Ben:
Ben was reluctant to move his arm away from her shoulder, but he straightened and immediately felt the loss. “So, you never answered my question. How’s Paris?”
She hesitated, and Ben tried to make eye contact, but she was looking down at James. “Paris is Paris. It’s beautiful and frustrating and delicious and… and nerve wracking. It’s the most exciting and terrifying place I’ve ever lived.”
Ben gave a little snort. “Good fodder for book writing, I guess, but wild horses couldn’t drag me there.”
Rhonda looked at him out of the corner of her eye, smiling. “Well, I don’t suppose they would, Rhodes, unless they were really good swimmers.”
He bumped his shoulder into hers. “You know what I mean.”
She bumped back. “Yeah, I know. You’re very happy in your little apartment in your little town, working in your little zoo.”
“Hey, wait a minute! I’m only in a little apartment, because that’s what I can afford, and while Colorado Springs doesn’t compare to Paris size-wise, it’s not exactly a village. And who wants a zoo it takes you all day to see? I think it’s the perfect size.” He dropped his voice and crooned to the baby. “Someone’s become a high and mighty, Parisian, Marcus.”
Rhonda:
“So you like it there.”
Rhonda realized that she was chewing on a nail and forced her hand to her lap. “For the most part. It’s… it’s really different. I’ve made a lot of faux pas, but I’m learning.” She nervously ran her fingers through her hair, trying to think of a safe topic. “I don’t quite have the hang of the whole cheek kissing greeting yet, and sometimes I forget to say, ‘bonjour.’” She said it with a a very proper accent and a lilt in her voice. “You know, sometimes my mood just isn’t that perky. Sometimes I just say, ‘bonjour.’” She delivered the word rather flatly. “But that’s not acceptable, you know. Store owners have been known to close up their shops and weep for a ‘bonjour’ delivered without the proper feeling.”
Louis:
She lowered herself to the cool tile floor. Lying on her back, she pointed her chin toward the ceiling, pinching the bridge of her nose. There wasn’t enough room for her to stretch out completely, so she ran her feet up the open door, the bright red shoes mocking her.
“Well, ma chatte, I thought we would have a romp after we went out,” —Louis appeared in the doorway, looking at her legs— “but I see that you can’t wait for—” He cut himself off as his gaze tracked her body to her face. “Mon dieu, Rhonda, what happened now? You are so maladroit!”
Rhonda still had a long ways to go to be fluent in French, but that was a word she knew. Clumsy. “Louis,” she mumbled behind her wad of tissues, her eyes closed, “it’s the shoes you buy me. I just can’t walk in them.”
She heard him sigh. “I believe that’s what I just said, mon cher.”
Tyler:
Tyler laid the fish in the skillet one by one. “And why do you suppose that is?”
Ben crouched down, feeling a lurch in his stomach. “You’re right, I was afraid. My last relationship took me a long time to get over. I was… hurt.”
Tyler rose and picked up the kettle of fish innards, shaking his head. “Not more than you are now, I bet.”
Ben watched him walk the trail to the river as the fish sizzled in the skillet. Ben yelled after him. “You said you changed careers. What did you do before?”
Tyler turned back, smiling. “Counseling,” he yelled. “I helped poor saps like you.” He returned his attention to the trail. “I’ll send you my bill.”
Weston:
After a moment, Weston spoke again. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
Rhonda shifted uncomfortably, moving her shoulder bag from her arm to her lap. “Why do you want to know? It’s not a particularly interesting story.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “Now that I do not believe. You have been nothing but interesting from the moment you nearly crashed on the ice this morning.” When she didn’t respond, he waved a hand in acceptance. “I am sorry. I do not mean to pry. I mean, who am I? We just met, and even though I saved your ass today —both on the ice and on the beach— I would not want it to be said that Weston Murdock was a snoop.”
Bonnie:
When she was finished, she packed up her case and followed Ben to the gate. “So now’s the part where I go back home and wait for you to call the male veterinarian you interviewed yesterday, because a woman couldn’t possibly do this job.”
Ben spun with eyebrows raised. “Miss Gatlin, I never said—”
“You didn’t have to. It’s been in your eyes since I walked into your office.” She gestured back to the barn. “Sure, I can stitch up a little goat nose, but what about when something a bit larger needs treatment? What then?”
Ben looked into her sea green eyes and smiled. “Okay, I admit, the thought has crossed my mind that you are a bit of a light weight, and—” Before Ben knew what hit him, Bonnie had dropped her case, grabbed his hand, twisted under his arm, and flipped him over her shoulder. He lay on his back in a snow drift, trying to regain his breath.
She stepped over his waist and looked down. “If you know what you are doing and have a rapport with the animals, you never need to use your muscles.” She smiled. “But I do have a few, just in case.”
Francesca reached for a piece of bacon, her baby blue eyes wide. “How can you not want to go to Mars? It’s a two year adventure — the chance of a lifetime! If I was old enough to buy a ticket, I would.”
