Forking Around by Erin Nicholas

Author:Erin Nicholas [Nicholas, Erin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: EN Fiction, Inc.

Dax followed Jane up the front steps to her dad’s house. It was quaint. That was a good word for it, he decided. It was the kind of house you saw in movies. It was two stories, had big front windows that probably glowed with a soft yellow light at night, warm and welcoming. It also had a big front yard where he would fully expect to see a dad and son playing catch after dinner, a guy pushing a lawn mower over the grass on a Saturday afternoon, and a big old snowman in the winter. It was a family home. He would be sorely disappointed if there weren’t a thousand Christmas lights dangling from the eaves in December, and he almost didn’t want to look at the huge oak tree for fear there would not be a tire swing hanging from a branch.

Jane knocked on the front door and Dax asked, “Did you ever have a lemonade stand out on the curb?”

She glanced over her shoulder and nodded. “Yeah. A couple of times.”

Dax put a hand over his heart and breathed out. “Thank God.”

“What are you talking about?” she asked, looking bemused.

“This house was made for having a lemonade stand out in front of it,” he told her. “How about a dog. Did you have a dog?”

“We did when I was little.”

“Perfect.” He grinned and looked around. “Did you pile leaves up in the fall and jump in them?”

She still looked puzzled. “We did.”

“And you hung a wreath on this door at Christmastime, right?”

The door was perfect for a wreath.

She nodded slowly. “Yes.”

“Awesome.”

“What is going on?”

“This is a picture-perfect family home.” He pointed to the flower beds. “Those are perfect. And…” He took the chance and glanced at the tree. “There’s a damned tire swing.” He grinned. “Perfect.”

Jane looked around too. “It’s pretty… typical.”

“It is. And I love that. I’ve never jumped in a leaf pile or had a lemonade stand,” he said.

She looked up at him. “Huh.”

“It’s kind of tragic, don’t you think?”

“I never really thought about the fact that some kids don’t do those things. But it makes sense. Kids who grow up in apartments in the city wouldn’t, I guess. Those are just things I took for granted.”

He nodded. “Those things just always seemed like the epitome of childhood.”

“Because of movies and TV,” she said.

“A lot of it, yeah.”

“Well, a house that has a pile of leaves or a lemonade stand out front isn’t automatically perfect,” she said. “Remember, that’s just the front. The stuff you can see.”

Dax sobered immediately. He looked down at her, feeling a tightness in his chest that was unexpected. The intensity of it and the timing. This woman had a way of changing his perspective with the snap of her fingers.

He liked that. He needed new perspective. Everyone did. Getting outside the box you were used to, whether you liked the box or not, was important.

“You’re right,” he said.

She gave him a little smile. “But thank you for saying the flower bed is perfect.

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