attendees at a funeral.
"Mother didn't attach much importance to ceremonies," Sara said dully. Kyle must think she was heartless, she realized. "When my father and brother were killed in the Arctic storm, she and I went into the garden here and planted two oak trees. Among the roots of one my mother put my father's favorite pipe; under the second tree she put my brother's high school baseball cap. That was our memorial service, and it was perfect."
"You were too afraid of the outside world to go to your mother's funeral," Kyle insisted, emphasizing each word between clenched teeth.
"There was no need for me to go. Her body was cremated. That's how she wanted it. One of her dearest friendsan old colleague from her university daystook the ashes to a park and spread them among the flowers."
"That should have been your duty, don't you think?"
Yes . Sara screamed silently. But keeping Anna's granddaughter a secret from government investigators was my duty too .
"I simply had no need to express my grief in a morbid ceremony. Sometimes I think you don't understand me very well, Kyle. Maybe you ought to realize that I'm happy being alone. And that I'm not a very sentimental person."
He described that claim with one blunt word. Sara gazed at him unhappily. Was there any way to bridge the gap between her desperate need for his affection and her equally desperate need to keep him from knowing about Noelle?
She jumped as the transmitter in her left ear produced an ominous succession of sounds from the nurseryDaisy barking, Noelle making gleeful noises, a loud crack as something hit the floor, and then static as the transmitter went dead.
Sara stood up. Act calm. Be nonchalant . "Good night."
"What the hell?" He vaulted to his feet. His long, easy strides beat her to the hallway door. He flung an arm across the opening so quickly that she ran into it.
Sara gazed up at him worriedly. "I have to go. Thanks for dinner. It was great."
"You're not going anywhere, Tinker Bell. Tonight you're sitting and talking. No argument."
"Kyle, I can't! I have an experiment"
"Forget it. I don't believe you. You probably go back there and sit in front of your damned television sets and spy on me with cameras you've got hidden in the house."
"I'm not that eccentric ! And if there were cameras inside the house, I'm sure you would have found them by now. You'd have done another striptease and then cut the cables!"
He thrust his jaw forward belligerently. His mouth thinned with impatience. "Just what have you got in your lab? Hmmm? Go ahead and check on it. I'll go with you."
"Please, please." She sank her hands into the front of his shirt. "You promised that you wouldn't intrude on that part of my life. You swore that you wouldn't." She touched a finger to a scar on his cheek. "You swore on these, remember?"
He twisted his face away from her touch, but looked at her with grim acknowledgment. "All right," he said wearily. Then his fingers snaked forward and plucked the tiny transmitter from her ear.
"No! Give that back!"
"I noticed this a day or two ago, but I tried not to indulge my curiosity. What are the plants saying tonight, Sara?"
She tried to grab the device. He held it beyond her reach and braced a restraining hand against her shoulder. Frustration and concern for Noelle's predicament brought a string of harsh words from Sara's mouth.
"Very creative, Doctor," Kyle said pleasantly. "I've never been called names by a genius before. I'm honored." He put the transmitter into his ear and listened for a second. "The begonias are tampering with the radio again. It's not tuned to a station."
"Please let me go," she begged, bowing her head to his shoulder, all dignity lost. "I'll do anything you want, later. Right now just please give me that transmitter and let me go to the to my lab."
Sara stared up into his face and knew that Jeopard wasn't the only one in the Surprise family who could look as inscrutable as a sphinx. Then a flicker of
"Mother didn't attach much importance to ceremonies," Sara said dully. Kyle must think she was heartless, she realized. "When my father and brother were killed in the Arctic storm, she and I went into the garden here and planted two oak trees. Among the roots of one my mother put my father's favorite pipe; under the second tree she put my brother's high school baseball cap. That was our memorial service, and it was perfect."
"You were too afraid of the outside world to go to your mother's funeral," Kyle insisted, emphasizing each word between clenched teeth.
"There was no need for me to go. Her body was cremated. That's how she wanted it. One of her dearest friendsan old colleague from her university daystook the ashes to a park and spread them among the flowers."
"That should have been your duty, don't you think?"
Yes . Sara screamed silently. But keeping Anna's granddaughter a secret from government investigators was my duty too .
"I simply had no need to express my grief in a morbid ceremony. Sometimes I think you don't understand me very well, Kyle. Maybe you ought to realize that I'm happy being alone. And that I'm not a very sentimental person."
He described that claim with one blunt word. Sara gazed at him unhappily. Was there any way to bridge the gap between her desperate need for his affection and her equally desperate need to keep him from knowing about Noelle?
She jumped as the transmitter in her left ear produced an ominous succession of sounds from the nurseryDaisy barking, Noelle making gleeful noises, a loud crack as something hit the floor, and then static as the transmitter went dead.
Sara stood up. Act calm. Be nonchalant . "Good night."
"What the hell?" He vaulted to his feet. His long, easy strides beat her to the hallway door. He flung an arm across the opening so quickly that she ran into it.
Sara gazed up at him worriedly. "I have to go. Thanks for dinner. It was great."
"You're not going anywhere, Tinker Bell. Tonight you're sitting and talking. No argument."
"Kyle, I can't! I have an experiment"
"Forget it. I don't believe you. You probably go back there and sit in front of your damned television sets and spy on me with cameras you've got hidden in the house."
"I'm not that eccentric ! And if there were cameras inside the house, I'm sure you would have found them by now. You'd have done another striptease and then cut the cables!"
He thrust his jaw forward belligerently. His mouth thinned with impatience. "Just what have you got in your lab? Hmmm? Go ahead and check on it. I'll go with you."
"Please, please." She sank her hands into the front of his shirt. "You promised that you wouldn't intrude on that part of my life. You swore that you wouldn't." She touched a finger to a scar on his cheek. "You swore on these, remember?"
He twisted his face away from her touch, but looked at her with grim acknowledgment. "All right," he said wearily. Then his fingers snaked forward and plucked the tiny transmitter from her ear.
"No! Give that back!"
"I noticed this a day or two ago, but I tried not to indulge my curiosity. What are the plants saying tonight, Sara?"
She tried to grab the device. He held it beyond her reach and braced a restraining hand against her shoulder. Frustration and concern for Noelle's predicament brought a string of harsh words from Sara's mouth.
"Very creative, Doctor," Kyle said pleasantly. "I've never been called names by a genius before. I'm honored." He put the transmitter into his ear and listened for a second. "The begonias are tampering with the radio again. It's not tuned to a station."
"Please let me go," she begged, bowing her head to his shoulder, all dignity lost. "I'll do anything you want, later. Right now just please give me that transmitter and let me go to the to my lab."
Sara stared up into his face and knew that Jeopard wasn't the only one in the Surprise family who could look as inscrutable as a sphinx. Then a flicker of
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