Build Me Up (NaNoWriMo)

Day 23 (6,083 words)

Ford thought he was pretty clever, putting Annabelle in his room and Kristen in his daughter’s room, thereby making it impossible for him to imagine getting into bed with Kristen once Annabelle was asleep. Instead, he lay wide awake on the couch in the living room, listening for creaking steps on the staircase, fantasizing about Kristen sneaking downstairs to straddle him on the couch.

Kristen clearly had more self-control than he did, because she never came. Eventually, sleep overtook him and the next thing he knew, it was morning.

Ford listened for sounds from upstairs, and when he couldn’t hear anything that suggested anyone else was awake, he went into the kitchen and started breakfast. Blueberry pancakes with maple syrup and some fresh fruit on the side. Since Kristen moved in, he’d found a new appreciation of fruit… and also canned whipped cream, but that was a different story.

The first one drawn to the kitchen was Annabelle. She walked in, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, and plunked down on one of the chairs without as much as a ‘good morning’. Ford put a couple of pancakes on a plate and set it down in front of her.

“Thanks,” she mumbled and grabbed a fork and knife.

Within a few minutes, Ford could hear another set of footsteps approaching, and he grabbed a mug from the cupboard to pour Kristen her morning coffee. She, unlike his daughter, managed a ‘good morning’ and ‘thank you’ before taking a seat at the table, but he knew that came out of sheer willpower to be polite and gracious in front of Annabelle.

Had Annabelle not been there… well, he’d be kissing Kristen good morning and then handing her a coffee without expecting her to speak to him until she’d had at least one drop of the evil potion to restore her balance.

“So… how did everyone sleep?” Ford asked as he served Kristen a stack of pancakes, drizzled with syrup and topped with extra blueberries. He felt like he was playing a part, and in a way, maybe he was. He was making an effort to be friendly but not too friendly.

“Great,” Kristen responded cheerily while Annabelle chewed on, apparently lost in her own world of thoughts. “You?”

“Fine.” Ford replied, a little surliness creeping into his voice. She didn’t have to be so happy about sleeping alone, did she? “I was thinking… if you wouldn’t mind the inconvenience… I could probably put in a heater and a cot in the office trailer at the building site. I’ve stayed there a few times when I’ve worked late on locations out of town.”

“Actually, I did go online to check for hotels in the area last night,” Kristen said, putting her coffee mug down. “There’s a bed and breakfast not too far from here. I made a reservation.”

“Oh.” He really shouldn’t be this disappointed. It was what they both had agreed would be the right thing to do, after all. “Well, if that’s what you feel most comfortable with…”

“It is,” Kristen cut him off, refocusing on her plate.

“Hey,” Annabelle suddenly spoke up and Ford looked over to see she had a confused look on her face. “Aren’t you going to visit your family over the holidays?”

“Um… no, I’m staying in this area,” Kristen said evasively.

“Why?”

“Annabelle, don’t be rude,” Ford admonished.

“I’m not being rude,” she huffed. “I’m just asking a question.”

“Sometimes people don’t want to talk about their personal lives with people they don’t know.”

“Well, how do you get to know ‘people’ if you don’t ask them questions?” Annabelle fired back.

“You’re right,” Kristen cut in. “The best way to get to know someone is to ask them questions. And no, I don’t think you’re rude.”