Page 41 of Winning Bid

“Yeah, I think so.”

“According to ancient Greeks, that’s Auriga. He was said to be a great charioteer and the inventor of the four-horse chariot, the quadriga.”

He slowly turns his head and stares at me for a minute before teasing me, “Nerd!”

“What? I can’t have layers?”

He laughs. “I mean, yeah, but I had no idea you’re into astrology.”

“Astronomy. Astrology is zodiac stuff. And it’s less astronomy and more history, really. When you look into the constellations of different cultures, you can learn about them. What they thought was worthy of commemorating shows you their values.”

“So, astro-anthropology.”

“I guess so.”

He settles back down. “Where’d you learn about Auriga?”

I take a breath. “Summer camp got me started learning about them, but I kept at it long after. You know how every kid goes really hard into some niche subject? Mine was that. What was yours?”

“Frogs.”

I laugh, but he doesn’t. “You’re serious?”

“When I was a boy, I found a planter with a ton of these goopy little balls in it. I scooped them up and carried them in to ask Mom what the seeds were. She was grossed out, so of course, that made me like them more. Mom told me they were frog eggs, and she said to put them back where I got them, and I told her where I’d found them, which made her worry.”

“How come?”

“She knew the eggs would dry out, and the babies would die. So, we collected the rest and looked up how to make a terrarium to keep them safe. We spent a summer with those things, learning about them and taking care of them. I loved it.”

Thinking of a young Anderson doing something so scientific warms my heart. I want to do that with our kids. “So you saved them?”

“Every last one. We released them when they were old enough, but before then, we had the best time with the froglets.”

“God, I want that. Not goopy egg things being brought to me but exploring the world with our kids. That sounds amazing. Also, it’s nice to know I’m not the only nerd here.”

He laughs and kisses my forehead. “Yeah, well. It was a lot of fun. I always liked the idea that you could start your life as one thing and end up as something else entirely. That kind of metamorphosis is inspirational.”

“When you were a kid, you wanted to be someone else?”

“Sometimes. I wanted to be a kid with a dad who liked him.”

My heart pinches at that. “Your dad likes you?—"

“He likes what I can do for him, June. I’m not under any delusions that it’s more than that.”

“I don’t know if I think that’s true. He was shaken when you were shot?—"

He laughs bitterly. “Pretty sure a good parent should show they care about you in all the years before you get shot.”

Well, he has me there. “I mean, I’m not the guy’s biggest fan, but I think he cares in his own way. Whatever that might be.”

He shrugs. “Whether he does or not, I didn’t feel it when I was a kid. I wanted to be someone else, someplace else, for my whole childhood, other than when I spent time with Mom. We had some decent nannies, but it’s not the same thing.”

“No, it’s not.” On that topic, “And depending on just how big our family gets, I could see having one, but I’d prefer to raise our kids ourselves.”

“Would you consider quitting your job to do that?”

I nod. “I’ll never be CEO of some multi-million dollar corporation, so since you’d be the breadwinner, I’d happily be the stay-at-home parent. I don’t see a reason not to do that. Do you?”

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