shortened my half by a couple of bites.
She or a maid had made up the bed, and she was sitting in the lone chair, reading. She had showered and changed her bandage, a less dramatic single wrap of gauze. We went outdoors to a picnic table to attack the sub.
She rode the length of the motel parking lot and decided that discretion was the better part of valor, though I think being a mathematician, she might express that differently. âD >> Vâ?
We drove back to my place because I had tools and a workstand, and we drank wine while I cleaned and adjusted her bike. I even tuned the spokes on her rear wheel, ping-ping-ping, a process sheâd never seen, which delighted her.
She picked up a family portrait that was sitting on top of my nailed-together bookcase. âHear from your dad recently?â
âStill boning whatâs-her-name in Chicago, I guess. I did get an e-mail day before yesterday that went to a couple hundred of his closest friends. Heâs opening in Chicago next week. Probably go up.â Dad was a sometime actor, though most of his money came from teaching drama in adult ed, a sure road to big bucks.
âThat would be a good gesture,â she said carefully. âIt wouldnât bother you if whatâs-her-name was there?â
âNo, no. Sheâs all right. I guess collecting fossils is a legitimate hobby.â
She studied the picture. âI donât know. Iâd say he looks pretty good. He looks like you.â
âNot anymore. He has a bushy white beard now, and horn-rim glasses. Not as much hair. Closer to Lear than Hamlet.â
âHamletâs overrated. Who wants a worrywart?
âCareful, there. I played Hamlet in high school.â
âNo, really? Iâve known you all this time and I didnât know that?â
âWasnât a big deal. Iâd already decided not to follow in Dadâs footsteps.â
âTrotting in front of the footlights. Was he disappointed?â
âFunny, no; not at all. He was all for me getting a doctorate and teaching. It was Mom who wanted me to act.â
She laughed. âWhile your dad was cheating on her with actresses?â
âFunny business.â I shrugged. âShe mightâve known back then; maybe not. It didnât all come out until the divorce.â Five years ago.
âDid your dad ever say . . . did you know?â
âOh, hell, yes. Not in so many words, just a wink or a raised eyebrow now and then. And when he was happy he really showed it. By the time I was sixteen I could tell that his being happy didnât have much to do with what was going on at home. Then Mother caught them together, I think by accident.â
ââThere are no accidents.â Who said that?â
âSchiller? Maybe the captain of the
Titanic
.â
âWas it whatâs-her-name?â
âNo, not even an actress. She was a tech person, a lighting engineer. Not even prettyâthat annoyed the hell out of Mother.â
She traced her finger over the glass of the picture. âYour motherâs more than pretty. Glamorous.â
âYeah, I guess. Little life lesson there.â
âIâm glad youâre not attracted to beautiful women.â
Nothing safe to say to that. I touched her nose, then kissed her gently.
She giggled while we were kissing. âSorry! I can be so awful!â
âNaw. You just need an editor sometimes.â
She stood up and pulled her T-shirt off in one cross-arm jerk, and then stepped out of her shorts. âSo come edit me. If youâre done with the bicycle.â
I wasnât, quite. But it could wait.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Relaxing after a big meal, Hunter sometimes let his mind wander back to other times and places.
His home planet, Vantor, was beautiful but not pleasant, a hard place to grow upâif you lived long enough to grow. Of his twelve littermates, all male, only one other lived to become
Jade Lee
Helena Hunting
Sophia Johnson
Adam LeBor
Kate Avery Ellison
Keeley Bates
Melody Johnson
Elizabeth Musser
Lauren Groff
Colin Evans