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He smiled in a way he never had. “Suppose I pick you and Teddie up on Halloween night and drive you around to the venues for candy?”
She hesitated just a second too long.
His face tautened. “Or is that a bad idea? You’d rather not be seen with me in public . . . ?”
She went right up to him and reached up to touch his hard cheek. “You know me better than that already. I know you do!”
He let out the breath he’d been holding. “Sorry,” he bit off. “Life is hard sometimes when you’re a minority.”
“I’ve never been like that,” she said. “I’d be proud to be seen with you anywhere. I was just worried about, well, gossip. Small towns run on it. You might not like being talked about. . . .”
He actually laughed. “I’ve been talked about for years. I don’t mind gossip. If you don’t.” He hesitated. “That lawyer’s coming out here next month, isn’t he?”
“He’s a pest,” she said shortly. “He invited himself and I can’t convince him that I’m not interested.”
“No worries, kid,” he teased. “I’ll convince him for you.”
She smiled slowly. “Okay,” she said.
He chuckled. “I’d better go help Teddie saddle Bartholomew before she ends up in a pile of something nasty.”
She smiled from ear to ear. “She’ll love riding. Until she gets off the horse,” she added, because she knew how sore riding made people who weren’t used to it.
“You could come, too,” he invited.
Her eyes were full of affection and something else. “Next time,” she said.
He nodded. “Next time.”
He turned and went toward the stable.
* * *
“Mom got all dressed up and let her hair down,” Teddie said as she and Parker rode down the fence line, she on Bartholomew and he on Wings.
“I noticed. Your mom’s pretty.”
She laughed. “She thinks you’re awesome, but don’t tell her I told you.”
“She does?” he asked, astonished.
“It was the cat,” she volunteered. “She’s keen on brainy people.”
“It’s a conundrum, the cat,” he replied. “Einstein did thought experiments like that. Most theoretical physicists do. In fact. I follow two of them–Michio Kaku and Miguel Alcubierre. Alcubierre came up with the idea for a speculative faster-than-light speed warp drive. In fact, they call it the Alcubierre drive. One day, it may take mankind to the stars.”
“Gosh, I didn’t know that. You follow them? You mean, when you go back east to D.C.?” she wondered.
He chuckled. “I follow them on Twitter.”
“Oh! Theoretical physics.” She rode silently for a few minutes. “I still want to fly jet fighter planes.”
“I knew a guy who did that, years ago. He said that when those things take off, your stomach glues itself to your backbone and you have to fight the urge to throw up. It’s like going up in a rocket. The gravitational pull is awesome.”
“I didn’t realize that. Goodness!”
“It’s something you get used to. Like the “raptor cough,” if you fly F-22 Raptors.”
She frowned. “Raptor cough?”
