He straightened and gave her his full attention. “I won’t if you tell me not to.”
“Seriously? You really won’t?”
He schooled his features and hoped he wouldn’t burst out laughing. But with Gaia, who knew what she might find humorous? “Sure. If there’s something you want me to know, you can tell me.”
“It’s just this silly thing. Fate has been looking for somebody to keep me company, to make me laugh, someone I can spend quality time with. She thinks it will make me less annoying.”
Aaron’s brow furrowed. “Oh? Did she find someone?”
“Yes, as matter of fact she did. She told me to go spend some time with him.”
“I see. So I guess you’re here to tell me you won’t be around much anymore.”
“Really? Why would you assume that?”
“I’m confused.”
“It’syou, silly. They said I should be spending time withyou.”
Aaron’s smile grew. “I see. I’d like that.” He placed his arm around her waist and said, “What should we do with our quality time together?”
“I thought maybe I could help you with the plant you want to make into medicine. We haven’t talked about that for a while.”
“It’s true. I still want to explore that possibility, and now that I’m here in Puerto Rico, I can. Since plants can’t be taken off the island, I guess I have to take myself to the plants. I was thinking of moving here.”
“Really? You’d give up your lovely home in Brookline?”
“It would be hard. I have so many memories of my daughters growing up there. But if it’s something important, yes. I think this might be very important, and I’m sure they would understand.”
Gaia placed her arm around his waist too. “So you want to mend shattered hearts… I think that’s a lovely thing to do. Sometimes it makes me sad to see so many brokenhearted people.”
“I’ll bet. How do you deal with it?”
“I try not to look.”
He chuckled. “Well, now that you’re aware there’s something that might be able to help, you won’t need to be afraid to look anymore.”
“True. Although I’m not sure how to help you. I could whip up a greenhouse and put a few hundred plants in there for you, just to get you started. I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about when you say things like ‘analyzing compounds’ and ‘finding the best delivery systems,’ but I can grow plants all day long!”
Aaron looked thoughtful, gazing at his feet, then looked up at her and said, “No. This is something I should do the human way. I can’t let you do everything for me.”
“Oh. But I could really help…”
“You probably can, but I need to know the process can be duplicatedwithoutsupernatural help. First, I’ll have to find a place to build the greenhouse, and it should probably be close to the area where they grow naturally so we’re not changing the conditions too much. There are so many different climates here. I guess I’ll need to find a piece of land near that mountainside. I’m just not sure if the rain forest is for sale.”
“Okay, how can I help with that?”
“I don’t think you can. I’ll need to speak to someone who knows about owning land all around the island—and I have a strong feeling that a lot of rain forest land is probably protected, never to be built upon. ButifI can find a spot that works, you can help me build the greenhouse—by hand.”
“Build it? You mean from bricks and mortar?”
“Yes, so to speak. I imagine I’ll use metal and plastic, but with a kit or plans, I can probably put it together myself. That’s how everything starts, right? Even things you do must start with a plan.”
She tipped her head side to side a couple of times. “I suppose so. I got a little lazy and just made it so each generation’s DNA would vary a bit, and then whatever species I was tweaking comes out just a little differently—but the same in most ways. I don’t have to build the whole item from scratch over and over as you do.”
“Yes. It must be nice to put something in motion that will self-replicate. But when it comes to inanimate objects, like buildings, I can’t do that. In other words, I don’twantyour help in that way.”
“Hmph.Don’t wantmy help… Here. Let me show you something…”
