Page 38 of Hot Times in Heart Falls, Vignettes Vol 3

“At home for now. Snowed a bit this morning. I had to knock three inches off the bird feeder,” Mom said. “How’s Heart Falls?”

“Cold, but no new snow. Busy. Good.”

Dad leaned in for a second. “I’m heading to the hardware store but have to dig us out before I can use the driveway. I’ll leave you two to gossip, but before I go—” He pointed straight at Edison. “That photo you sent. You and the guy at the waterfall?”

“Kevin,” Edison said.

“You look good together,” his dad said straight up. “Real good. Thinkin’ of bringing him home for Christmas?”

Edison blinked. “That’s a big question.”

His dad grinned. “It’s only a four-hour drive. Liam and Tisha will be over with the kids. With six adults and two munchkins, we can have a proper snowball fight.”

His mom elbowed him. “Go on, work your shovel. I want real gossip.”

“Love you, sweet pea!” Dad said before his grin slowly widened to epic proportions. “Know what snowmen eat for breakfast? Frosted Flakes.”

Edison groaned. “Love you, Pop, but you’re terrible.”

His mom waited until the door closed behind her then leaned in and inspected Edison more closely. “Now. Did you want to talk about Kevin?”

Edison flopped back into his chair with a sigh, his face heating even though it was just his mom on the other side of the screen. “Kev and I are…good.”

“That sounded like a question.”

“No.” He made a face. “Yes. Ugh.”

His mom didn’t push. She just waited, the corners of her lips curling into a half smile.

“He’s wonderful,” Edison said finally. “Steady. Thoughtful. Sexy as hell in a sweater. And he listens. Not in the way that makes me feel as if I’m being analyzed—even though that’s exactly what he does for a living—but in the way that makes me want to say more.”

“And this scares you?”

Edison nodded. “Yeah. Kinda does.”

“Because?”

“Because I let myself be hurt.” The words came out before he could catch them, and the echo of his high school sweetheart’s name whispered through his brain. He’d tried his best to avoid thinking about Lenny since the fallout. “I know it was almost fifteen years ago, but I still feel the pain at times. I swore I wouldn’t let it happen again. That was part of the deal I made with myself. No one gets to be as close as Lenny. No one gets to rewrite my script for me.”

“And yet,” Mom said gently.

“And yet.” Edison looked away. “Kevin is kind. The real kind. The hard kind. Like, he doesn’t talk much, but he remembers everything. He’s not trying to fix me, or reshape me, or dim me down. He just sees me. I don’t know what to do with that.”

Her smile softened. “So you let it happen slowly. The same way you’ve done everything else. When you wanted to go to nursing school, you didn’t just jump. You asked questions. You tested the waters. You told your truth a little at a time, and you found out who could be trusted.”

“Yeah, well. I also dyed my hair fire-engine red and wore glitter eyeliner to my first lab practical.”

“I meant slowly for you.”

Edison laughed, his heart easing a little.

She leaned forward, propping her chin in her palm. “Sounds as if you’re already doing what needs to be done. You’re spending time together and you’re doing fun things.” She paused, gaze drifting to one corner of the screen. “I won’t ask about your sex life other than to remind you to be careful.”

Edison’s cheeks went hot, but she’d always been blunt and upfront, and he appreciated it as much now as when he was a confused teen. “Insert obligatory, Yes, Mom.”

“If it’s time for you to adjust your mandates, you’ll know, baby. Your heart’s too big to be tricked again. You just have to trust it.”

“And if I get hurt?”