Fair Trade (Sequel to "Read Between The Lines")

Chapter 3: Promises, Promises

Nick charged around the corner onto the street where he lived and slackened his pace as he reached the corner. He walked up the concrete steps toward the house, pausing on the wooden ones to stretch on his way to the door.

A three-mile run before breakfast was nearly a bygone luxury, but it felt good. Running for its own sake, not because a perpetrator had escaped his grasp, or someone was being attacked. The ease of stress made this break really feel like a respite.

A sudden thrill of birdsong caused him to turn. A small bird with a forked tail landed on the mailbox on the fence not two yards from where he stood. Nick identified the species as a swift. He vaguely remembered reading somewhere that the appearance of a swift heralded the coming of good news, but he immediately dismissed the thought. The superstition of the Eisbiebers was rubbing off on him!

Nick let his weight rest against the door as he performed a series of arm and leg stretches. Near the end, Nick had one arm resting against the door, his other arm crossed against it, and one knee against the doorknob. Suddenly, his support gave way and he stumbled awkwardly into Juliette, who had just opened the door.

"Whoa!" they both cried at the same time.
Nick landed on his hands and knees, and Juliette clasped his hand to help him up.

"I heard banging on the door and thought you were trying to come in," she explained, slightly embarrassed.

Nick chuckled, "I'll be all right."

The two of them walked into the kitchen. Nick grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with cold water from the fridge.

"How was the run?" Juliette asked as she poured out fresh breakfast smoothies for the two of them.

"Good," Nick sighed as his body relaxed. "I saw someone at the park."

Juliette looked up, instantly suspicious. "Someone—like, a notorious someone? Dangerous?"

"No," Nick shook his head. "Nothing like that. It was—" Nick stopped and frowned all of a sudden. "Let's see, um, her name was—"

"Her name?" Juliette's voice held a note of jealousy.

"It's not like that, I swear!" Nick cried. "You know who she is!"

Juliette shook her head, "No I don't."

Nick blinked. He recalled now that whatever events connected him with this person he now could not remember happened without Juliette's knowledge. "No," he agreed, "I guess you wouldn't."

He took a gulp of the smoothies and grimaced. He set the cup on the counter and regarded it distastefully. "What did you put in there?"

Juliette bit her lip. "Too much ginger?" she asked, sampling hers. One small sip, and she began spluttering as well. "Ugh! Yeah... Too much ginger." She poured the mixture back in the blender. "I'll try adding more fruit," she said as Nick poured his smoothie back as well.

"I'll be upstairs on my computer," he announced.
"I've got dibs on the one down here," Juliette replied with a nod.

Nick ran upstairs and logged onto his computer. He entered "destination honeymoon fair price" into the search engine and fell to clicking through endless options. It always seemed that whenever he found a promising option, the fine print contained extra fees, or limited options for the quoted "fair price." The other destinations were far too expensive. He knew he didn't want to be skimpy on their honeymoon, but there was a line between skimping and splurging, and Juliette would know if he crossed it. He wanted it to be special and relaxing for both of them.

They convened for lunch in the kitchen. Nick could tell by Juliette's face that she wasn't having much more success with wedding details than he was with the honeymoon.