Page 38 of Space Balls: Houston, We Have Liftoff
Jackie bounds up with a container of egg rolls. “What’d I miss?”
“Rose is ditching us for Flashlight.” Jules, hands on hips, frowns at me.
Jackie just nods. “Yes, that makes sense.”
“It does?” Trish asks.
“Yes, that is what newly-formed couples do. They excuse themselves from the group to continue growing their level of intimacy.”
Trish sputters. “New couple?”
Even Rose blinks before asking, “Intimacy?”
It’s Jackie’s turn to frown. “Yes. I read various books on relationships after Flynn and I got together.”
“Of course you did,” Jules deadpans.
Jackie nods at Rose and me. “Those two show all the signs of a newly-formed couple.”
“Is that true?” Ian finally speaks up, his tone amused.
Rose opens her mouth, but I beat her to it. “You can’t argue with a genius.” I tighten my arm on her when she starts to pull away. “Now if you’ll excuse us, mygirlfriendand I have a lunch date.”
I tug Rose toward the benches in the quad, leaving one verified genius, two shocked women, and an apathetic engineer behind.
When we reach a bench situated in front of a small pond filled with ducks and turtles, we sit, Rose removing her Coke from her pocket first.
There’s a beat of silence before Rose’s head turns to me, her eyes narrowed. “I was only going to tell them that if it came up. I wasn’t planning on announcing it. I don’t like lying.”
I lean back on the bench, feeling oddly satisfied with the way things turned out. “This way I get you all to myself, and they won’t think it’s weird.”
She huffs. “No, they’re just compiling their questions for the inquisition later.” She takes her food back from me, allowing me to stretch out my arm behind her.
I chuckle. “When do you think that will be?”
She takes a large bite of her sandwich, pushing it to the side to answer. “Who knows?” She chews some more. “The NASA peeps are taking Trish and me on a tour after lunch. They’ll probably throw some questions at me then. Thankfully, as it’s Thanksgiving this Thursday, I’ll get a bit of a reprieve before they can launch a full attack.”
The conversation with my sister is still fresh in my mind. I switch gears. “What does Thanksgiving look like at the West Ranch?”
Rose cracks open her can of Coke and takes a sip. “Thanksgiving is usually spent in sweats, with a heaping pile of turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes in a Styrofoam container balanced on my knees while watching football with my brothers.”
“That sounds great.” It would be a lot easier for me if my family’s Thanksgivings were like that.
Rose smiles, as if thinking of the time fondly. “Yeah, it was.”
“Was?”
She pops a fry in her mouth. “This year Trish decided to ring in her first Thanksgiving being engaged to Ian by turning into Suzy Homemaker and hosting a large feast at their house.” Picking up her sandwich again, she eyes it, like she’s trying to strategize where her next bite should be. “Knowing how whipped my brothers are, I’m sure Jackie and Jules will rope them into going.”
I frown. “You weren’t invited?”
She looks at me like I’m stupid. “Of course I was.” She takes another bite, and I watch her cheeks puff out like a chipmunk. A drop of maple syrup slides down her chin. “But I’m not going.”
“Why not?” I wipe it off with my thumb, sucking the syrup off.
We both stare at each other, the moment charged.
Finally, Rose looks away, chewing fast. “Trish is a deplorable cook, so it’s probably better to fly solo this year.” She gets very engrossed in the turtles bobbing up and down in the ponds.
