I shrugged.“They’re good. I’m going to unpack. I’ll text you later.”
“Okay, tell Rylee Bear I miss her too and don’t forget about me now that she’s in the upper echelon.”
“She doesn’t even know what the upper echelon is.”
“Well then just tell her I love her.”
“I will.”
I crossed the room to end the call, slipped out of my loafers, and went for my first suitcase, laying it out on the floor and sitting back on my heels to unzip it.
Home for now…
Let’s see how this goes.
It tookme an hour to situate my things in the room, putting clothes in the drawers and closet. I unloaded my toiletries in thebathroom along with my hair supplies, feeling more settled. I brought books, my laptop, and a few other things from home to make the space feel more familiar. Once I was done putting my things away, I ventured to Rylee’s room where I found her sitting next to Ryland. Each of them had a tablet in hand and were using styluses to color.
Rylee had a huge smile on her face as her brother signed to her about how his picture was better than hers and she disagreed, stating he didn’t use the right colors. Neither of them noticed me at first. When my presence was acknowledged, I signed to Ryland that I was here to put her things away. He signed that he could do it but I let him know I didn’t mind.
She seemed happy and comfortable engaging with Ryland and that was the point of her being here. Building a bond so the transition would be that much easier. I didn’t want to interrupt, so I unzipped the first suitcase and began unpacking her things.
Occasionally, as I was putting them away, I would wave to Rylee and let her know where I was storing specific items. Pajamas and underclothes in the top left drawers and T-shirts and leggings in the top right. Socks, gloves, and hats went in the bottom drawers because we had a few more months before spring.
Coats, jeans, and dresses all went into the closet on hangers, and lastly, I lined her shoes on the racks built into the closet. Someone spent a lot of money building out the features in the closet and I would kill to have this type of access. It also made me realize how little Rylee had. Considering most of what she owned was purchased by me or Miranda, it made me sad that she’d been so uncared for.
Things didn’t express that a person cared per se, but for a little girl to not have certain luxuries was horrible. When I purchased a handful of dresses to wear to church when we attended with my mother and she got to wear the first one, Ryleehad remained in the purple ruffled dress the entire day. She refused to change out of it or the Mary Janes I paired it with because she loved them so much. She simply kept signing that she looked pretty.
By the time I was done unpacking, it was after six and Ryland signed that we needed to decide on dinner. At this point, I told him I wasn’t picky, so he asked Rylee.
I knew the answer before she handed it over.
“Pizza,”she signed with a huge grin.
“Pepperoni with pineapple?”I questioned.
She nodded and signed back.“A lot of pineapples.”
Ryland frowned so I explained.“Her favorite. I don’t understand why but she loves it.”
“I won’t be eating that. Meat lovers all the way for me,”he signed, twisting his expression which made me laugh.
“We’re going to order pizza. Would you like to come or stay here and play?”
I asked since she had moved on from coloring to dragging stuffed animals and dolls to the table to have a tea party.
“Can I stay here?”
“Yes. I’ll come get you when the pizza is here. Don’t have too much fun without me.” I tapped her nose and she grinned.“I won’t.”
“We can talk while we wait for the pizza,”I signed to Ryland.
“Why do I feel like I’m in trouble?”He arched a brow my way as we left her room. We moved through the house and made our way to the kitchen. He removed his phone, tapping the screen and swiping a few times before handing it over.
“Order whatever you want and add a large meat lovers with a side of garlic knots. If you’re eating that, get two. I can eat one by myself.”
I placed the phone on the counter to free my hands.“You’re a professional athlete. I thought your body was your temple. Are you supposed to eat like that?”
“No, but the season’s over, which I’m sure you haven’t forgotten since we lost to your Tigers.”