Page 81 of Slap Shot Surprise
I slipped my glasses on. “Did you cover me up?”
“Yes. Your feet were bare and I was afraid they were cold.”
“Thank you,” I said, touched by the gesture.
He popped something into his mouth and took a few swallows of water. “Some ibuprofen for my shoulder,” he explained. “It’s bothering me a little today.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” He came out from the kitchen and dropped into one of the chairs adjacent to the couch. “I told the guys about the baby.”
Tucking my feet underneath me, I sat up taller. “What did they say?”
“Not much. Some said congratulations.”
“Was it weird?”
He looked off into the distance. “You know, it wasn’t as weird as I thought it would be. I think I’m finally getting used to it.”
I laughed. “Good thing.”
“So what would you like to do today? I mean, we don’t have to do anything, if you’re tired.” He leaned over to tie one of his brown lace-up boots that had come undone. Hewas wearing faded brown pants and a navy quarter-zip sweater over a blue plaid button-down. His hair was tousled and his jaw was stubbled, and the whole rugged, up-north look of him was enough to put my hormones on high alert.
We want more of this man, please.
“I’m good,” I said, fussing with my hair and hoping it wasn’t too matted. “I’ve certainly slept enough in the last twelve hours.”
He sat back. “Since we did hockey last night, I thought I’d let you choose today’s activity. Want to drag me to a museum or something? Broaden my horizons?”
“Like a field trip?”
“Yeah.” He grinned. “I bet you’re a good tour guide.”
“Maybe,” I said, “but I don’t want todragyou anywhere.”
“I was kidding. I would willingly go to a museum with you.”
“Well, the good thing is that most of them probably close at five, so the torture would last only a couple hours at most.” I thought for a moment. “Paintings or dinosaurs?”
“Dinosaurs.”
“Natural history museum,” I said, getting excited. “Let’s go.”
We spent two hours at the Field Museum, and even though I’m sure I rambled on for way too long on topics like archaeological dig methods, artifact acquisition and conservation, and exhibition design, Joe was a good sport. He listened and asked questions, and when I’d get particularlyexcited about something, he’d laugh—but always with affection.
“Okay, the torture is over! What was your favorite part?” I asked as we perused items in the gift shop on our way out.
“It wasn’t torture at all, it was very cool. I want to bring my nieces and nephews here next time they visit. And my favorite thing was Sue the T. rex, of course,” Joe said. “I can’t believe they found that thing in South Dakota.”
“I know.” I picked up a kids’ book about the paleontologist who discovered the bones and thumbed through it. “Oh, look how cute this is.” I showed Joe one of the illustrated pages. “The scientist who found the skeleton was a woman named Sue, so they named it after her. And this book talks about how when she was little, she was always hunting for treasures in her backyard.”
He nudged me with his arm. “Sounds like someone else I know.”
I laughed. “Exactly.”
“We should get the book for the artichoke.”
I looked up at him in surprise. “Really?”
