Forking Around (Hot Cakes Book 2)

by Erin Nicholas

  This couldn’t last.

  Everyone in her life already expected and needed so much from her, and she felt like she was falling short most of the time. How could she be enough for a guy like Dax?

  “So Dax isn’t your Prince Charming,” Max finally commented.

  Jane frowned. “What?”

  Max shrugged. “You work so hard, literally cleaning your stepmother's house, and it kind of made you seem like Cinderella with Dax as your Prince Charming, coming in to whisk you away from it all. But he’s actually been your fairy godmother… well, father. He’s made all these wonderful things happen, given you a little time off from your real life.”

  Oh. Wow. Jane swallowed hard. “He’s given me a temporary reprieve,” she said softly.

  That was what Dax did. So very well.

  “Yeah,” Max agreed, unaware of just what that all meant. “But you’re thinking your coach is about to turn back into a pumpkin.”

  Jane sighed and let her head fall forward. That was actually a really great analogy. “The clock always strikes midnight eventually.”

  “Yeah. I guess so.” Max sounded a little sad.

  Jane lifted her head and met her friend’s eyes.

  “Of course, the story doesn’t end after midnight,” Max said, clearly trying to be supportive.

  “No,” she admitted. “But it’s not the fairy godmother who comes after Cinderella.”

  Max just nodded. Then he reached out and pulled her into a hug.

  She let him squeeze her, appreciating the comfort.

  When he let her go she gave him a smile. “Sorry about the freak-out.”

  “I guess you were due,” he said. “I’ve never seen you do that. Not with all the stuff you have going on. You keep it pretty cool.”

  She nodded. “I think this just snuck up on me. I let my guard down. I’m usually better at remembering that the next mess is just around the corner.”

  “You are my favorite cynic,” Max told her. He kissed her forehead then pulled her car door open for her. “See you tomorrow?”

  “For sure.”

  “If you need to get drunk tonight, I’ll be at Granny’s.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  13

  As she drove out of the parking lot and headed for Sunny Orchard, she thought about just heading straight for Granny’s afterward. She might be better off with tequila with Max tonight. That, after all, was a much more stable long-term plan than whatever game she and Dax would play tonight.

  She walked through the doors of the nursing home, her heart still beating faster than the walk from the parking lot should have caused. She hadn’t been for a run all week because she’d been up late with Dax and because rolling out of bed was a lot harder with him lying next to her. Still, she wasn’t that out of shape.

  No, the increased heart rate was still about realizing she was in big trouble. But it wasn’t totally her fault she hadn’t seen what was happening. After all, Cinderella’s benefactor had been a fairy godmother. A nice older matronly woman if she remembered correctly. Even in the Anne Hathaway version, Ella Enchanted, the fairy godmother had been the, albeit gorgeous, but very female Vivica A. Fox. That Jane had assumed the handsome and charming Dax was the prince in this story was a fair mistake.

  And by the way, where the hell was her prince in this little analogy, then? Was she only going to get a platonic prince in Max or something? She stopped just outside of her dad’s room and took a breath. Maybe her prince was her dad. Maybe this was a reverse Cinderella story, and her dad was the one getting the makeover—of his attitude and outlook—so he could find his happiness. Maybe Dax was Jack’s fairy godfather, and Jane was just… one of the mice that turned into a coachman for the night. Or something. The metaphor was a little fuzzy there.

  She pasted on a smile and ducked into her father’s room. “Hi—”

  But he wasn’t there.

  She frowned. His wheelchair was parked in the corner of the room, but Jack was absent. She knew he didn’t have any appointments today. She hadn’t seen him out in the lobby area. Of course, she’d been very distracted by her thoughts about Dax when she’d come through. She pivoted and headed back for the front.

  But no, he wasn’t in the lobby or in the dining room or in the community room. She approached the front desk. Taylor, the girl who manned the desk after school and on weekends, was there.

  “Hi, Taylor, have you seen my dad?”

  Taylor looked up. “Hi, Jane. Yeah, he’s in Dax’s office.”

  Jane nodded. “Oh okay.” She started to turn away. “I’ll just—” She swung back. “Who’s office?”

  “Dax’s.” Taylor pointed down the hall. “It’s by Ken’s office.”

  Ken was the nursing home director. “Dax who?” Jane asked. Dax was an uncommon name. At least in Appleby. And she knew everyone who had offices in this nursing home. She’d made a point of that. So she already knew what Taylor was going to say, but Jane needed a little time to process.

  “Dax Marshall. The new owner.”

  Okay, that hadn’t been enough time. Evidently. Because as Taylor’s words hit Jane’s ears, she felt a wave of shock course through her that actually made her feel numb.

  “The new… what?” Jane asked, aware that her voice sounded weird.

  Taylor gave her a look that confirmed she sounded weird. “Owner.”

  “Right.” Jane nodded. “So Dax is the new… owner. He bought this place?”

  Taylor shrugged. “I guess. I got a raise, and we have a cappuccino machine now, so I’m cool with whatever happened.”

  Of course she’d gotten a raise. That alone probably would have convinced Jane that Dax really had bought the place, but the moment Taylor said the words cappuccino machine, Jane knew it was all true.

  “I don’t suppose there’s a new Ping-Pong table somewhere?” Jane asked, trying to calm her breathing.

  Her heart was pounding again, but this didn’t feel like panic. This felt like anger.

  Taylor gave her a huge grin. “There is. How did you know? They put it in the rec room.”

  “Lucky guess,” Jane muttered.

  So this was his new project.

  He’d given up snack cakes, gotten bored, and bought a nursing home. That made sense.

  At least in Dax Marshall's world, it did.

  “By Ken’s office, you said?” she asked Taylor.

  “Yep. Just down the short hallway behind Ken’s office, actually.”

  “Thanks.”

  Jane started in that direction, trying to get her emotions under control. Dax was a good guy. He made people happy. It was his singular goal in life, in fact. He had good intentions here, she was sure.

  But she couldn’t quite calm her heart rate or the thick, heavy, rough rope of stress that had twisted and pulled itself into a massive knot in her gut.

  This was her father. This wasn’t just a way to kill some time while Dax was hanging out in Appleby.

  She heard her father’s stilted speech as she passed Ken’s office. She couldn’t make out what he’d said, but she heard Dax’s answering laugh. Then she heard another voice. It was Ken, the facility director, but even more important was what he said.

  “What about birds?” Ken asked. “We can start with an aviary. I’ve seen those in other places.”

  “The article specifically mentions rabbits and guinea pigs,” Dax said with a shrug.

  “And d-d-dogs,” Jack added.

  “Definitely dogs,” Dax said. “We’re absolutely doing dogs.”

  “There’s just a lot to think about,” Ken hedged.

  “Ken, people go out to shelters and adopt dogs on a whim every single day. Rabbits and guinea pigs too, I’m sure. I don’t really think there is that much to think about.”

  Jane rolled her eyes. Thinking things through wasn’t exactly Dax’s strong suit.

  “And who will be taking care of the animals?” Ken asked. “The nursing and housekeeping staff are already
—”

  “M-me,” Jack said.

  “And others,” Dax said. “That’s the point. Residents take care of them.”

  “But—”

  “They’re dogs and rabbits and guinea pigs,” Dax said. “They’re not nuclear reactors. And most of our residents have had pets in the past according to the survey. For those with dementia and memory issues, the research shows caretaking tasks come back to them almost miraculously. And those who don’t have those issues are fine.”

  “So what about the goats and the chickens?” Ken asked, his voice a little weaker.

  Goats and chickens? Jane shook her head. What was going on?

  “Same thing,” Dax said. “The residents involved with the farm program will have experience. It will come back to them. They’ll tend the gardens and take care of the animals. But of course, we’ll hire someone to oversee everything.”

  “The llama too?”

  Okay, that was enough.

  Jane stepped through the doorway. “Hi, guys.”

  They all looked over. Ken looked relieved. “Hi, Jane.” He got to his feet quickly.

  “I don’t want to interrupt,” she lied. She completely wanted to interrupt this meeting. She wanted to know what the hell was going on.

  She looked at her dad, but Jack was just smiling at her much as he did whenever she came to visit. Maybe even a little brighter than usual.

  Everything had been a little brighter this past week.

  Because of Dax.

  She felt that heavy, ropey stress knot pull tight in her stomach even as her heart fluttered a little. Everything really had been better because of him. It had been shockingly easy to fall under the everything-is-going-to-be-so-great spell.

  She finally looked at Dax. He looked happy to see her too even if a touch sheepish around the edges.

  Yeah, when had he been planning to tell her his big news anyway?

  “You’re not interrupting. I clearly have some reading to do,” Ken said, skirting around her. “Come on in.”

  Oh, she was going to come on in. She waited until Ken had disappeared into his office and then she shut the door. She crossed her arms and regarded the two most important men in her life. Who had been conspiring behind her back.

  “So you two have been busy.”

  Her father didn’t look the least bit sheepish. He grinned widely and picked up a paper from Dax’s desk. Dax’s desk. In Dax’s office. In the nursing home. Because he now owned the place.

  She took a deep breath.

  Jack waved the papers at her. “A f-farm!”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “W-w-we’re going to h-have a f-f-f-” Jack looked at Dax.

  “We’re going to have a farm,” Dax said. He smiled at her from behind the desk.

  His desk. In his office. She couldn’t do that again. Every time she really thought about what she’d just learned, she got all worked up.

  “How about we start at the beginning,” she said. Calmly. She was proud of herself. “I understand you bought Sunny Orchard.”

  Dax nodded. “Yep. It was finalized yesterday.”

  The guy moved amazingly fast. Then again, he had an amazing amount of money and a number of powerful contacts, she assumed, and hell, maybe the company that had owned the nursing home had been happy to let it go.

  “Why?” she asked simply.

  “Well, mostly because I wanted to start this farm, and in spite of my very generous donation of time, money, and knowledge, they said no.”

  “So you just bought the whole place?” she asked, feeling her chest tightening. “Just so you could start a farm?”

  “Not just any farm.”

  Jack waved the papers he held again. Jane took them and scanned over them. “What is this?”

  “It’s a program introduced in Europe and brought over here for dementia and Alzheimer’s patients,” Dax said. “It’s a working farm. The residents live there and take care of the garden and the small farm animals. It keeps them active physically and mentally because it taps into tasks they’ve done all their lives. It gives them a sense of purpose which also keeps them to be calmer. And it’s been studied and shown to actually slow some of the progression of the disease.” Dax glanced at Jack. “Jack and I were talking, and I talked to some therapists and physicians, and they agreed that even for patients whose memory isn’t affected, it would keep them active and productive and could help with things like depression and overall happiness. They would not only be participating in activities that are familiar, but by contributing things to the facility like vegetables and eggs and milk, they would feel important.”

  Jack nodded, grinning widely, and Jane felt her heart trip.

  “And we can go even further,” Dax went on. “We can get some of the residents into the kitchen, canning, and baking with some of our produce. Making salads. Egg dishes. And we’ve even talked about taking some things to the farmer’s market.”

  Jane shook her head. He was… something. He was definitely a big thinker. It was hardly her fault she’d gotten all caught up in him and wanting to be near him and his energy and ability to take the simplest thing and make it more.

  But this was her father. This was people's home. This was their life.

  This wasn’t a game or a whim or a crazy idea that may or may not work out.

  “So this is what you had Dad researching after the bridal fair?” she asked, looking at Jack.

  Jack nodded, clearly pleased.

  “Yep. I gave him the name of the care facility out in New Jersey that’s doing this now and asked him to find out everything he could.”

  “You did that?” she asked her father.

  Jack nodded. “U-used the c-c-computer.”

  “Wow.”

  “Jack’s farming experience has been really helpful,” Dax said, smiling at her dad. “I know you’re probably shocked to find out, but I don’t know much about it.”

  She rolled her eyes but Jack laughed.

  “You’ve been working on this a lot,” she said.

  “It’s been a busy week,” Dax agreed. He was watching her now as if waiting for her to say more.

  “It’s a pretty big secret to keep,” she said casually. Kind of.

  She was sure Dax could see the tension in her face. Jack was studying the pages again and probably missed it, but Dax’s gaze was firmly fixed on hers.

  “I was planning to surprise you on Saturday with everything,” he said. “We were.” He glanced at Jack.

  Jack looked up with another big grin. She swore she hadn’t seen him this smiley in… too long. She felt her throat tighten. Damn Dax. He was getting Jack smiling. Which had been so great at the bridal fair. For that one afternoon. They could have done that again. Gone out somewhere. Taken him to a movie. Or hell, to a farm or a petting zoo or whatever if he was missing being around animals. They could have done the temporary make-things-good-for-right-now thing periodically to help with his depression.

  Dax didn’t have to buy the whole fucking nursing home and promise Jack a pony. Which he really might have, for all she knew. She wouldn’t be at all surprised if there was something in the literature about how great horses were. She knew therapists used horses with little kids. Why would adults really be that different? And if Dax had read…

  She sighed.

  “G-g-goats!” Jack said.

  She arched her eyebrows. “What?”

  “Goats!” Jack said again, this time on the first try.

  She looked at Dax. “What about goats?”

  He laughed. “We were going to take you out to see the baby goats and then tell you all our plans.”

  “L-l-l—” Jack tried.

  Jane looked at Dax. “Do I even want to know what that is?”

  He was completely unabashed when he said, “And the llama.”

  “The llama?”

  “We’re going to have a llama too.”

  Jane blew out a breath. “
Sure. That makes total sense.”

  “Well, in fairness, the farm already has a llama. More than one. And I think they’re actually alpacas.”

  Jane frowned. “What are you talking about? You already have the farm?”

  “We’re going to be using some space on Dallas Ryan’s farm. Do you know him?”

  “Dallas? Of course I know him.” Dallas had been a year or two younger than Jane in high school. He and his brother and a couple of friends ran a huge alpaca farm a few miles outside of town. They had plenty of other animals too, and she thought they grew alfalfa for hay if not other grains for feed. “You’ve talked to Dallas about this?”

  “Yeah, they think it’s great. The residents will still live here, but we’ll transport them out to our corner of the farm. We’ll have a greenhouse for the garden so we can use it year-round and a small barnyard and barn,” Dax said. “Dallas and his guys will help us out with the care of the animals as needed, but our residents will do as much as they can. I’m helping them out by renting the space and helping with some upgrades to the buildings and the road.”

  Jane couldn’t believe how much they’d gotten done in such a short time. “Wow.”

  “We’re going to be busy. With that and the new building project.” He motioned to the wall behind her.

  Jane turned with trepidation. Sure enough. Architecture plans were hung on the wall detailing a complete remodel of the facility they were now in.

  She rubbed the middle of her forehead.

  “This is a new advancement in nursing home care as well,” Dax started. “Each wing becomes its own little community. There is a kitchen and living space in each, with the rooms surrounding the common area. There will be dedicated staff and smaller numbers of patients per staff members and—”

  “Sounds good.” It did. Of course it did. But it was all making her feel even more restless and worried. Dax, the gaming guru, was going to oversee a nursing home? “I um… just stopped by to say hi.” She smiled at her dad.

  She had to admit knowing he was here, hanging out with Dax, being kept busy, researching and offering ideas and input, and getting excited about something was pretty amazing. If it could be this way every day, she’d feel so much… lighter. Knowing he was happy and not sitting in his room by himself and was engaging and feeling valued made tears prick at the backs of her eyes.