Page 30 of Crossing the Line
"I'm sure she'd be happy to have you over, but I'm not the one to ask."
"Oh..." He heard the melancholy tone of her voice. "I forgot that you two..."
"Hold on."
Bixby stepped back outside and didn't see Janice in the yard.
He moved to the front door through the house and ended up on the front porch.
He saw Janice moving around inside by the window and he waved his arm until he caught her attention.
She was startled when she saw him and stepped back a little, before she crouched down to look at him under her curtains.
He held the phone where she could see it and pointed at the phone.
Janice narrowed her eyes at him and tilted her head.
Dropping his chin a little, he tried to figure out a better way to talk to her without jogging out to the sidewalk and around her path and up onto her porch.
While he kept himself in shape, he wasn't sure if she'd come out to talk to him anyway.
He heard the soft click of the front door and looked up.
Janice stepped out onto the porch in one of her favorite outfits.
It consisted of what she called her 'super-soft' jeans which had been washed to the point where he was afraid it had the structural integrity of clothing, and then one of her book-themed T-shirts. The one she had on at the moment was a dark green with words in white typeface.
BE AWESOME.
READ BOOKS.
"Hey," she gave him a hesitant smile. "You wanted to talk?"
There was a little lift in her voice at the end of her question, and he tried not to read too much into it. Emotional stuff wasn't his strong suit.
Then, before he answered she pointed at the phone in his hand.
It was easier, he realized, talking to her on the front porch.
There they'd only put up the same railing and spindles that made the edge of the porch on the original house. It only came up to her waist and on him, his upper thigh. There wasn't much to hide them from each other.
"Hank and Jennifer want to come over and see the chicks. Would you be okay with-"
"Sure! Have them come over! I'm not sure when Samantha is coming over exactly, but she'll be here in a little bit. I know I can't wait to see them. There will be enough for everyone to look at."
Bixby narrowed his eyes at her. "Is it going to be okay for other people to touch them?"
Janice waved off his concern. "Sure! They're still young, but they don't need mom feeding them or anything like that. "I've got feed for the chicks where I'm planning to keep them until they're big enough to live outside without a heat lamp. So it's no big deal to have people over.
"Besides," she grinned at him, "I'd love to have some fun today if I'm not having the coop built."
She sighed and he wanted to reach out and rub her arm like he used to when they were married.
He hadn't had that urge in a while.
Then again, he hadn't talked to her much either.
"So, let them know to head on over if they have some time. I'd love to see them both."
