Page 36 of Love and the Laws of Motion
“Is he always so perfect?”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I really like the guy.But he’s like a movie hero, right?Good-looking, rich, nice, and he’s a Mets fan.It’s like they made him in a lab.”
Alexwasdisturbingly flawless.It was a good thing he was nice or he’d be insufferable.“I see what you mean.And yes, Alex is pretty perfect.He can’t help it.”
“Are you happy for her?”he asked.
“Jess?Of course I am.Why?”
“Earlier tonight, you seemed a little bothered.”
“What?Bothered?”It alarmed her, that Nick could read her so well, that he’d been watching her closely enough to notice anything was amiss.
“You just didn’t look all that happy.Is it Alex?Do you not like him?”
“No,” she answered firmly.“Alex is perfect, like you said.And he adores Jess.I’m happy for her.”
Nick turned away from the movie, which seemed to have launched into some mystifying fourth act.“But?”
Livie considered brushing him off.Outside of her sisters, she didn’t really share herself with other people.But Nick was beginning to feel different.Talking to him, telling him what she was really thinking, came strangely easily.
“Alex is great,” she said slowly.“But his life is very different than Jess’s.He’s got all this money and power.”It took a minute to herd her thoughts into the right order.“I like him, but he’s nothing like who I thought Jess would pick.He’s not the kind of guy I thought would make her happy.”
Nick shrugged.“Who’s right for you, who makes you happy...maybe it’s not always who you think it should be.Ah, hell, don’t listen to me.What do I know about relationships?I’m a disaster.”
Well, he had a point there.“It’s not Alex.It’s Jess.She’s leaving.”
“What do you mean?”
Livie tugged the hem of her nightshirt down over her toes.“For years, it’s been the four of us.And now Jess is leaving.”
“You’re not going to lose her.I’ve only spent a day around your family and I can see how close you are.That’s not going to disappear.”
“I know.But it’ll never be quite the same, you know?”
“Maybe it’ll be better?Because—” he paused, thinking “—maybe they made it official tonight, but the guy is already part of your family.And that’s a pretty great thing.He’s a lucky man, in more ways than one.”
There was a tiny hint of envy in his voice.Sure, sometimes people were estranged from their families for very good reasons.But if that was the case for Nick, why did that little bit of wistfulness creep in whenever he talked about hers?
Livie watched him in silence as he stared at the TV, seemingly a million miles away.She was glad he’d connected so quickly with her family, but none of them could fix what was missing in Nick’s life.No matter how much she was starting to wish they could.
Chapter Fourteen
Livie blew a strand of hair out of her face.She’d been wrestling with the department’s temperamental printer for forty minutes, trying to get her handouts printed out, and now it was jammed.The last of her worn-out patience expired when Peter Hockman showed up, leaning against the wall of the alcove where the printer lived, lurking, watching her in silence.
Finally, she snapped.“Do you need something, Peter?”
“Just wondering how much longer you’re going to be.I’ve got to print some stuff for Langley.”
“Can’t you use Langley’s office printer?This is still in the middle of the job and right now, it’s jammed.”
“Langley doesn’t like me touching his computer equipment.”
Langley didn’t trust him with his printer?How was Peter ever going to get anything done on Langley’s research?That required handling equipment a whole lot more valuable than a university-owned printer.
“Well, there are thirty copies of two more pages in queue still.I’m going to be a while.”
