Page 4 of Never Quiet

With beautiful blue-green eyes and brown hair streaked with golden strands from the sun, there was no denying he was gorgeous to look at. That wasn’t why she liked him.

The way he was, the way his brain worked, was like hers.

Hayden Delkin had a similar brain but he was always busy with his organization. She couldn’t really expect him to drop everything and nerd out with some kid.

The women in her family were smart and she loved talking about books, art, and the world with them.

With Erick, she talked science.

They could discuss topics most of the other people in their lives didn’t really understand or have an interest in.

The year before, during her second week in Florida hiding from the people after her, Chaz and Dakota’s little brother noticed what she was working on and sat down beside her.

She explained the tracking algorithm Hayden designed to monitor nationwide soil samples but didn’t tell Erick who wrote it for her. Not even Noel knew how many cool things her brilliant and much older friend sent Amanda or how much he’d expanded her fields of interest.

Erick asked a hundred questions and then went to get his own laptop. Their computers side by side, he duplicated the coding to create his own algorithm to track oceanic levels, temperatures, and pollution concentrations.

“This is going to save me so much time. Thanks, Mandy.”

“You’re welcome, Erick.”

Tilting his head, he said, “It’s nice to find someone else with the same interests.” Closing his laptop, he added, “You don’t giggle and all that annoying shit most girls do. I’m glad.”

He’d walked away and Mandy had stared at her computer, not seeing anything, for several minutes as her heart raced.

Over the six months she lived in Chaz’s house across the road from his sister, her husband, and their little brother, Mandy came to realize her feelings for him went deep.

It wasn’t like the silly crush she’d always had for Hayden since the first time she met him. She genuinely loved Erick.

After all, she’d seen, felt, and shared enough love in her life to recognize it. She was only thirteen at the time so she didn’t flirt. She didn’t act like a lot of the girls who hung around him. She observed how Erick was, the kind of person he was, and loved him quietly.

A year had passed and no matter how smart or mature she was, she was still only fourteen. They were at different places and she had to be patient.

Wishing he was younger or she was older wouldn’t do any good. The years wouldn’t pass any faster.

Flushing the toilet she hadn’t used, she washed her hands, took a deep breath, and smiled brightly in the mirror.

Then she went out to spend time with people she loved, who loved her, and hide the love she felt for someone who didn’t return it. A boy who wasn’t allowed to love her back, even if he wanted to.

* * *

Gunner left to pick up his rowdy son and Mandy braced herself when she heard them return. Sterling was huge for three and almost knocked her over when he rammed her legs and wrapped his arms around them.

Looking up at her with his mother’s blue-green eyes, he screamed, “I thought you were never gonna get here! I gotta show you my new trick! Come on!”

Then he dragged her outside as the adults groaned behind her. The kid climbed up on the rail of the deck and quickly went up on his hands. Gunner pulled him down and held him like a sack of potatoes.

“What did I say? No more emergency room visits this year.”

“Dad! Come on! Dad!”

“Uh uh. Your mother is ready to tie you up to protect you.”

“I could get outta knots. I been practicing in case somebody tries to nap me like that kid on the show. I’ll show you!”

“I’m taking the television out of your room. Are you watching Law & Order late at night again?”

“Um, no.” The toddler stilled. “You told me not to.”

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