Another shrug. “I suppose it's possible.”
He didn't seem too excited. At least, not as excited as she had hoped. “Did
you like the school?”
“The school was amazing. The labs were amazing, the trees were amazing,
all the students looked amazing. Everything was very…tweedy.”
“What?”
“Never mind.” His shoulders were slumped, his eyes looking past her.
This topic was turning into a dead end.
She laced her fingers together. “So, I've been wondering.”
“Yeah?”
“What dire straits have left you Golden Grove's most eligible bachelor?”
“What?”
“Surely something's been bubbling in that lovely beaker you call a heart.”
He splayed back in the love seat, arms spread on each side. “Nothing but the
usual chemicals. Mostly proteins. Albumins, globulins. I had a banana today so
there's probably some potassium.”
She nodded. “Mmm. Albumins and globulins and potassium. Oh my.” She
came and sat by him. He kept his arm on the seat back behind her.
“And who's saying anything about most eligible bachelor in town?”
So, he was curious. “Oh, just about every able-bodied woman in town I meet, it seems.”
He almost snorted. “They say that about anyone male under thirty with a pulse.”
Kate nodded. “Mmm…I see. And what about, um…Penny Fitch?” she asked
nonchalantly.
“Just a friend. If that.”
She laughed. “Penny? But I thought you—I thought she was the one all the
boys had the hots for.”
“Yeah, maybe some of my friends. In high school. Besides, she's had a rough
past few years. Got divorced a few years ago, before she moved back here.”
“Really? I figured she'd have married a billionaire and be toting around five
kids in a minivan by now.”
He shrugged. “Things don't always go the way you think sometimes.”
Kate said nothing for a moment. She was thinking of this porch. Scenes from
summers years ago. “It must be hard here. Without your dad.”
He looked away, pulled back his arm and ran his fingers through his hair. It
fell back almost exactly into the same place.
“There are moments. But it is what it is.”
Her heart tugged towards him. She felt as if what she said next would carry a
huge amount of weight. Maybe enough to break whatever friendship she'd
rekindled with him. Maybe enough to ruin any chances of something more.
“That's one of the things I love about you, Peter.”
