Heat Wave: Nerds of Paradise (A Magnolias and Moonshine Novella Book 18)

by Merry Farmer

  “I’ll help too,” Angelica said, carried away by Dennis’s generosity. “I’ll even help build the new house if I have to. I’m sure Latoya would love to tackle the project, and you know you can trust her. I’ll stay here and do whatever it takes to get the job done.”

  The joy that had lifted her up stopped cold when she saw the puzzled look on Dennis’s face. As soon as their eyes met, his frown deepened until he turned away and went to busy himself with the coffee.

  It hit Angelica a second later. She’d just told the old folks she’d stay. That implied that she wouldn’t take the job in Wyoming, which meant she wouldn’t go with Dennis. Once again, she’d manage to say something hurtful without trying, without thinking it through.

  “I’m sure we could—” she started, but a knock on the door startled her into silence. “I’ll get that,” she said, rushing out of the room and away from the tangle she’d created.

  Of course, she was always running away from the tangles. That thought gnawed at her as she strode through the house to the front door. She needed to stop acting like a deer in the headlights every time something challenged her on a personal level. She could solve complex equations and grasp the details of quantum mechanics, but she couldn’t open her mouth without hurting the people she cared most about.

  Surprise piled on top of her swirling thoughts as she pulled open the front door to reveal Nathan Holstein.

  “Good morning,” he greeted her with a faltering smile.

  “Mr. Holstein,” she said, her brow rising. She opened her mouth to ask what the heck he was doing there at eight in the morning, but shut it and stood to the side. “Come in.”

  “I hope you don’t mind,” he said as he walked into her mother’s living room. “I heard about the fire, heard it was on your street, and I had to stop by to make sure you were okay.”

  Angelica blinked rapidly. “That was…that was very kind of you.” And the last thing she would have expected from the man after the way he’d behaved at dinner on Saturday night. “I thought you’d gone back to Houston.”

  “I was supposed to,” he began, “But my plans changed. And then I saw the news last night.”

  “And…and you came over here to make sure I was all right?”

  Nathan laughed. “Don’t look so surprised. Just because I came out here to recruit you doesn’t mean I don’t actually care about you as a person.”

  There was nothing Angelica could say to that. It was completely unexpected, but at the same time, she was grateful.

  “NASA hasn’t given up on you, you know,” Nathan went on. “But even if you choose not to go with us, we’ll always have a vested interest in you.”

  “I’m…that’s…I don’t know what to say.”

  He chuckled again. “You don’t have to say anything. Just let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

  “I…I will.” Angelica blinked one last time, then shook her head to bring herself to her senses. “Sorry, I’m a little tired last night after all the excitement.” That was the truth. Everything about the night had been exciting. “Would you like some coffee?”

  “Sure.” Nathan smiled.

  Angelica led him through the living room and down the hall to the kitchen. When she showed him in and introduced him to the others, Nathan laughed in surprise.

  “I should have expected to see you here,” he said, crossing to shake Dennis’s hand. “I appreciate dogged competition.”

  “This is my old neighborhood too,” Dennis said, the strange, confused look on his face even more pronounced. “There was a fire last night that destroyed the home of some good friends.” He nodded to the old folks, watching from the table with tired eyes.

  “I know.” Nathan nodded. “That’s why I came by.” He turned to the old folks. “I saw the whole thing on the news last night. I’m sorry for your loss.”

  “Thank you.” Mrs. Brown nodded to him.

  “I thought Angelica might have been in trouble,” Nathan went on, speaking to her mother. “I’m glad she’s okay, but I’m sorry that this has all touched you so closely.” He was being genuine, but Angelica still couldn’t shake the feeling that the man was a few bricks shy of a load when it came to saying the right thing at the right time. “I’ve told Angelica here I’ll do anything I can to help out.”

  “Really?” Angelica’s mom asked as Angelica poured a mug of coffee for Nathan. “Like what?”

  Nathan shuffled a bit at being put on the spot. “Well, if Angelica comes to work for NASA, I’m sure we could figure out a way to put together a contribution for the charity of her choice, if that’s the way you want to go.” He sent a fleeting look to the elders at the table.

  “That would be extraordinarily generous of you,” Angelica’s mom said.

  “It would,” Mrs. Brown seconded.

  “Yes,” Angelica added slowly. She glanced to Dennis, wondering if the Great Howard Haskell IV, about whom she’d heard so much, would be willing to make the same pledge.

  She frowned at the expression Dennis wore. It was almost sullen, almost disappointed. She would have chalked it up to exhaustion, but for the spark in his eyes. If only they could have two seconds alone to talk things through, make sure they were on the same page.

  “Thank you for your offer,” Mr. Fellowes spoke up. “But we’re gonna need a lot more than some corporation throwing money at us.”

  “Now, Terrance, don’t be difficult,” Angelica’s mom scolded him.

  “I’m not being difficult,” Mr. Fellowes went on. “I’m being realistic. You say Latoya and her crew would be willing to rebuild the house dirt cheap.” He turned to Angelica just as she was asking Nathan whether he would like cream and sugar in his coffee. She stopped just as Nathan shook his head to indicate he took it black. “Latoya is just getting started with her business. How’s she gonna get the permits to build? Where is she gonna find workers willing to build a house for seniors on a fixed income?”

  “That’s something we can help her with,” Dennis went on. “Latoya is resourceful, and we can help connect her with those resources.”

  “And I said I would help,” Angelica added. “As much as I can.” She sent a look Nathan’s way as she crossed the room with his coffee.

  “You know,” Nathan went on as he took the mug. “The other thing I could do would be to ask if, instead of working out of Houston, you could work from Huntsville, Alabama. That’s just a few hours’ drive from here, right?”

  “Right.” Angelica’s mom crossed her arms, studying him.

  Angelica froze in the middle of stepping back to stand by her mother’s side. A thrill of possibility swirled through her gut.

  “So Angelica could accept the job, work nearby, and come home on weekends and days off to help with the construction.” Nathan smiled as if he’d figured out the solution to everyone’s problems.

  “NASA would do that?” Angelica asked. She wasn’t sure how that made her feel. It should have sent her to the moon and back. To be able to stay near to home at a time when she was truly needed while still working with one of the world’s top aerospace companies, was more than she would ever have thought to ask for.

  With one small problem.

  “That sounds like a really wonderful idea,” Dennis said, not quite managing the enthusiasm everyone else in the room was showing. “Brilliant really.”

  “No offense to you or Paradise Space Flight,” Nathan went on, “but it really is the best of everything.”

  “If you can pull it off,” Angelica spoke her thought aloud, no idea if it was what she wanted. Home was where her heart was, but would she be able to say the same once Dennis went back to Wyoming? Everything had changed between them now. She didn’t know if she could step back from that. The memory of his arms around her, the way he kissed her with abandon, the way their bodies fit so well together assailed her. Even more powerful was the deep satisfaction of working together with him to settle Mrs. Brown and the others gave her. But the sense of obligation s
he felt to her neighbors, to her family was—

  “I need to go clean up.” Dennis cut into her thoughts, pushing away from the counter and striding out through the crowded room to the hall.

  “Honey, you know I don’t mind a little soot in my kitchen,” Angelica’s mom called after him. But Dennis walked on.

  It wasn’t enough. If Angelica was ever going to feel as though she made the right decision and fixed the mistakes of her past, she had to act. Without a sideways look for any of the others, she raced after Dennis.

  Chapter Ten

  “Wait!”

  Dennis sensed Angelica following him before she called out. He didn’t turn around immediately, though. Figuring out the right way to handle the situation was as tricky as figuring out Olber’s Paradox. He shouldn’t have been surprised. Love was more complicated than astrophysics any day of the week.

  “Dennis, please stop.”

  He finally paused and let his shoulders drop when he was near the front door. His heart beat as though he’d run for hours. Dreading everything that he was sure was about to be said, he turned to face her.

  Angelica rushed to within a few feet of him. Her eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep, and her brows pulled tight with emotion made her seem like a lost child. It wasn’t what Dennis had expected, and it hit him hard, opening a chasm in his chest.

  “Don’t leave,” Angelica said.

  “I think it’s best if I do,” he replied. His hands itched to reach out and brush her cheek, to pull her into his embrace. But now wasn’t the time.

  “It’s not best,” Angelica insisted. She bit her lip and shifted her weight restlessly from one foot to another. “I need you here.”

  Dennis shook his head and shrugged. “I don’t think you do. You’ve got your mom to help. And Latoya and Leon are down at Mrs. Brown’s house. They said they’d be here soon to check on everyone.”

  “That’s not what I mean.” She took a halting step closer to him.

  “Your buddy Holstein said he’d help out too,” Dennis went on. He would have given anything to know if he was doing the right thing. It would have been so much easier to swoop in and tell Angelica what she needed to do. “Nice of him to offer to get you a job in Huntsville,” he added.

  “It was.” Angelica’s bristling tension subsided, but the uncertainty that replaced it was harder to watch. She hugged herself, glancing to the side, her face so drawn it looked like she might be sick.

  Dennis watched her, something fierce and protective growing in his gut. He shifted his weight, running a hand through his dirty hair. This was a decision Angelica had to make on her own, but everything in him wanted to reach out, be a part of the process, be a part of her.

  “If Holstein can get you a job practically next door, you would be close enough to home to help whenever folks needed it,” Dennis said slowly. He wanted her, more than anything, but he wanted her to be happy. And it was clear to him what would accomplish that. If he could just nudge her in the right direction.

  “Mama would love it,” Angelica sighed.

  “I’m sure Latoya would appreciate your help with the reconstruction too,” Dennis went on.

  “She would.” Angelica all but quivered with uncertainty. Her normally clear and confident voice was small and wispy with hesitation. She raised both hands to rub her face, then kept them there, hiding her eyes.

  It was too much. Dennis stepped toward her and circled his arms around her. He held her tight, letting her rest her forehead against his shoulder. “Hey, I understand,” he said. “It’s a tough decision, but I know how important the neighborhood is to you. I’m not at all upset by where you put your priorities.”

  She drew in a breath and looked up at him. “My priorities?” Her dark lashes were damp with tears.

  That went straight to Dennis’s heart. He cradled the side of her face, brushing his thumb over her cheek. He wanted to kiss her, so badly it made him twitchy, but he didn’t. He couldn’t. Not knowing it was over between them.

  “We stick together in this neighborhood, just like everyone always says. Mrs. Brown and the others need you now, and Holstein just handed you a trump card that I could never manage.”

  “If he can pull it off,” Angelica said. Her body was tense in his arms, and he couldn’t quite figure out what her odd expression meant.

  “I’m sure NASA will give you whatever you want,” he went on. “Anybody who has half a clue what they’re doing would move heaven and earth to get you on their team.”

  “Would you?”

  Her question struck him right in the heart. He would. If he could pick Atlanta up and move it to the middle of the Rockies so that the two of them could be close, he would do it. If he could have convinced Howie to open up a branch office in Atlanta, he would have done that too. But geography was immutable, Paradise Space Flight needed to be in Haskell, and Angelica cared too much about their neighbors to leave them in the lurch when she was needed.

  “Angelica,” he answered at last. “I love you.”

  She sucked in a breath as she looked up at him.

  “I have always loved you, and I don’t see loving you stopping any time soon.”

  “Dennis,” she whispered.

  “But I know you,” he went on before she could tear his heart out by telling him what he already knew. “I know that given a choice between me and your family, your home, I’m not the one you’d choose. I know that the depth of your devotion to people is what makes you such a beautiful soul. You may think your mind is your greatest asset, that the scientific advances we all know you’ll bring to the world are the greatest accomplishments you can manage, but you’re wrong. It’s the way you care about other people that makes you so wonderful. I can’t compete with that, and I wouldn’t want to try.”

  “I don’t think anyone’s ever said anything so beautiful to me in my life,” she said, so quiet he almost couldn’t hear her. Her glance faltered, drifting down to his shoulder. A moment later, she lifted her chin to meet him square in the eyes. “But you’re wrong.”

  Dennis grinned, happy to see her spirit return. He loosened his hold on her. “No, I’m not.”

  “You most certainly are.” Her energy grew by the minute. “I’m not nearly as selfless or kindhearted as you think I am.”

  “Oh, really?” He let her slip out of his arms, mostly so that he could watch the way her posture straightened and her stance returned to that of the sassy woman he loved so much.

  “Yes, really,” she answered him. “I do care about home and the people who raised me. They made me who I am. But so did you.”

  He made a sound of doubt, but before it could form into words, she grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled him close.

  “I never would have pushed myself to achieve as much as I have if it hadn’t been for your influence,” she said, her expression now set with determination. “If not for you, I would have gone the way of Vanessa and Emily. I would have chosen popularity over academics all those years ago.”

  Dennis winced. “A truly frightening thought.”

  A small laugh escaped from her throat. “I love those people sitting in Mama’s kitchen,” she went on. “And you’re right, Atlanta will always be home. But that old cliché says that home is where the heart is, and Dennis, my heart is with you.”

  His brow flew up. He placed his hands over hers where they still held handfuls of his shirt. “Yeah, but love isn’t actually the solution to every problem.”

  “Nonsense.”

  “No, really,” Dennis insisted. “Especially when you have a whole other world of practical solutions handed to you.”

  “Like what, Huntsville?”

  “Yes, Huntsville.” The mood had changed so much that he laughed. Then he shook his head. He pried her hands off of his shirt and held them between his. “Look, I wasn’t going to tell you what to do or what decision to make, but I can’t help it. Going to work for NASA in Huntsville is exactly what you need right now. Everyone knows that
NASA is a prestigious organization who has the funding and the scope to give you a stellar career. And it keeps you close to home, where you’re needed.”

  She shook her head. “NASA lacks one important thing. It’s a deal-breaker.”

  “What?” He shifted, smirking. “They won’t let you lead your own team, like I know PSF eventually would?”

  “No.” She let go of his hands and reached up to stroke his sooty, stubbly face. “They don’t have you.”

  Before he could tell her not to, she pushed up to her toes and brought her lips to his in a kiss that was both sweet and passionate. He was helpless to do anything but kiss her back. He slid his arms around her, pulling her close. Her warm, lithe body felt magical against his. He would have given anything to keep her with him like this forever. But….

  “I won’t let you give up a perfect situation for me,” he said, breaking their kiss. “Not when it’s being handed to you.”

  “But it isn’t being handed to me,” she insisted. “And the perfect situation for me is being with you. It always has been.”

  “Always?” He quirked an eyebrow.

  “Even when I was too immature to see it,” she said, sliding her arms up over his shoulders and around his neck. “I was always happiest when I was with you. I only ever felt like I was who I wanted to be when we were together. And last night.” She sighed, a flush darkening her skin—skin that he remembered the taste of all too well. “I didn’t know it could be like that,” she said, her voice lower, deeper. “But they say sex is always better with someone you love the way that I love you.”

  Her declaration was thick with emotion. There was nothing Dennis could do but lift her half off her feet to kiss her. She was right. Everything did fall into place when the two of them were together, and it always had.

  “There must be ways I can help out here at home even if I don’t live nearby,” she went on, a little breathless, when they broke the kiss. “Same goes for you too. Were you planning to waltz on back to Wyoming without a second glance when the old folks here need you?”

  “No,” he admitted. “I’ve been trying to work out the best way to help out all night long.”