had now remembered his first question about Scout and was trying to explain it while Merry pointed at his uneaten toast. Otto liked Eddie. He wished that made him less uneasy. What if things changed now? What if Eddie changed his mind, once this was ordinary life?
"Would you pass the butter?" Eddie asked.
Otto handed it over.
"Thanks."
He nodded.
"Otto, tell him about Mito yesterday," Fritz said suddenly. "When she did that thing by the gate."
"She spooked."
"I know, but you stayed on like she hadn't even moved. I would've—"
"You were nowhere near the gate," Otto said.
"I saw from the other end."
Merry asked Otto what had startled the mare. He answered, and the conversation stayed on Mito for a few minutes. Fritz listened with his fork suspended halfway to his mouth. When Stefi nudged his elbow, he finally ate what was on it. Then he interrupted himself reaching for the jam.
"Oh! Eddie, we could put your number on the kitchen board."
"It's already there," Merry said.
"Under the barn numbers. I mean under us."
Otto looked up. Merry glanced toward the board.
"Yes," she said. "We can move it."
Fritz slid out of his chair.
"After breakfast."
He sat again. "I'm nearly finished."
"You have half a plate of eggs."
"Right."
When Eddie eventually stood, Fritz stood too.
"Are you going now?"
"I'm clearing my plate."
"I'll take it."
He reached for it, then remembered his own plate and tried to pick up both.
"One at a time," Merry said.
"I've got them."
A fork slid toward the edge. Eddie caught it.
"Thanks. I knew that was going to happen."
Stefi laughed. "Then why didn't you stop it?"
Fritz ignored her and carried the plates to the counter. On his way back, he spotted Eddie's boots beneath a fallen coat.
"Found your boots!"
"They weren't missing," Otto said.
"They were covered."
"By your coat."
"Oh."
Fritz picked it up, shook it out, and hung it on the nearest hook.
"You can have this hook. It's free. Unless you want the end one, but the door catches things there."
"This one will do nicely."
"Then we all fit."
Eddie hung his jacket on the hook Fritz had chosen. Fritz stood back, pleased, and immediately began telling him about Scout again. Merry let him get as far as the back door before calling his name. He turned.
"Your breakfast."
His face fell. "I forgot."
"I noticed."
Eddie paused with his hand on the door."You can ask me about Scout when your lessons are finished."
"Both questions?"
"Both."
"And I thought of another."
"That one too."
Fritz grinned and hurried back to the table.Otto reached for his jacket. He still thought five months was too soon. But Eddie had remembered the questions, and he hadn't made Fritz feel foolish for asking them.
On this morning, Otto was glad of that.
(1778 words)