I tensed and waited for the explosions to start. None came. She took a step backward and caught her breath with a little ladylike gasp. I took a step forward.
“Does he have to know everything that happened when he was gone?”
“No.” Her voice shook. “It would only cause trouble in the family.”
“A lot of trouble.”
I smiled. She tried to smile.
“Okay,” I said. “Subject closed—forever, as far as I’m concerned.”
My father came walking around the corner of the house and joined us on the porch. He started to say something, then paused to look back and forth between us. His eyes narrowed, just slightly.
“Is something wrong?” Dad said.
Mother forced out a smile. “Oh, no,” she said. “Nothing at all.”
That’s when I knew that I’d truly won. He put an arm around Mom’s waist and pulled her close. She rested her head against his shoulder, and he smiled, not at anything in particular, just perhaps at her touch.
“Coming to the party tomorrow, Noodles?” Dad said.
“You bet,” I said. “It should be a really good time.”
“Maureen and her children will be there, Jim tells me. She has children! I’m a grandfather. How did that happen?”
“You don’t look it, Dad. You’re too young to be a grandpa.”
Dad grinned and gave me the thumbs up sign he’d always used to show approval. Together, snuggled close like teenagers, he and Mom walked past us and went inside. Aunt Eileen had come into the living room to wait for them. I caught a glimpse of her expression—a horrified fascination, as if she were watching King Lear or some other tragedy play out—before she smoothed the expression into a welcoming smile. She knew, all right. She must have known from the beginning. She’d said nothing, no matter how it must have tormented her, given her deep faith in her religion. Now I was going to follow her example and share the burden. I promised myself and the family that I’d never say a word.
Mom and Dad headed across the living room toward the kitchen. Why shouldn’t they be together now? I thought. They’ve both been through hell already, thirteen years of it. That’s when I realized that I’d forgiven them for the marriage. As for forgiving Mom for other events between us, that would take me a while more. I turned around and found Ari smiling at me.
“Brutal,” Ari said, “but effective.”
“Thank you, darling.”
“Do you want to go home?” he continued. “You still look tired.”
“I am tired. Yeah, let’s go before Dad starts in on me about getting married.” I summoned a heartfelt scowl. “Dad and, of course, you.”
“I’ve been thinking about that. I know you don’t want to marry. I should stop badgering you about it.”
A ploy if I ever heard one! I stayed silent.
“But,” Ari continued, “I doubt if your father’s going to stop. So why don’t we just get engaged? Formally, I mean. And then we can just keep putting off the date for the wedding. Our jobs, you know. Much too busy. Important government affairs.”
He meant it. I finally heard what his SPP was trying to tell me: he was being sincere.
“That’s a thought,” I said. “A thought I’m surprised you had, but a good one.”
“Nola, I want you to marry me because you want to marry me, not because you’re sick and tired of saying no.”
If that was a ploy, it was the best one ever, but again, I knew he meant it. I put my hands on his shoulders and reached up to kiss him.
“Okay,” I said. “Consider yourself engaged.”
AGENCY TALENTS
AND ACRONYMS
AH Audio Hallucination
ASTA Automatic survival threat awareness
CDEP Chaos diagnostic emergency procedure
CW Chaos wards
CDS Collective Data Stream
CEV Conscious evasion procedure
DEI Deliberately extruded images (visible only to psychics)
DW Dice walk
E Ensorcellment
FW Fast Walking
HC Heat conservation
IOI Image Objectification of Insight
LDRS Long distance remote sensing
MI Manifested indicators (of chaos forces)
PI Possibility Images
SAF Scanning the aura field
SM Search mode
SM:D Search mode: Danger
SM:G Search mode: General
SM:L Search mode: Location
SM:P Search mode: Personnel
SAWM Semi-automatic warning mechanism
SH Shield persona
SPP Subliminal psychological profile
WW World-Walking
Katharine Kerr, Apocalypse to Go
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