Page 8 of The Summer House

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“You have to realize I know next to nothing about robots,” Rick was saying an hour later. “However we all give input on large projects. The philosophy is that even if it’s not an area of expertise, we can all see the big picture.”

“I get that part,” Mandy said. “But what I don’t understand is the whole housecleaning robot thing. The guy can’t have been serious.”

“He was. His company had already invested every penny they had. They needed more funding to take it to the next level, and we were their best option for a source. The foundation offers all kinds of grants and loans for innovation.”

He pushed away his salad. Neither of them had eaten much. It was far more interesting to talk. Mandy kept thinking that if she and Rick had had this much fun together while they’d been married, they would never have split up.

“So we built a mock-up of a house. Just the interior—a few basic rooms. We furnished it, added some dust and let the robot go.”

“And?”

He shrugged. “It did great. Dusted, vacuumed, even moved a glass vase without breaking it.”

“So when can I expect this wonder at my local discount store?”

“You can’t. I got the bright idea to add a dog to the equation.”

Mandy blinked at him. “Why?”

“Many households have a pet. Dogs and cats are the most common. Plus the dog was handy. One of the guys on our staff brings one to work with him every day. What I really wanted was a kid, but we didn’t have one of those hanging around.”

“Pity,” she said, managing not to smile. “You could have tried at one of the local schools.”

“Naw. That would have taken too long. So I put the dog in the house with the robot.”

“Why do I have a feeling this didn’t go well?”

“Let’s just say Mr. Robot didn’t like pets. He started chasing the poor dog from room to room, trying to vacuum it. I finally rescued the dog and we had to pass on the robot project.”

“So that guy really hates you.”

“Probably,” Rick said cheerfully. “I doubt that he’s alone. I pass on far more projects than I approve.”

He spoke with a confidence that had been missing all those years ago, Mandy thought. Being in charge looked good on him. But based on his new and improved body, she would guess that just about anything would look good on him.

“What happened to laser physics?” she asked. “I thought that was your life.”

“It was…for a while. I enjoyed my work. I’d been smart enough to insist on patent ownership as part of my employment contract. I invented a fair amount while I was with the company. They have an exclusive license on more than half of my inventions, which makes them happy.”

“And they pay well for the privilege, which makes you happy,” she said. “Am I right?”

He nodded. “I’ve licensed the other patents out to different companies. The government is using a couple.”

“Jo mentioned you were doing well financially.”

“Mom likes to brag. I do okay. For now my work at the foundation is interesting. Eventually I’m probably going to go back into research, but only when I’m ready to head up my own facility.”

“Still don’t like being told what to do?”

“Does anyone?”

“Some people like being followers.”

He eyed her. “Not you. As I recall, you were very big on being in charge.”

“That’s because I always knew best.”

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