Page 29 of The Space Between

“It was,” Frankie agrees, looping her arm through Jo’s as they stride up the sidewalk together. They stop in front of Jo’s house. “That was very thoughtful, given the circumstances.”

Jo stands at the foot of her driveway, dragging her toe across the concrete. “I just want everything to feel normal again,” she admits to Frankie. “And I know that’s going to take time—for me and for Bill. I’d gotten to where I could pretty much pretend that Margaret didn’t exist, but of course her death puts her front and center in our lives. It’s almost like she—or her ghost—has moved right into our house. Even the kids are acting strangely.”

“They’re just worried about Bill,” Frankie assures her. “He’s acting differently than normal, and the kids are picking up on that. Trust me.”

Jo nods with a grim smile. “You’re probably right,” she says, looking at the front door of her house and the way the porch light spreads a pool of yellow illumination onto the walkway. “I’m sure things will calm down here soon.”

“They will,” Frankie says. “But in the meantime, how are you going to cope with it? You’re not a big drinker, you say it’s too hot to smoke, and we only get out for a walk about once a week now. So what is Jo going to do for Jo?” Frankie asks, poking her friend in the chest lightly to make her point.

Jo thinks about this for a long moment, letting her eyes rove across the yard, up the trunk of the palm tree that’s growing taller with each passing day, and to the first stars of the evening.

“I think I’m going to write about it,” Jo says, nodding affirmatively. “Yeah, that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to write.”

CHAPTER 13

Jeanie

“And if wethink about the chemical energy that morphs into kinetic energy through the combustion process, we can see how heavily space travel relies on thermodynamic principles. I mean, the heat transfer and the entropy increase, and within our spacecraft, we’re required to manage the heat generated by the engines in order to maintain optimal temperatures in our operating systems,” Jeanie says. She pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose and turns to point at an image that’s being projected onto a screen behind her in the darkened room. “Ultimately, it becomes a mission to make sure that we’re always considering the extreme temperature fluctuations in space.”

The lights go on, and the men on her team are all sitting there, looking serious and thoughtful. From experience, Jeanie knows that at least half of them are in an after-lunch blood sugar slump, but she stands at attention, waiting for their questions. As she laces her hands together in front of her, her eyes travel to Bill. He’s looking out a window at the tree line in the distance, but he turns his head without warning and meets Jeanie’s gaze.

“Thermodynamics are obviously the basis for space travel,” Bill says without warning. “So I understand the implications,but I’m wondering if thermodynamics and equilibrium aren’t the most important combination of factors that we have to deal with.”

A thrill runs through Jeanie; she should have known she could count on Bill to bring something relevant to the conversation.

“Right. Of course, Bill. Thermodynamic equilibrium is—as we all know—a state where a series of properties remain constant over time. There is no net flow of energy or matter within the system, and we achieve a state of balance where the system is stable.”

Jay raises a hand hesitantly and says something that dovetails nicely with the discussion, but Jeanie’s still watching Bill, noting the way his hair has gotten slightly longer than it’s ever been since she’s known him. His profile is sharp, and there are dark smudges beneath his eyes that make him look like he hasn’t slept well in weeks. As she’s looking at him, his eyes flick towards her and their gazes connect. Jeanie looks away.

“Good info in there, soldier,” Vance says to Jeanie as they all file out of the conference room following her presentation. “And solid points. Buy you your first drink at The Black Hole this evening?”

Jeanie, who is a full head shorter than even the shortest of the men, looks up at Vance and tucks her long hair behind one ear. “Sure. I’d like that.”

Things have been a bit tense between Jeanie and Vance since he’d cornered her and asked for her help in getting Bill thrown off the three-man mission, but she’s taken Vicki’s advice so far and stayed out of it, which has been challenging for her to do. Jeanie knows what it feels like to be bullied, and while this isn’t outright bullying like she’d gotten from Carol Fairchild on the playground, it still smacks of that same behavior. And,unfortunately for Bill, it has potential career ramifications, not just social ones.

There’s only about an hour left of work, so Jeanie loses herself in a small project and then gathers her purse and heads out to her car. She gets to The Black Hole a few minutes after the guys, and true to his word, Vance lifts a hand in the air to flag her down and then asks her what she wants.

“I’ll take a Greyhound, please,” she says. Someone plunks change into the jukebox and “Love Me Do” by the Beatles comes on.

“How’s your friend Vicki?” Todd Roman asks as he leans across the table and looks right into Jeanie’s eyes. “She was a hoot.”

“Vicki is good, thanks.” Jeanie’s smile is watery, and she can feel her energy flagging. Sometimes hitting The Black Hole is relaxing, but other times it just feels like an extension of work for her; it’s simply another hour of keeping her game face on, of listening intently to the subtext of any conversation, and of being ready for the guys she works with to loosen up and chat freely about whatever comes to mind as they make their way through two or three rounds of drinks. Jeanie doesn’t have the luxury to let herself go quite that much, so she always nurses one drink and makes it last as long as possible.

“I think she and Hank Crowley might hit it off. What do you think?” Todd asks, still watching her face. “I saw him in the lunch room today and immediately thought of setting him up with Vicki.”

Jeanie thinks about Hank: tall, well into his fifties, distinguished, no wedding ring. “He’s single?”

“Widower,” Todd says, taking a long pull on his beer and then setting the mug on the table. “Kids are grown and flown. I hear he makes the rounds with the Cape Cookies a bit, but I’m not entirely sure that Vicki would mind.” He winks at her,and then catches himself and holds up a hand. “Not that I’m insinuating anything about Vicki—she seemed like a very fun lady. It’s just that she seemed like she might be up for anything.” Todd’s face falls further as he realizes what sort of hole he’s digging for himself. “Sorry, this is not sounding right--I'm not trying to be disrespectful.”

“You’re fine,” Jeanie says with a small laugh. “Vicki is pretty open-minded.”

"So do you think I should try to set them up?"

Jeanie isn't sure. From what she's observed so far in the seven or eight months she's lived with Vicki, the woman does pretty well on her own when it comes to snagging men. But she had asked them to find her a mature astronaut, so...

"I guess it could be fun for them," Jeanie acquiesces. "If you don't mind being the one to deliver the info, then I'll write our phone number down for you and you can pass it on to Hank so he can contact her. I don't really want to talk to him about it."

Todd slaps the table, clearly pleased with himself that he's done a bit of matchmaking. "Super," he says. "I think they'll have a good time."

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