my house forever. What a dilemma.”
The rest of the ride home was filled with stories from their childhoods. Their conversation remained light and easy. But their hands held onto each other tightly sending a completely different message. Marisa knew there was something between them. His interest was palpable.
Upon their arrival at the ranch, they put Bethany to bed. It took both of them to get her lifeless, sleepy form into pajamas and under the covers. After they were done, Josh glanced at the clock. “It’s two-thirty in the mornin’. I believe it’s the perfect time for hot chocolate,” he told her with a raise of his eyebrows.
“It sure is,” Marisa answered with delight, pleased that he remembered.
They spent the next hour sipping hot chocolate and continuing their conversation from the car. They sat at the breakfast nook, heads close together, whispering so as not to awaken Constance.
It was four in the morning before they turned in for the night—or what was left of it.
–5–
They didn’t have breakfast the next day till mid-morning. All three of them were dragging from their late night. It didn’t damper their inordinately cheerful moods, however.
“Marisa,” Josh asked, “What would you like on your breakfast burrito?”
There were several selections. Constance had outdone herself.
“Or is that a serious question ?” he asked, using her own words.
“It is a very serious question. Don’t laugh. It has to have the perfect amount of each ingredient or else it just isn’t good.”
“I give, show me.”
Marisa began to layer her burrito with each ingredient and Josh copied her moves exactly, followed by Bethany, who grinned from ear to ear mischievously. When Marisa finished her creation with a generous handful of grated cheese and two heaping dollops of sour cream, Josh balked.
“Seriously?”
“It’s the most important part.” Their burritos were so large, Bethany couldn’t even fit her mouth around it, no matter how hard she tried. Breakfast turned into a raucous affair as they laughed so hard, they could hardly eat, much less take a bite and swallow. In the end, Josh said it was the best burrito he’d ever eaten.
“Are you avoiding our morning debate, Joshua Kensington? Are you using food as a distraction?”
“Absolutely not, Marisa Michaels.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“Okay, here it goes.” He chuckled under his breath. “You’re gonna love this one. Should the toilet seat stay up or down?”
“Are these topics really in the paper or are you making them up?” she accused.
“No lie, they’re in the paper. It’s an ongoing article about humorous debate topics.”
“Humorous being the key word here. That explains everything. I don’t have to ask what side of the debate you’re going to take. It’s a distinctly male/female argument.”
Josh started in right away. “It should just stay up. Why bother closing it? We just have to put it back up again. Why not save ourselves a little effort and make life easy. Leave it up for quick and easy access. This is why men sometimes miss the designated target. They’re too busy lifting the lid instead of aiming properly.”
Instead of coming back with an immediate argument, Marisa couldn’t help but laugh. It was such a silly thing to debate. “Okay,” she said, but then laughed again.
“You’re stalling,” Josh accused. “Feeling a little nervous about losing this one, Michaels?”
“Absolutely not, Kensington. Okay, here’s the deal. While a toilet is a handy and necessary…appliance in our homes, it doesn’t mean we want to look at or see into it every time we enter the bathroom. The seat up says, ‘hey, place pee here.’ The toilet down says, ‘hey, I’m a posh bathroom where people make themselves presentable to the world.’ The seat up screams ‘help me, I haven’t been put away correctly, please close me.’ It gives an unkempt look to a bathroom. It says, ‘the people who live here are
The rest of the ride home was filled with stories from their childhoods. Their conversation remained light and easy. But their hands held onto each other tightly sending a completely different message. Marisa knew there was something between them. His interest was palpable.
Upon their arrival at the ranch, they put Bethany to bed. It took both of them to get her lifeless, sleepy form into pajamas and under the covers. After they were done, Josh glanced at the clock. “It’s two-thirty in the mornin’. I believe it’s the perfect time for hot chocolate,” he told her with a raise of his eyebrows.
“It sure is,” Marisa answered with delight, pleased that he remembered.
They spent the next hour sipping hot chocolate and continuing their conversation from the car. They sat at the breakfast nook, heads close together, whispering so as not to awaken Constance.
It was four in the morning before they turned in for the night—or what was left of it.
–5–
They didn’t have breakfast the next day till mid-morning. All three of them were dragging from their late night. It didn’t damper their inordinately cheerful moods, however.
“Marisa,” Josh asked, “What would you like on your breakfast burrito?”
There were several selections. Constance had outdone herself.
“Or is that a serious question ?” he asked, using her own words.
“It is a very serious question. Don’t laugh. It has to have the perfect amount of each ingredient or else it just isn’t good.”
“I give, show me.”
Marisa began to layer her burrito with each ingredient and Josh copied her moves exactly, followed by Bethany, who grinned from ear to ear mischievously. When Marisa finished her creation with a generous handful of grated cheese and two heaping dollops of sour cream, Josh balked.
“Seriously?”
“It’s the most important part.” Their burritos were so large, Bethany couldn’t even fit her mouth around it, no matter how hard she tried. Breakfast turned into a raucous affair as they laughed so hard, they could hardly eat, much less take a bite and swallow. In the end, Josh said it was the best burrito he’d ever eaten.
“Are you avoiding our morning debate, Joshua Kensington? Are you using food as a distraction?”
“Absolutely not, Marisa Michaels.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“Okay, here it goes.” He chuckled under his breath. “You’re gonna love this one. Should the toilet seat stay up or down?”
“Are these topics really in the paper or are you making them up?” she accused.
“No lie, they’re in the paper. It’s an ongoing article about humorous debate topics.”
“Humorous being the key word here. That explains everything. I don’t have to ask what side of the debate you’re going to take. It’s a distinctly male/female argument.”
Josh started in right away. “It should just stay up. Why bother closing it? We just have to put it back up again. Why not save ourselves a little effort and make life easy. Leave it up for quick and easy access. This is why men sometimes miss the designated target. They’re too busy lifting the lid instead of aiming properly.”
Instead of coming back with an immediate argument, Marisa couldn’t help but laugh. It was such a silly thing to debate. “Okay,” she said, but then laughed again.
“You’re stalling,” Josh accused. “Feeling a little nervous about losing this one, Michaels?”
“Absolutely not, Kensington. Okay, here’s the deal. While a toilet is a handy and necessary…appliance in our homes, it doesn’t mean we want to look at or see into it every time we enter the bathroom. The seat up says, ‘hey, place pee here.’ The toilet down says, ‘hey, I’m a posh bathroom where people make themselves presentable to the world.’ The seat up screams ‘help me, I haven’t been put away correctly, please close me.’ It gives an unkempt look to a bathroom. It says, ‘the people who live here are
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