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I shrugged. “I’m not sure. It’s something I’ve been thinking about.”
“Because of what happened?”
“No. Well, not entirely, I guess. I’m good at what I do, and I make a great salary, but I think there are other careers that might be more fulfilling. Ones with less stress, too.”
“Is there something specific you think you’d like better?”
“I’ve always toyed with the idea of teaching, being a professor. I was a TA for organic chemistry in college. It’s a subject most students really struggle with, so they resort to memorization rather than actually learning the subject. I loved when I was able to get students to dive in with me and fall in love with science.”
Fox smirked.
“What?”
“I would’ve tried to fuck you in college, if you were my TA.”
I chuckled. “Anyway, it’s just something I’m thinking about.”
“Where was the position you were looking at?”
Shit. Fox and I had definitely moved into relationship territory, but I wasn’t sure how he’d react to me looking at jobs down here. So I told a little white lie. “I’m not sure. I was mostly looking at the requirements.”
Fox looked at me over his mug as he sipped. From the way his eyes squinted, I got the feeling maybe he’d seen the website. But if he had, he didn’t say so.
A few minutes later, he set his mug in the sink. “I’m going to take a ride over to Lowell’s to pick up some new base moldings. The old ones are shit and don’t go with the new floor.”
Fox had spent his entire Saturday installing new flooring in my kitchen and living room. Well, technically not the entire day since we’d wound up having sex when he was halfway through. But I didn’t want him to spend Sunday working, too. He needed a break.
“You’ve done enough. You need at least one day of rest.”
“Won’t take long. Two or three hours, at most.”
“Alright, but I’m helping, and I’ll take the ride with you.”
“You wanted to take a walk around the lake to look for Daisy. Why don’t you do that while I’m gone getting supplies? It’s gonna be hot today, so you’re better off doing that early.”
I had wanted to look for her. I’d picked up a pair of binoculars earlier in the week and thought she might be near the state park, across the lake, but I wasn’t sure. Opal had told me about a trail on the other side that ran along the water. “You don’t mind?”
“Not at all.”
“Alright then.” I pointed out the back windows, to the lake beyond. “Do you know where the trail starts on the other side?”
He nodded. “It’s on my way. I’ll drop you.”
Twenty minutes later, I hopped down from Fox’s truck. I had my hand on the door to close it when he stopped me.
“Hey. Hang on a second.”
“Yeah?”
“Rehnquist is a good school, about a twenty-five-minute drive.” We locked eyes, and he smiled. “Knowing you, you’ll be doing some deep thinking while you’re walking on that trail. I think you’d like it down here. I know I’d like you down here.”
My heart went pitter-patter as I smiled back. “Okay.”
***
That evening, Fox walked up behind me while I stood at the lake’s edge. After my walk, I’d spent a few hours painting outside, using the supplies Porter had dropped off weeks ago. My half-finished handiwork was drying in the sun. He wrapped his hands around my waist, locking them in front.
“Wow. You’re good.”
