Page 117 of Colorado Country Omnibus

“I know he feels that way about you,” Teddie said. “He’s always talking about you.”

Katy’s heart lifted. “So, you’re not mad at me, because I invited the lawyer out?”

Teddie shook her head. “I don’t want Bart to die. Anything’s better than that. Even the eastern lawyer.”

Katy smiled. “That’s what I thought.”

* * *

The movie was hilarious. It was about a crime-fighting family of superheroes, and focused on the baby, whom nobody thought had any powers. There was a scene with the baby beating up a raccoon that had all three of them almost rolling on the floor laughing.

When they were back out on the street, they were still laughing.

“That poor raccoon,” Teddie gasped.

“That poor baby.” Katy chuckled.

“The poor parents,” Parker commented. “Imagine having a child who could burst into flames or walk through walls?”

“You do have a point,” Katy had to admit.

“It was so funny! Thanks for taking us, Parker,” Teddie added.

“Oh, I like being around you guys,” he said, smiling. “You’re good company.”

“So are you,” Katy said softly.

He winked at her and she flushed.

“Are you going to have Thanksgiving with us?” Teddie asked.

Katy gave him a hopeful look.

His lips parted. He grimaced. “Well, you see . . .”

“Don’t tell me. You don’t celebrate it,” Katy guessed. “You probably don’t celebrate Columbus Day, either.”

He laughed. “Caught me.”

“But Thanksgiving is about sharing,” Teddie protested. “Pilgrims and Native Americans sat down together at the harvest.”

“At first,” Katy agreed. “Afterward, when the vicious cold killed their crops and they exhausted the local game, they died in droves.”

Parker pursed his lips. “Some of them were rather helped into the hereafter, I understand, after they attacked people who did have food and tried to take it from them.”

“Gosh, I didn’t know that,” Teddie said.

“History isn’t quite as pleasant as most people think,” Katy said. “It’s brutal and ugly in places, and some people in historical times don’t stand up to modern scrutiny. Of course, historians are also taught that you can’t judge the morality of the past by that of the present when you read history. And they’re quite right. Can you imagine opium dens in today’s world, or children working in mines?”

“We’ve come a long way,” Parker agreed.

“Not quite far enough, it seems sometimes,” Katy replied. She smiled at him. “It was a great movie. Thanks.”

“We’ll do it again in a week or so.” He paused. “When does your eastern Perry Mason show up?” he added.

She burst out laughing. “I’m not sure. He said in about two weeks. He can’t come at Thanksgiving because a rich client invited him to the islands.”

“Nice,” Parker said. “He’ll get a suntan. Then he might look almost as good as I do,” he added, tongue-in-cheek.

---