Kristen took her time slicing up the pizza in the kitchen and putting it on a proper plate instead of just bringing the whole box out to the living room like Ford and Annabelle had. Like she would have if she’d been relaxed enough. She toyed with the idea of just having her food in the kitchen and let the Hamm’s enjoy their dinner in peace. Obviously, her procrastination didn’t go unnoticed, as she suddenly felt Ford’s hands on her hips.
“Hey. You okay?” he asked in a low voice.
Kristen took a step to the side, avoiding any and all physical contact. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“For one thing, you’re slicing an already sliced pizza…”
“Oh. Well, I wanted a smaller slice,” Kristen shrugged.
“I know tonight didn’t turn out the way we thought it would…”
“Your daughter’s here. That’s awesome. You look happy,” she added with a wistful smile.
“Annabelle said the same thing… she thinks something’s wrong because I’m not being my usual grumpy self.”
“Well, I’m sure she’ll get used to the new you in no time,” Kristen smiled, refusing to attempt to analyze why he might seem less grumpy. “I’m going to Google hotels in the area tonight. I should be out of your hair by this time tomorrow.”
“You’re leaving?” Annabelle suddenly appeared in the doorway and Kristen quickly went over what she might have overhead. Nothing too bad, thank goodness.
“Uh… well, I don’t want to intrude on your space…” Kristen started, but the teenager cut her off.
“Don’t leave because of me. I can sleep on the couch. I mean, you’re paying rent, you should have the bed.”
“Annabelle,” Ford turned to his daughter, “this is your home.”
“No, it’s not. I just visit sometimes. I’m fine with the couch. Really.”
“Thank you for that truly generous offer, but your dad is right,” Kristen said quickly, noticing how Ford was gearing up for a confrontation. “This is your home, and if anyone’s sleeping on the couch, it’s me.”
“Okay, I sense this is going to be a never-ending discussion, Ford broke in, “so how ‘bout I sleep on the couch tonight and Annabelle can stay in my room. Then tomorrow we’ll see about a different solution.”
YOU ARE READING
Build Me Up (NaNoWriMo)
RomanceKristen Barnes has become successful as an architect catering to the rich. Hired to design yet another millionaire's dream home in a small but wealthy town in Massachusetts, she runs into trouble. Trouble in the man-shape of a construction company o...
