room. What were you trying to do there, Dee?”
I didn’t have any grand ulterior motive. I was just showing a little appreciation while I stayed out of Emmett’s way. To Pam, I shrugged. “I just felt like saying thank you.”
“You ever think about what comes next?” she asked.
“Next? After New York, Boston-Prov could use some help,” I said. My gardening chores stretched into the future unending. There was always something new for Amenac to grow into. Emmett wrangled tirelessly to keep the lights on, the natural gas pipelines and water mains and sewers flowing, the Internet up, transportation running, food distribution. The Rescos worked to provide infrastructure to rebuild in the wreckage of our economy. But entropy was encroaching. I imagine I looked sad.
“After the United States,” Pam clarified. “After March, when the Calm Act’s ‘culling’ phase is over.”
I frowned. “No one’s ever told me what the plan is, after March. Pick up the pieces, I assumed.”
Aside from Zack and Emmett, Pam was only the third person to mention March to me. That culling part of the Calm Act was far from public. I doubt even Emmett would have said anything to me, if Zack hadn’t already.
Adam slipped into the hot tub, interrupting wherever Pam had been going with that. With a pang, I wondered if he’d been in a hot tub since our last time together, a romantic evening at his beach house before Christmas, nearly a year ago. I hadn’t. And he seemed to be thinking long thoughts. I was glad he sat next to Pam.
As the party broke up, most of the Rescos floated back to their rooms. The linchpins slipped into the hot tub with us as their consultations broke off, simply because Niedermeyer and Emmett joined Pam and me. The hot tub conversation stayed casual, until we were the last left in the echoing pool room. Most of the lights were turned down, except the underwater ones, giving the hot tub an intimate feel.
“I hope you’ll all stay after the summit,” Niedermeyer said, after the social conversation dissolved into the churning hot water. “I’ll work out the details for a dinner. Just us.”
Emmett frowned slightly. “You want Mora for this, don’t you, John?”
“No. You.”
Hoffman agreed. “You’ve clearly got Connecticut in hand, Emmett.” The others nodded.
-o-
“You must be exhausted,” I said sadly, when we got back to our suite. We hadn’t made love all week.
Emmett tucked a lock of my wet hair behind my ear. “Chlorine hair. I could help with that.” He relieved me of my towel, and started peeling me out of my bathing suit. He changed his mind. “That could wait.”
“So you’re not tired?”
“Wired,” he reported.
“You’re very pushy.”
“Uh-huh.” He pushed me backward until I was sitting on the bed, then crawled on after me, pushing me down flat until I laughed. “Talk less,” he advised. Not that he gave me any choice in the matter. He crushed his mouth to mine.
Afterward, lying spent draped along his side, I said, “Emmett? I love you.” It was a scary thing to say, for me.
He froze, and stopped breathing for a few seconds. Then he crushed me to him and said, “Thank you. I love you, too. You know that.”
He’d let it slip the first time we’d ever made love, that he’d fallen in love with me when I was still with Zack. I didn’t want to hear it at the time.
“Anything else we need to talk about?” I asked. I considered his surprise previous wife, his upset over Adam, his presentation’s rousing success, his stand-off with Mora. I could talk for hours. But I gave him his 15 seconds or more to respond.
“No,” he decided. “I’m good. Better than good.” He kissed me gently, on the mouth, the eyes, the forehead.
I doubt either of us fell asleep for another hour. We were busy thinking through the day, silent in each other’s arms. It felt great.
Chapter 9
Interesting fact: Resource coordinators – Rescos for short – had contrasting selection criteria from
I didn’t have any grand ulterior motive. I was just showing a little appreciation while I stayed out of Emmett’s way. To Pam, I shrugged. “I just felt like saying thank you.”
“You ever think about what comes next?” she asked.
“Next? After New York, Boston-Prov could use some help,” I said. My gardening chores stretched into the future unending. There was always something new for Amenac to grow into. Emmett wrangled tirelessly to keep the lights on, the natural gas pipelines and water mains and sewers flowing, the Internet up, transportation running, food distribution. The Rescos worked to provide infrastructure to rebuild in the wreckage of our economy. But entropy was encroaching. I imagine I looked sad.
“After the United States,” Pam clarified. “After March, when the Calm Act’s ‘culling’ phase is over.”
I frowned. “No one’s ever told me what the plan is, after March. Pick up the pieces, I assumed.”
Aside from Zack and Emmett, Pam was only the third person to mention March to me. That culling part of the Calm Act was far from public. I doubt even Emmett would have said anything to me, if Zack hadn’t already.
Adam slipped into the hot tub, interrupting wherever Pam had been going with that. With a pang, I wondered if he’d been in a hot tub since our last time together, a romantic evening at his beach house before Christmas, nearly a year ago. I hadn’t. And he seemed to be thinking long thoughts. I was glad he sat next to Pam.
As the party broke up, most of the Rescos floated back to their rooms. The linchpins slipped into the hot tub with us as their consultations broke off, simply because Niedermeyer and Emmett joined Pam and me. The hot tub conversation stayed casual, until we were the last left in the echoing pool room. Most of the lights were turned down, except the underwater ones, giving the hot tub an intimate feel.
“I hope you’ll all stay after the summit,” Niedermeyer said, after the social conversation dissolved into the churning hot water. “I’ll work out the details for a dinner. Just us.”
Emmett frowned slightly. “You want Mora for this, don’t you, John?”
“No. You.”
Hoffman agreed. “You’ve clearly got Connecticut in hand, Emmett.” The others nodded.
-o-
“You must be exhausted,” I said sadly, when we got back to our suite. We hadn’t made love all week.
Emmett tucked a lock of my wet hair behind my ear. “Chlorine hair. I could help with that.” He relieved me of my towel, and started peeling me out of my bathing suit. He changed his mind. “That could wait.”
“So you’re not tired?”
“Wired,” he reported.
“You’re very pushy.”
“Uh-huh.” He pushed me backward until I was sitting on the bed, then crawled on after me, pushing me down flat until I laughed. “Talk less,” he advised. Not that he gave me any choice in the matter. He crushed his mouth to mine.
Afterward, lying spent draped along his side, I said, “Emmett? I love you.” It was a scary thing to say, for me.
He froze, and stopped breathing for a few seconds. Then he crushed me to him and said, “Thank you. I love you, too. You know that.”
He’d let it slip the first time we’d ever made love, that he’d fallen in love with me when I was still with Zack. I didn’t want to hear it at the time.
“Anything else we need to talk about?” I asked. I considered his surprise previous wife, his upset over Adam, his presentation’s rousing success, his stand-off with Mora. I could talk for hours. But I gave him his 15 seconds or more to respond.
“No,” he decided. “I’m good. Better than good.” He kissed me gently, on the mouth, the eyes, the forehead.
I doubt either of us fell asleep for another hour. We were busy thinking through the day, silent in each other’s arms. It felt great.
Chapter 9
Interesting fact: Resource coordinators – Rescos for short – had contrasting selection criteria from
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