lake’s edge.
At long last, most of the work on the house was complete—sothough he still heard the occasional hammer ringing, there was enough quiet to at least
look
at his research. He adjusted his glasses, then studied the lines of figures and notations scrolling past as he kept his finger on the mouse button. It had taken years of work to get this far—to know so much—and still nanotechnology was nowhere near being ready for general use.
But if they could keep donations coming in, keep increasing the money for research, then maybe, within the next ten years or so, nanotechnology would really be the miracle Lucas thought it could be.
Fund-raising.
The party.
He sat back, forgetting about the book, the work, his dreams, lost in the memory of looking at Mike and hearing her agree to go to the damn fund-raiser with him. Still wasn’t sure why he’d asked her. But it had felt . . .
right
. He’d rather not go alone. And Mike was entertaining, if nothing else.
A shout from downstairs had him jumping up from his desk chair and walking into the hall. Leaning over the wrought-iron railing, he stared down at a burly man in coveralls, standing in the middle of the foyer.
The man tipped his head back and squinted up at Lucas. “Just wanted to let you know, we finished up in the guest bathroom and we’re headed out now.”
“Great. Thanks.”
“No problem.” The man let his gaze wander around the foyer before looking back up. “You sure got a nice place here, Lucas.”
“Yeah.” He nodded and smiled. “Thanks to you guys. You do good work.”
“ ’Preciate it.” The man waved and headed out the front door.
Alone in his house, Lucas forgot about going back to work and instead headed for the guest bathroom, to check out the finished job. He walked through the big, airy room that overlooked the backyard and had its own balcony and set of French doors. Smiling to himself, he kept going, into the adjoining bath. It was the last piece to his house. Once that tub was in, then the job was complete and . . .
He looked down for a long minute, grinding his back teeth together. Then he snatched his cell phone from his jeans pocket, flipped it open and punched in a set of numbers. He’d dialed the damn numbers so often in the last two months, they were branded into his brain.
She answered on the first ring.
“This is not the tub I ordered,” he snarled.
She laughed. “Who is this?”
“Damn it, Mike—” His fingers tightened on the cell phone until he almost expected it to snap in his hand. “This was supposed to be a dark blue tub. Nothing fancy. Just dark blue.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said, “but—”
“
This
tub is green,” he pointed out tightly, waving one hand at it like a cheap magician trying to make too many rabbits go back into a hat. “And it’s got Jacuzzi jets in it.”
“Geez, Rocket Man,” Mike said, “chill out, will ya? The green is much better with the wallpaper.”
Lucas wondered if she’d dropped the tone of hervoice to
raw sex
on purpose. And knew it didn’t matter. She’d done it again. Stepped all over his plans, waltzed through his house in her size 7 combat boots, and left muddy footprints all over the damn place. She hadn’t even had to
be
here to do it!
His chin hit his chest, he felt his eyeballs roll in his head and his blood pressure spike. “Mike,” he said slowly, silently congratulating himself on his forbearance, “there
is
no wallpaper.”
“There will be tomorrow morning. Sam Chaney will be there around nineish—can’t be more specific than that, his wife has line dancing lessons and he has to drop her off at the community center first.” She paused for breath, but not long enough to let him get a word in. “Sam’s great. He’ll do a good job.”
Lucas muffled a snort of what he was really afraid might be hysterical laughter. Dropping down onto the edge of the tub, he sighed. “I’ll thank you later, I suppose?”
“See? You
At long last, most of the work on the house was complete—sothough he still heard the occasional hammer ringing, there was enough quiet to at least
look
at his research. He adjusted his glasses, then studied the lines of figures and notations scrolling past as he kept his finger on the mouse button. It had taken years of work to get this far—to know so much—and still nanotechnology was nowhere near being ready for general use.
But if they could keep donations coming in, keep increasing the money for research, then maybe, within the next ten years or so, nanotechnology would really be the miracle Lucas thought it could be.
Fund-raising.
The party.
He sat back, forgetting about the book, the work, his dreams, lost in the memory of looking at Mike and hearing her agree to go to the damn fund-raiser with him. Still wasn’t sure why he’d asked her. But it had felt . . .
right
. He’d rather not go alone. And Mike was entertaining, if nothing else.
A shout from downstairs had him jumping up from his desk chair and walking into the hall. Leaning over the wrought-iron railing, he stared down at a burly man in coveralls, standing in the middle of the foyer.
The man tipped his head back and squinted up at Lucas. “Just wanted to let you know, we finished up in the guest bathroom and we’re headed out now.”
“Great. Thanks.”
“No problem.” The man let his gaze wander around the foyer before looking back up. “You sure got a nice place here, Lucas.”
“Yeah.” He nodded and smiled. “Thanks to you guys. You do good work.”
“ ’Preciate it.” The man waved and headed out the front door.
Alone in his house, Lucas forgot about going back to work and instead headed for the guest bathroom, to check out the finished job. He walked through the big, airy room that overlooked the backyard and had its own balcony and set of French doors. Smiling to himself, he kept going, into the adjoining bath. It was the last piece to his house. Once that tub was in, then the job was complete and . . .
He looked down for a long minute, grinding his back teeth together. Then he snatched his cell phone from his jeans pocket, flipped it open and punched in a set of numbers. He’d dialed the damn numbers so often in the last two months, they were branded into his brain.
She answered on the first ring.
“This is not the tub I ordered,” he snarled.
She laughed. “Who is this?”
“Damn it, Mike—” His fingers tightened on the cell phone until he almost expected it to snap in his hand. “This was supposed to be a dark blue tub. Nothing fancy. Just dark blue.”
“Yeah, I know,” she said, “but—”
“
This
tub is green,” he pointed out tightly, waving one hand at it like a cheap magician trying to make too many rabbits go back into a hat. “And it’s got Jacuzzi jets in it.”
“Geez, Rocket Man,” Mike said, “chill out, will ya? The green is much better with the wallpaper.”
Lucas wondered if she’d dropped the tone of hervoice to
raw sex
on purpose. And knew it didn’t matter. She’d done it again. Stepped all over his plans, waltzed through his house in her size 7 combat boots, and left muddy footprints all over the damn place. She hadn’t even had to
be
here to do it!
His chin hit his chest, he felt his eyeballs roll in his head and his blood pressure spike. “Mike,” he said slowly, silently congratulating himself on his forbearance, “there
is
no wallpaper.”
“There will be tomorrow morning. Sam Chaney will be there around nineish—can’t be more specific than that, his wife has line dancing lessons and he has to drop her off at the community center first.” She paused for breath, but not long enough to let him get a word in. “Sam’s great. He’ll do a good job.”
Lucas muffled a snort of what he was really afraid might be hysterical laughter. Dropping down onto the edge of the tub, he sighed. “I’ll thank you later, I suppose?”
“See? You
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