Chapter 23: The Room With the Window Seat

Leigh's POV

Jamie carried his own box up the stairs of the brick house on Monday, and he refused every offer of help.

It held his markers, his good pillow and the two picnic blankets.

The letter from the fence was still sealed in my bag, and I had decided it could wait until Jamie was settled.

Ellis stood at the bottom of the stairs with his hands at his sides, being very careful not to reach for it.

"The second door on the left," he said.

"It's the one with the window seat."

"I know," Jamie said.

"I picked it off the list."

He set the box down on the bare floor and looked around the room.

Ellis had painted it grey-blue on Saturday, and the closet had a new light inside it, with a switch low enough for a nine-year-old.

Jamie stood in front of the closet for a long moment.

"Who told you about this?" he asked.

"Nobody told me anything," Ellis said.

"I looked at what you kept in your backpack. I figured the rest."

Jamie turned the light on and off once, to test it.

"Okay," he said.

"You can stay."

"I was hoping for a promotion," Ellis said.

"From what?"

"Visitor."

Jamie thought it over very seriously.

"You're not my dad," he said.

"No," Ellis said. "I'm not."

"Dad's Dad. You're Ellis."

"I'd like to be Ellis," Ellis said.

"Ellis can make the fried chicken on Thursday."

"Dad's chicken is getting better," Jamie said loyally.

"Then Ellis will make the other side dish."

"Deal." Jamie held out his hand, and they shook on it.

I stood in the doorway with my arms around myself and did not say anything at all.

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