No Love Allowed(27)

“Yup,” she said simply.

“It’s so . . . cozy.” Nathan looked around and spotted the carousel painting. “Is this the one from the garden party?”

“Just finished it today.” She stood beside her latest masterpiece.

He bent down for a closer look. “You have an eye for detail. The horses are beautifully done.”

Stuffing her hands in her pockets again, she rocked on the balls of her feel. “It’s still wet so be careful not to get paint on you.”

Taking her advice, he moved away from the painting. An almost awkward silence hung between them. Didi waited, but it didn’t seem like Nathan had any intention of going anywhere.

“Why do I get the feeling you’re not here just to bring over the art supplies?” she finally asked.

“Where’s your room?”

“Why do you want to see my room?” A tiny bit of dread fell like a stone in her stomach. The complete seriousness in Nathan’s tone made her nervous.

He crossed his arms and gave her the same assessing glance he had treated her to when they first met. “I guess you can say I’m on an exploratory mission.” He raised a hand. “Now, before you say anything, I’m here as a friend looking out for your best interest. There are many more events before this summer is over, and Caleb and I had a little talk. . . .”

“You want to see if I have things to wear for all of them,” she filled in the blank.

“You’re getting it.” He smiled. “I just want to save you from a repeat of last time. I don’t think Caleb would survive. Will you let me help you, Didi? I promise, I come in peace.” He touched the center of his chest with one hand and raised the other as if he was about to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

All the blood rushed from her face to settle at the pads of her feet. Compared to his twin’s closet, hers might as well be a trash can. “No, thanks. I think I’ll shield you from my closet. There are just some things you can’t unsee.”

Gasping in horror, he asked, “That bad?”

She nodded once.

Nathan closed his eyes for a moment and breathed deeply. When he looked at her again, he lifted his chin. “I think I can handle it.”

Admiring his bravery, she sighed and gestured for him to follow her.

“It really can’t be that bad, can it?”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

She could almost hear him pause when she led the way into the kitchen and saved him from having to ask by saying, “Yes, my bedroom is beside the kitchen.”

“I wasn’t going to say—” The annoyed glance she gave him from over her shoulder cut him off. “All right, so I was going to say something about it.”

Laughing, she pushed the door open and led him inside. From her bedspread to her walls, Didi’s room was a riot of color. And a complete mess. Never expecting company in there, she hardly bothered picking up after herself. More magazines littered the floor, opened to the editorial spreads that she liked best. At least she had made the bed that morning.

Nathan stopped at the threshold. It was obvious from his expression that he had wanted to hold in the gasp that had escaped his mouth but was unable to stop himself in time. Poor guy looked pale for a second before he steeled himself by squaring his shoulders and marched straight for her closet.

“I call it living in ordered chaos,” she teased.

“I like the paint samples on the wall,” he said as he pulled open the doors and assessed the clothing inside.

She dropped to her bed and shrugged, letting him do his thing as he pulled out a white crochet dress she had found at the same flea market the couch came from. “They’re free. Thought I’d make a collage out of them.” And she had. Creating a sort of gradation from light to dark along one side of the wall. It had taken several trips to the hardware store to complete it.

Nathan returned the dress and pulled out another one with a huge picture of a cat on the front. “And where would you wear something like this?”

The shock in his question broke her carefully constructed mask of indifference. She laughed so hard, she almost fell off her bed. She hugged herself and rolled around on the mattress.

“You think this is funny?”

Only the genuine concern behind his annoyance was what made her settle down. “Sorry. Sorry.”

He scowled at her before glancing back and dropping the dress he held with a yelp. “Oh God!” He turned away from her closet completely, his face a scrunched-up mess.

“What?” Didi shot up and grabbed his arms, all humor gone. “You didn’t see a mouse in there, did you?”

“Worse!” He stared into her eyes. “Polyester.”

She dropped her arms to her sides and sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat. This was just ridiculous at this point. “I know you’re only trying to help, but I think it’s pretty clear that I have nothing in there that will pass. I think I have a fifty lying around somewhere. We can go to the thrift store—”

Nathan shook his head, shooting down the idea faster than a sniper. “For the events ahead? A thrift store isn’t going to cut it.”

“Then what?”

“You have to let me shop for you.”

“No.” She backed away. “Absolutely not.”