Just One Thing (The Alexanders 6)

“Oh, I thought you weren’t going to give that to Bennett?”

Katie lowered her voice so the kids wouldn’t hear and ask any questions. “I’m not. That’s for me!”

?

Bennett looked up at the sound of his cell phone ringing. Usually at this time in the evening he was working out, reading his case notes from the day’s work or catching up on world events. But when Katie had left that day, she’d warned him to keep his phone close because she’d be calling with his first homework assignment.

Quite surprisingly, he’d been looking forward to it all afternoon.

“Hello?”

“Hey! Are you ready to have some fun?”

Bennett smiled. He hadn’t expected her to be so into this project but her enthusiasm was definitely infectious. He usually only felt like this when he was working on a new project or reading about a new scientific breakthrough.

“I’m not sure. But you sound excited.”

Katie laughed softly, the warm sound making him feel like he was part of an inside joke. When she laughed, it never felt like it was at his expense which was a nice change.

“I am excited. I had a lot of fun coming up with ideas for you today. But you have to remember that you promised to keep an open mind.”

Bennett squelched the first twinge of worry. In the past whenever people said that, it usually meant they were going to do something he wouldn’t like but he’d resolved to trust Katie and give this a chance. Plus, it wasn’t that hard to trust her. Working with her the past few days, he’d discovered that she was truly as kind as he’d thought. For the first time in a long time, he was comfortable trusting in someone else. He didn’t think she’d ever do anything to intentionally hurt or embarrass him.

“I’m being open-minded. What’s the assignment?”

Katie took a deep breath. “It’s a book assignment.”

Bennett cheered immediately. He’d always been light-years above his peers’ reading level in school. If this was the assignment, then he would definitely ace it. He relaxed slightly. This wouldn’t be difficult at all.

“Okay. That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Were you worried?”

“Yes.”

Katie laughed. “Your honesty is refreshing. But don’t thank me yet. Part of the assignment is not to read the description of the book online. Just buy it and start reading. Can you do that?”

That seemed a little odd but certainly not out of the question. “I can do that. So am I supposed to do a book report or something?”

Katie was quiet for a moment. “Um, yes. But I think an oral book report will be fine. Your assignment is to read two chapters each night for the next week at least. If you don’t like it at that point, then you can tell me why and we’ll try another book. Okay?”

“Okay. That sounds easy enough.” Bennett wasn’t sure what to think. So far it didn’t feel much like homework at all. Two chapters? Considering how fast he read, he could probably do that in fifteen minutes. And no written report? This was the easiest book assignment ever.

“So I’m going to text you the link to the book. Remember, don’t read anything about it, just buy it and start reading.”

“No problem.”

“Oh yeah and Bennett? The point of this is to have fun. Try it, okay? It won’t kill you.”

After they hung up, his phone dinged immediately with a text. Bennett clicked the link she’d sent and it pulled up the product page for the book. He clicked the button to buy it, deliberately not enlarging the screen on his phone to read the description. He couldn’t help noticing that the cover was a deep maroon with gold lettering and some kind of design embossed on the cover.

“Don’t look, remember.” Determined to follow the rules, Bennett walked into his bedroom to find his personal tablet. He opened the app he used to read and the book was at the top of the page. The title was The Secret Life of Senator Drake.

“A political tale? Interesting choice.” Bennett wouldn’t have thought Katie would choose anything political for him to read but maybe she thought it would appeal to his intellect.

He settled on his bed and propped a pillow behind his head. As he read, he wondered what made Katie choose this book. Then he flipped the page and had to read a few of the sentences more than once to be sure he was getting the meaning. One of the characters had just shed his skin and turned into a dragon.

“Huh?”