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Satisfied, Ling continued: “Most atoms are stable. But that’s not true with radioactive substances. Their atoms are unstable. When they disintegrate, they give off energy. Uranium by itself isn’t all that valuable. It’s the radium it produces that everybody wants. So what does Jake Marlowe know about uranium that the rest of us don’t?” And why is the uranium being delivered here to his estate? she thought.
Jake Marlowe’s footsteps, sure and even, announced him before he entered. He was a handsome man, slender and well dressed, with a head full of dark hair parted neatly on the side and slicked back from his chiseled face. But more than his movie-star looks, it was his charisma that shone through—Jake Marlowe had “It.”
“How do you do? I’m Jake Marlowe,” he said, as if he needed any introduction. “Welcome to Hopeful Harbor.”
“Ling Chan. I’m looking forward to your Future of America Exhibition, sir,” Ling said, trying to hold back her excitement. “I still have your IOU.” She pulled the crinkled paper from her purse and showed it to Marlowe, who squinted at it.
“Wonderful! Well, I’ll have to make good on that promise.” Marlowe smiled, and Ling felt as if he’d granted her fondest wish.
“Henry DuBois. The Fourth,” Henry felt compelled to add.
“Sam Lloyd. The Only,” Sam said.
“Thanks awfully for having us, Mr. Marlowe,” Evie said with exaggerated politeness. She did not like Jake Marlowe, but for this weekend, she would try to think of him only as the man who had saved Jericho’s life.
“Miss O’Neill,” Marlowe said, his smile faltering for just a second before he launched it again, like a trustworthy vessel. “I’m awfully sorry I won’t be able to join all of you for dinner this evening. I’m afraid I have a prior engagement. But if there’s anything I can do to make your stay more hospitable, do let me know.” And with that, he was gone.
Henry elbowed Ling. “You’ll be giddy for at least a week, won’t you?”
And Ling was so happy that she didn’t even roll her eyes at Henry.
“I’d better go make sure everything’s okay,” Jericho announced. He sidled up to Evie, whispering low: “Invent an excuse and meet me in the rose garden.”
Evie waited exactly thirty seconds, then gave an exaggerated yawn and announced that she needed a nap. She slipped outside, finding Jericho among Marlowe’s neatly trimmed hedges. He looked so handsome standing there in a spot of sun that it quite took her breath away.
“Let’s go for a walk,” Jericho said.
When they were a distance from the estate, Jericho detoured to a gazebo covered by trailing ivy. The flowers had just started to bloom. They smelled wonderful.
“Golly, I can’t get over how much you’ve changed,” she said. When had he gotten so incredibly handsome?
“I feel different. Before I was just existing, in a way. I always felt so apart from everyone else because… well, you know. I never seemed to know what I wanted.”
“And now? I mean, have you, um, do you know what you want?”
“Yes,” Jericho said, staring down at her with those clear blue eyes that seemed to see everything.
She swallowed the lump caught in her throat. Evie rarely got nervous around boys. But that was just it—Jericho had never been a boy. Quickly, she changed the subject. “And, um, what about Marlowe? Have you found anything about what he knows of Project Buffalo?”
Jericho flinched. “Is that all you care about—Project Buffalo?”
“Well, no. Of course not.”
He took another step toward her and stroked the back of his hand across her cheek. “You are so beautiful.”
Evie knew she was not beautiful. She was, if anything, cute. But Jericho thought she was beautiful. No one had ever said those words to her and meant it so completely. It took her breath away. On impulse, she kissed him. When she pulled back, he was staring at her with an intensity that made her blush down to her toes. She could feel the heat coming off him. She wanted him to kiss her so badly that she thought she might die.
He leaned down and whispered low and deep in her ear, “Come with me.”
He took hold of her hand and she followed gladly.
They sneaked upstairs to Jericho’s room. Jericho shut the door and locked it. It was just the two of them.
“Well,” Evie said. “Here we are.”
“You asked me if I knew what I wanted,” Jericho said. “Being here, discovering myself, I’ve learned that I want to be with you. I don’t want to waste another minute.”
“You don’t?”
