Page 333 of How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother
I turn and see a couple of white squirrels running across the grass beside the pool before darting up the trunk of a nearby tree.
“They’re pretty fun, right?” I shake my head. “Or, not fun, I guess. Not for everyone else. They’re just squirrels. I know they’re just squirrels. It would be so silly for people to care—”
She reaches over and touches my hand. “Honey, there’s nothing wrong with being passionate about your work. I make goat's milk soap, and I treat my goats like they’re my children. My kids tease me all the time for it, but it makes me happy. And it’s good soap, too.”
Flint drops into a chair across from his mother and directly beside me. “Itisgood soap,” he says. “I ordered it in bulk when I was living in LA.”
Hannah rolls her eyes. “You know I’d have just sent you a box. You always had to be so official, with Joni placing orders.”
“If I’d had you send me a box, you wouldn’t have let me pay for them.”
“It’s just soap, baby.”
“It’s just money,Mom,” Flint says, his eyes full of warmth. “And you know I like to support the farm.”
Hannah looks at Flint for a long moment, and I get the sense they’re having a wordless conversation. About money? About soap? About the farm? I don’t know these people well enough to judge.
Hannah finally chuckles. “As if the soap really matters after everything else you’ve done.”
My eyes move from mother to son, then back again. Thereissomething going on here, and I find myself desperately curious to know what it is.
Flint rubs a hand across his face as he looks away, but I don’t miss the tips of his ears turning slightly pink.
“Tell me, Audrey,” Hannah says, steering the conversation back to me. “What is it that makes you so passionate about your work?”
Something about the way she sayspassionatemakes me think she probably knows about the trespassing. My eyes dart to Flint, who seems to have recovered from whatever embarrassment his mom caused and is looking at me, his lips lifted into a playful smirk.
“Yeah, Audrey. What makes you passionate enough to hikemilesinto the wilderness, property lines and giant security guards be damned, in pursuit of the elusive white squirrel?”
I roll my eyes, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like the way he’s teasing me. “To be fair, your property belonged to my university before you bought it. It was my research forest—connected to my lab—and I’ve been visiting all my research locations for months without anyone caring or knowing.”
“So you admit you’ve been trespassing for months?” Flint says, his tone light.
I wince and offer a placating smile. “Yes? But relocating my experiments would have compromised so much data!”
“Does the university know about this? About your surreptitious forest use?”
An actual jolt of panic shoots through me. Theydon’tknow, and they wouldn’t be happy about it. “Oh, well, I mean…” I swallow.
“Hey.” Flint touches my wrist, his fingers triggering an eruption of goosebumps across my arm. “I’m just teasing. I’m not going to tell anyone.”
I nod, grateful for the reassurance. “Causing trouble is the last thing I need to be doing right now. I’ve been using the same research grant for the past three years from this foundation over in Asheville. But I’ve gotten the sense lately that my funding might not come through for another year.”
“Which means what?”
“A lot more work for me. Writing new grant proposals, schmoozing, networking. It’s the part of my job I don’t like.There’s research money out there. It’s just not always easy to find it.”
He frowns. “That’s too bad.”
I shrug. “It’s the way it goes sometimes. I’m determined not to stress about it until I have more reason to think I should.”
“You know, Stonebrook is almost twice as big as Flint’s place,” Hannah says. “We don’t have as much forest land as this”—she motions around us—“but you’re welcome on our property any time if it would suit your research needs.”
“I appreciate that,” I say. “That’s really generous of you.”
She smiles warmly. “I’d still love to know what makes you love what you do.”
I glance at Flint, his open, curious expression encouraging an honest answer. “It isn’tjustabout the squirrels, really,” I say, careful not to make my response too didactic. “So much of my research is about the way nature intersects with human life. Squirrels are very adaptable. They’ve taken to living among humans better than a lot of other species. But when we bulldoze entire stretches of forest, it still impacts their environment. We’ve gotten better at living alongside nature and respecting it, but there’s still progress that needs to happen. I mean, I like research because it’s cool to know stuff, but the greater purpose is to discover better ways to liveinnature without destroying it.”
