Free The Fighter's Block by Hadley Quinn Page B

eight-thirty.
    Five minutes later Van and Dani returned from going out to dinner. Van turned into the alley and parked his truck in his designated space , and then went around to the passenger’s side to open Dani’s door. She always thought that was pretty sweet of him, and he’d been doing it since the very first night she met him. But these days Van would usually kiss her as he shut the door, and then take her hand to walk. She was becoming used to the routine, and she liked it.
    “ Nighty night,” Eddie said to them on their way past the office from the back entry .
    “Goodnight, Eddie,” Dani smiled, but she set a small container on the desk in front of him.
    “What’s this?” he asked with surprise.
    “Just a piece of pie.”
    Van smiled because of how thoughtful his girlfriend was. He opened the door to the stairs just as they bo th heard Eddie exclaim, “Black berry!”
    “I think he’s happy,” Dani said as she climbed the steps.
    “I think you’ve made his entire week.”
    “With a piece of pie?”
    “Yes Dani, with a piece of pie,” he smiled.
    Dani knew what he meant and felt a little humbled, which is why she’d decided on getting him the pie in the first place. Eddie hardly had anything good in his life these days. His wife died the year before after battling cancer for six years, and his three grown kids gave him nothing but trouble.
    Dani and Van entered the hall on the fourth floor and Van said, “Oh, I was supposed to pass along a message to you from Marnie.”
    “Oh, yeah? How long ago was the message supposed to be passed along?”
    He chuckled and unlocked the door to 4C. “Just from yesterday. She’s having a few friends over tomorrow and she wanted us to come. I’ll be at work, but I think you should still go.”
    Dani considered it for a moment. She wasn’t really that social around people she didn’t know very well, but she did like Marnie. However, she knew she’d feel more comfortable being there if Van were there too.
    “Uh, I’ll think about it. My sister and I were thinking about visiting Simon.”
    “Is your brother doing better than last week?”
    Dani smiled and nodded her head. “Yes, he is.”
    Van nodded, happy to hear it. “You kn ow, I was thinking, ” he said as they sat on the couch. “Your brother’s name is Simon? And your sister is Jaime… Your other sister is Fontaine… You’re Danielle… Do your parents have some sort of fascination with the French?”
    Dani replied, “Oh, yeah. Totally. They’re obsessed.”
    Van studied her carefully, not sure of the little smile she was toying with. “You want to expound on that? Obviously I’m missing something.”
    She shrugged. “ Je suis désolé , mes parents sont Français .”
    Van looked at her with confusion. “Excuse me?”
    “ Excus é vous? O u i, ça va . ”
    He chuckled. “Okay, so you speak French too ?”
    “ Oui, c’est ma première langue . Yes,” she smiled. “I am French.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”
    “French-Ameri can. My parents are both French— Dominic and Simone—a nd they moved here just before I was born.”
    “Really,” he stated. “I had no idea. Your last name is Martin… ”
    “ Martin ,” she said, letting it roll off her tongue. “It’s a very common surname in France. Probably the most common, like Thomas. ”
    “Hmm, I see, ” he nodded. “And what’s your middle name?”
    Dani smiled at his interest , and after a few seconds replied, “ Chalice .”
    Van raised an eyebrow again . “Spell it.”
    “C-h-a-l- i -c-e.”
    He thought about it for a second. “Danielle Chalice Martin. Well, that’s the Americanized pronunciation of it. Say it French- style.”
    She chuckled but said, “ Danielle Chalice Martin . But I prefer Jersey-style, ” she added with a wink .
    He nodded his head and said, “Good, because that’s about all I can do. And I’m a little used to just calling you Dani.”
    “I prefer it. And I was born here,