“Ankylosaurus,” I said. “My favorite dinosaur is the ankylosaurus. It has full body armor and a mace for a tail, and that’s so cool.”
Both Wayne and Vicky glanced at Deacon, and Deacon smiled at his plate before looking at his dad.
“What?” I said, trying not to panic. “Is that the wrong answer? What does it say about me if a favorite dinosaur says a lot about a person?”
Full body armor and a built-in weapon-tail didn’t mean I was defensive, did it? Or that I wished I was immune to scrutiny or insults... Surely that didn’t say anything about me...
Wayne put his hand up and shook his head. “No, no, it’s not that. It’s just...” His gaze went to Deacon. “The ankylosaurus is Deacon’s favorite dinosaur.”
I turned to Deacon. “It is?”
He was not doing a very good job at trying not to smile, and he gave a nod. “Yes.”
“They are so cool,” I said. “Low to the ground, full body armor, and a mace-tail. It’s a complete weapon. Like the most Pokémon dinosaur ever.”
Deacon’s eyes met mine then, his smile softening. “Exactly.” His cheeks went pink and he quickly looked away. “The Kosmoceratops is my second favorite.”
I nodded. “A commendable choice. I do like the Kosmoceratops also. I mean, what’s not to like about fifteen spiky horns? If I had to choose a second one—” I stopped talking when I realized then that Wayne and Vicky were still watching us. “Sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry for,” Wayne said.
Vicky stood up and began to clear plates, and I immediately tried to help. “I’ll take care of it,” she said, stopping me, before nodding to the living room. “You boys want to go in. Your show’s about to start.”
Our show?
Deacon stood up. “Thank you for dinner, Mom.”
I stood up next to him. “Yes, thank you so much. It was delicious. All of it.”
She waved us off, though her smile told me she appreciated the compliment. “You go along now. Wayne, you’re washing up.”
He protested. “But our show—” She gave him a look that promptly shut him up. “I will be the fastest dishwasher ever,” he mumbled.
Deacon laughed, and taking my sleeve again, he led me toward the living room and what I saw took my breath away. There was a dark green velvet three-seater sofa and two mismatched single chairs which, with my very limited knowledge of furniture, looked like antique designer pieces: tan leather, well-loved. There was a lovely fireplace,a smallish television by today’s standards, a gorgeous Christmas tree that smelled wonderful, and...
Oh my.
One entire wall was a bookcase, stacked full of, well, everything. All genres, all kinds—paperbacks, hardcovers, new, old, fiction, non-fiction, magazines, journals, encyclopedias—all neatly arranged and oh so amazing.
“Do you like it?” Deacon asked quietly.
I turned to him, eyes as wide as my smile. “Oh, I could live in this room. Everything in it is perfect. When you said your family were readers,” I said, taking in the bookshelves. “Wow. You have more books than my store.”
Deacon laughed. “Not quite.”
Okay, so maybe not. But damn. Not far off...
“Both Mom and Dad love to read also. We always have. Even as a young boy, I don’t remember a time when we didn’t sit in here and read.”
I put my hand to my heart. “I love that so much.” I looked around the room again. Given the books, and the small TV, it was clear that watching television wasn’t a priority for them, and I loved that too. And the lamps by the sofa and the chairs, for reading, of course. “This room is perfect. It feels like a reading den in a fancy castle or something.”
He looked around for a moment. “Minus the stone walls, vaulted ceilings, and the general size.”
I laughed at that. “Well, yes, all that. But I don’t know, this is the kind of living room I want. It’s giving me great decoration ideas for my room. Maybe I could decorate my bedroom like this. It’s a very blank canvas at the moment. The whole house is, really. It needs some work. But everything about this room is perfect.”
“You’d like to decorate like this?”
I nodded. “Yes. Like a fancy reading den in a castle orsomething. Minus the stone walls, vaulted ceilings, and general size.”
