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“Is that where your parents live?” Colter asked. Sometimes, he felt as though he and Norah knew each other well, and other times, he realized that they didn’t know each other at all.
“Not anymore,” she said.
“Oh, where did they move to?” he asked.
“Well, if you believe my grandmother, they live in heaven now. As a scientist, I don’t really believe that” she said. His heart sank and he suddenly felt like an asshole for asking her so many questions and making assumptions about her life. He didn’t really know her at all and that thought made him a bit sad.
“I’m sorry,” Colter said, “I feel like an ass for just assuming that they are still alive.”
“It’s not your fault,” she assured. “They both died when I was two, in a car accident. I don’t really remember them if I’m being honest. My grandmother raised me, and I had a pretty great childhood.”
“You always seem to be able to find the silver lining,” he said. “I mean, that’s a great trait, but aren’t you ever angry about the way things happen?” he asked.
“Sure,” she admitted, “I sometimes think about what it would have been like to have them around while I was growing up, but then, I might not be who I am today. My grandmother taught me to have big aspirations and go for them. She even paid for my college and master's, through the money that she left me. I might not have even become a scientist if it wasn’t for her. So, I’m okay with the way things turned out. I try not to overthink it all, and I guess that makes me seem as though I’m looking on the bright side.”
“I guess,” he agreed.
“So, what’s your mother like?” she asked.
“Um, kind of like your grandmother,” he said. She looked at him puzzled and he laughed. “She’s a religious nut, but she’s my mother, and all I have left, so I try to deal with it.”
“Now who’s looking at the silver lining?” she asked.
He chuckled, “I guess I am. I just try to keep the peace with her and if that means biting my tongue while she goes on and on about her church and how I should attend with her, I do it.”
“Did you grow up religious?” Norah asked.
“Not really. I mean, we went to church once in a while—you know, on Christmas and holidays. But we didn’t go regularly. My mother started going to church every Sunday after my father passed away. She said that my father had stopped her from going all those years and that she was finally going to live her life the way that she wanted to live it. I couldn’t fault her. My old man was a jackass. He was constantly trying to control everything my mother and I did. I could have rebelled, and they would have chalked it up to me being a teenager. But my mother was stuck with the life that he had demanded of her. I felt bad for her and when she finally could do things her way and spread her wings, I was happy for her. I just never imagined that it would come back to bite me in the ass every time she asked me to go to church with her.”
“I guess that I was lucky that my grandmother wasn’t really a regular church goer. She encouraged me to believe in whatever I wanted to and well, I guess that science was what I eventually decided to believe in. Maybe science is my religion,” Norah said.
“Well, we all have to believe in something,” Colter said. “So, do you mind if I head out in the morning to see my mom, or did you have plans for us?”
“Honestly, I have no plans at all, except to catch up on some work and sleep. I could use a distraction. How about you let me tag along with you and I can be a buffer when she asks you to go to church? I’ll come up with some excuse as to why you can’t, that way you won’t have to lie to your mother or feel like you’re disappointing her when you tell her that you can’t make it to church with her.”
“You’d do that for me?” he asked.
“Sure,” she breathed, “I mean, you are helping me to fool the others into believing that we’re together, right? I guess it’s only fair that I help you out with your mother.” Colter wanted to take her up on her offer, but he knew that someone like Norah might get under his mother’s skin. Once she found out what Norah did for a living, she’d start going off on a tangent about The Bible being the only science that she needed. When his mother became argumentative, it was time for him to leave. He just worried about how Norah would take his mom’s combative nature.
“You’re overthinking it,” Norah said. “Just let me help.”
“Fine,” Colter breathed. “I appreciate the assist, but if my mother becomes too much to handle, just let me know and I’ll get us out of there.”
“You mean, we should use a code word?” she asked.
He shrugged, “I guess,” he said, “what word would you like to use?” All Colter could think about was Norah giving him her safe word that she’d want to use in the bedroom, and he knew that if he didn’t stop that train of thought, he’d end up hard and have to take yet another cold shower. She scrunched up her nose—something that he found totally adorable, but wouldn’t ever admit it to Norah, and smiled when she had a word in mind.
“Alligator,” she said triumphantly.
“Seriously,” he questioned. “I was expecting something a bit more scientific, but alligator it is.”
“It’s my favorite animal—well, that and a crocodile.”
“Makes sense since they are both so similar,” he agreed.
“Oh, no,” she said. “They are very different.” Norah started to list all the similarities and differences between an alligator and a crocodile, and he rolled his eyes.
“Okay, before we get too caught up in all things alligator and crocodile, how about we just get some sleep?” he asked.
