pulled her head out of a closet as she looked up at him with horror. “Absolutely not!”
James chuckled at her vehemence but had to agree. He also enjoyed watching her look around his house. It felt nice to have her here. Besides, she had a very cute bottom that stuck out in his direction every time she looked into a closet or behind one of the doors, giving him an excellent view of her very enticing anatomy. “Actually, I never really argued with my parents either. They wouldn’t tolerate it. The few times I did, I regretted it pretty soon afterwards.”
She stopped with her hand on the door and looked up at him again. “What happened?”
He leaned against the wall, looking down at her while his mind remembered one issue in particular. “I wanted to use some old wood my dad had stored in the garage to build a fort in one of the trees.”
“That doesn’t sound like an argument to me.”
James chuckled. “My dad told me that the wood was too old and rotted and that I couldn’t use it. He said if I wanted to build a fort that I needed to save up my money from mowing lawns and purchase it at the hardware store.”
She smiled, thinking about the man before her as a young child. “I bet you argued quite forcefully for the right to use that wood, didn’t you?”
He laughed. “If I remember correctly, I was too busy doing chores for that one infraction for several weeks. My mother and father were creative about their punishments so I was crawling around the attic and cleaning out spiders, emptying the entire shed and putting everything back in a more organized way, mowing our lawn, edging the fence line and it was a big yard with a long fence, mind you…”
Julianna was already laughing even while she shuddered at the thought of cleaning out spiders in an attic. “Oh my,” she gasped as he continued to list the chores he’d been required to do. “What happened in the end?”
James hesitated for only a moment before continuing the story. “I finished all my parents’ required chores, my brothers and siblings laughing at me the whole time. Then I snuck all the wood out of the garage, built my fort and stood proudly at the bottom with my friends when it was finally finished.”
She smiled up at him with pride for his tenacity. “And it was a fabulous fort, the envy of the neighborhood and everyone begged you to get up into it, right?”
James grinned as he shook his head. “Nice thought, but not exactly what happened.”
“So tell me,” she encouraged, leaning against the wall herself, feeling as if they were enclosed in a happy bubble where the tension between them was at a fizzle level instead of boiling over as it normally does.
“Since I’d designed it and stolen all the materials, including my dad’s tools, I claimed the right to climb up first. I proudly stood at the top and shouted down for everyone else to climb up. Unfortunately, just as the first guy put his foot on the bottom step of the wooden ladder, the wood I’d used for the main platform, which my father had told me was rotted too badly to use, broke with my weight and I came crashing down to the ground, hitting several of the branches along the way as well as a good portion of the rough bark as I fell and hit the ground with a painful thud.”
That wasn’t funny! “Oh, James!” she stood up straighter, her eyes wide with fear and horror. “But you were okay, right?”
He laughed and shook his head. “Absolutely not. It turns out that I’d broken my leg in three places and scraped about half my skin off the left side of my other leg. To make matters worse, I was too scared to tell my parents what had happened so I convinced my friends to just get me home. They put me on one of the lawn chairs in the back yard, then left as fast as they could, not wanting to be around when my parents found me like that.”
Despite herself, she had to laugh at his story. It was either laugh or cry so she chose the first. “And when your
James chuckled at her vehemence but had to agree. He also enjoyed watching her look around his house. It felt nice to have her here. Besides, she had a very cute bottom that stuck out in his direction every time she looked into a closet or behind one of the doors, giving him an excellent view of her very enticing anatomy. “Actually, I never really argued with my parents either. They wouldn’t tolerate it. The few times I did, I regretted it pretty soon afterwards.”
She stopped with her hand on the door and looked up at him again. “What happened?”
He leaned against the wall, looking down at her while his mind remembered one issue in particular. “I wanted to use some old wood my dad had stored in the garage to build a fort in one of the trees.”
“That doesn’t sound like an argument to me.”
James chuckled. “My dad told me that the wood was too old and rotted and that I couldn’t use it. He said if I wanted to build a fort that I needed to save up my money from mowing lawns and purchase it at the hardware store.”
She smiled, thinking about the man before her as a young child. “I bet you argued quite forcefully for the right to use that wood, didn’t you?”
He laughed. “If I remember correctly, I was too busy doing chores for that one infraction for several weeks. My mother and father were creative about their punishments so I was crawling around the attic and cleaning out spiders, emptying the entire shed and putting everything back in a more organized way, mowing our lawn, edging the fence line and it was a big yard with a long fence, mind you…”
Julianna was already laughing even while she shuddered at the thought of cleaning out spiders in an attic. “Oh my,” she gasped as he continued to list the chores he’d been required to do. “What happened in the end?”
James hesitated for only a moment before continuing the story. “I finished all my parents’ required chores, my brothers and siblings laughing at me the whole time. Then I snuck all the wood out of the garage, built my fort and stood proudly at the bottom with my friends when it was finally finished.”
She smiled up at him with pride for his tenacity. “And it was a fabulous fort, the envy of the neighborhood and everyone begged you to get up into it, right?”
James grinned as he shook his head. “Nice thought, but not exactly what happened.”
“So tell me,” she encouraged, leaning against the wall herself, feeling as if they were enclosed in a happy bubble where the tension between them was at a fizzle level instead of boiling over as it normally does.
“Since I’d designed it and stolen all the materials, including my dad’s tools, I claimed the right to climb up first. I proudly stood at the top and shouted down for everyone else to climb up. Unfortunately, just as the first guy put his foot on the bottom step of the wooden ladder, the wood I’d used for the main platform, which my father had told me was rotted too badly to use, broke with my weight and I came crashing down to the ground, hitting several of the branches along the way as well as a good portion of the rough bark as I fell and hit the ground with a painful thud.”
That wasn’t funny! “Oh, James!” she stood up straighter, her eyes wide with fear and horror. “But you were okay, right?”
He laughed and shook his head. “Absolutely not. It turns out that I’d broken my leg in three places and scraped about half my skin off the left side of my other leg. To make matters worse, I was too scared to tell my parents what had happened so I convinced my friends to just get me home. They put me on one of the lawn chairs in the back yard, then left as fast as they could, not wanting to be around when my parents found me like that.”
Despite herself, she had to laugh at his story. It was either laugh or cry so she chose the first. “And when your
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