Left to her own devices, Hannah walked inside alone. It was a pleasant home, clean and well maintained. The living room was spacious, and had a brick fireplace and thick beige carpet. The kitchen was more than adequate with a raised counter for stools. The bedrooms were as Riley had explained – one larger than the other.
As she'd agreed, Hannah chose the smaller one for herself, leaving the door open. When Burt appeared carrying her two suitcases, she directed him into the room.
"I thought these were your things?" he said, and from the confused look he wore, he was sure he'd misunderstood her.
"Yes, please. The bedroom set I ordered will be delivered sometime this morning."
Burt looked over his shoulder, as if he fully expected Riley to appear and jerk the suitcases out of his hands and deposit them in the master bedroom.
"You're sure about this?"
"Positive," she answered with a gentle smile.
Riley happened upon them just then. He hesitated when Burt scratched the top of his head, set down Hannah's luggage and walked out of the smaller bedroom.
"Did you have to make such an issue of the fact we're not sleeping together?" he asked between clenched teeth.
"I wasn't making an issue of it," she returned sweetly. "Truly, Riley, I wasn't."
Grumbling, he stalked out of the house.
Riley returned to the van where his friend Steve was standing on the back lifting out the cardboard boxes for the others to haul inside.
"So you and Hannah aren't sharing a bedroom," he teased, taking delight in doing so. "I never thought Riley Murdock would allow any woman to lead him around by the nose."
Riley didn't deign to comment. He'd wanted to tell his three best friends about the marriage. The slight hadn't been intentional. There'd been enough to do in the past week, getting ready for the move, without worrying who knew about his marriage and who didn't. It wasn't as though he were trying to keep it a secret, and he regretted his lack of foresight now.