Tansy watched Sam unwind the yarn from the stegosaurus. He was a large man, but his hands could be so gentle.
To distract herself from what she’d like him to do with those hands, she picked up the brontosaurus she’d paired with the steg and worked to adjust the neck mechanisms. She really needed a dinosaur with human-like arms, but that didn’t work with the toy line. The TeenySaurs were based on the actual animals. She kept the dimensions as close to reality as possible.
Obviously, the actual animals wouldn’t do any of the tasks her creations did, but she wanted kids to appreciate the fact that even unlikely partners could work together to accomplish tasks.
The impossible wasn’t nearly as big a realm as most people thought. With some effort and creativity, lots of improbable things were possible.
Kids needed to believe in the impossible.
Otherwise, the status quo would remain and that wasn’t good for anyone.
“What else do you have going on? Other than creating revolting smells with tree bark, that is.”
That made her smile. “There’s nothing quite like a good experiment gone sideways. I didn’t consider the variables for smell. Can you imagine footie pjs smelling like that? It would give poor little kids nightmares.”
Sam chuckled, and she shoulder checked him.
He pulled her in for a quick hug. She leaned in and enjoyed his warmth and comfort.
“Did you hear back from the DOD yet?”
That had her jumping up. “There was nothing last night, but I didn’t check this morning.”
She powered up her computer, wishing the thing was instantaneous.
Sam chuckled. “We just ran about five miles, and you’re bouncing like you’ve had too much coffee instead of none at all. Where the hell do you get all that energy?”
Tansy grinned at him. “Clean living, Sam.”
That earned her a full out laugh. He got up and toured the rest of the room while she checked the email.
There were two.
One from James and one from the DOD. She deleted the one from James and opened the other.
A quick skim had her dancing. “They agreed. They agreed to everything.”
“Congratulations. What kinds of things do they want you to build?”
That sucked a tiny bit of the joy out of it. “One of them is the project I was working on back in Sacramento.”
“The one the asshole tried to peddle?”
“That’s the one.”
“Can you tell me what it is? Or is it a secret?”
Tansy smiled. She trusted Sam as much as she trusted her brother Joe. And that meant she could tell him anything. “I can tell you the overview, just not the technical details.”
His eyebrow shot up. “Pretty sure I wouldn’t understand them, even if you did.”
Tansy doubted that. “I’m working on projecting a hologram with solar panels.”
He frowned at her. “That’s not what I was expecting. I was thinking more James Bond and Q.”
She nodded. “They want some of those too, but the solar projection is the priority.”
Sam continued to frown. “I don’t get it. What are they going to do with holograms?”
Tansy moved to the dining table and waved him over. “I’m working on making the hologram appear concrete. When you look at one, you usually see an aura. I need to eliminate that, and I want it to have depth and dense opacity.”
“English.”
“I want it to look real. Indistinguishable from its surroundings.”
Sam frowned at the objects on the table. “Is that possible?”
“Not yet.”
Another chuckle. She loved making him smile. Especially with the dark cloud currently over him.
“What’s the solar panel connection?”
Tansy waved at the roof. “Most buildings are difficult to conceal from above. They’re usually set in clearings. Even one like this has enough of a clearing around it that it’s easy to spot from a plane or helicopter. I want the hologram to cover the clearing and match its surroundings.”
Sam looked from her to the ceiling and back to the table. “And these bits and pieces can help you make that happen?”
She shrugged. “Maybe. Most holograms are obvious from at least one angle. And they all require a fair amount of power. I’m trying to use the energy from the solar panels to run a continuous hologram. It would conceal the clearing and the building to the naked eye and there would be no obvious power drain to track.”
“Taking hiding in plain sight to the next level.”
“Exactly.”
Sam picked up some of the glass she was experimenting with and twirled it in his fingers. “And the asshole tried to sell it. Without it being complete. Without having a clue how it might work.”
Tansy wondered briefly about the latest email James had sent. Probably another plea to allow him to collaborate. Which meant he wanted to take credit for her work. And profit. Which was likely his primary motivation.
“Any more contact from him?”
Always to the heart of the matter. “None that I’ve opened.”
Sam ran his hands over his face and then slammed them onto his hips. “What exactly does that mean?”
“I delete his emails.”
“Without reading them.”
He hadn’t bothered making it a question, but she answered it anyway. “I have no desire to read anything he writes.”
“What if he’s threatening you? All information is useful. You can’t mount a good defense if you don’t know your enemy’s weaknesses and goals.”
Tansy walked over to the couch and picked up her brontosaurus again. “This isn’t war. James is a weasel. He’s not a threat, and he’s not mounting an offense.”
“And you know that how? You don’t know what he’s planning if you don’t read his emails. Why don’t you check it now?”
And let him see the name? Not likely.
“Tansy, he might come after you. Does he know about the lodge and sawmill? Does he know where you are?”
“He wouldn’t bother traveling across the country to find me.”
“Does he know?” Sam emphasized each word.
Tansy shrugged. “I doubt it. I think I only talked about the move with Cinnia, but I don’t remember who I spoke with when Grandpa Koko died. Anyway, it’s not a problem. It’s not like he’s going to come and ask me to donate my ideas to him. No one’s that stupid.”
Sam shook his head. “You’d be surprised, Tansy.”
Tansy patted his arm and thought about how to distract him from protective brother mode. She could kiss him, but if he didn’t kiss her back, she’d ruin everything.
Instead, it was time to turn the tables. “Time to talk about you. I’ve told you mine. Your turn.”
Sam scowled at her. “You didn’t tell me everything.”
Tansy shrugged. “I’ve told you all the important stuff. Tell me about your last case, Sam.”
For a long moment, he simply watched her eyes. She kept hers steady. She felt better having told him about her worries and now she’d help him do the same.
When he broke eye contact, Sam looked around the space, but she knew he wasn’t seeing it.
Then he turned and walked out the door.
Sam wasn’t sure how long it would be until Tansy realized her mistake, but he wasn’t pointing it out.
He had a first name.
James.
And James the Asshole was about to find out messing with Tansy was the last thing he should be doing.
Telling her the basics about his last case was a good tradeoff for that.
But not in the cabin. He needed to be out in the woods for that. It was easier to talk about it when he wasn’t looking into those beautiful eyes and wanting to kiss the concern off her face.
Outside would be easier.
Behind him, he knew Tansy would be shutting down her computer and securing her experiments and her fort. At least she took security seriously out here.
Sam moved back enough to see the solar panels on the roof here as well. And the outhouse.
Tansy Cheveyo made him smile like no one else. It was impossible to be depressed and down for long around her. Her belief that the world could and should be better made her constantly optimistic.
She saw a problem, and she worked out a way to approach it. If that didn’t work, she worked out another way.
Scientists were hard to beat for relentless determination. And Tansy was the best of the best.
When she joined him, he pointed at the roof. “Is that going to be enough to power all your experiments?”
She shook her head. “Not even close. I’m going to get some turbines installed once the weather improves. I’ve got the parts coming in a few weeks.”
That made him laugh. “You’re going to use the lodge for your stuff?”
“Some of it. I’ll keep this cabin too for things that require a bit more privacy.”
And security.
He looked around at the woods and then started walking toward the lake. He wanted to see how visible her cabin was from the water.
It was going to cost a fortune to secure this land. And it would be worth every penny if it kept Tansy safe.
“How would you feel about sharing your space?”
Her head whipped toward him, and her steps faltered for a second. “What?”
Sam shrugged, but didn’t look at her. “Something I’m thinking about.”
Tansy sighed and squeezed his hand briefly before letting him go.
There was a short dock at the edge of the lake. Like a neon arrow pointing at the cabin. So much for secrecy. He turned and saw the fort was definitely visible from a good portion of the lake. He’d need something for perimeter alerts here as well.
“Because of your last case?”
Relentless.
Sam nodded and turned back to the lake. Tansy moved onto the dock. “This one is sturdier.”
He laughed as he realized he’d have to replace the other one. “Why was that one so long?”
“I think it was for the float planes. Once upon a time, Midnight Lake was popular with people who flew in to fish.”
Sam had never been into fishing. Wasn’t exactly a popular pastime for foster kids in a big city. And his sperm donor of a dad certainly hadn’t wasted time of teaching him things. When he’d left for good, Sam had been old enough to be relieved, not disappointed.
Tansy sat on the edge of the dock, which was free of snow. The sun’s rays had reached over the trees and it looked to be a pretty day. The dock was high enough that his feet wouldn’t touch the slush or water. There were patches of both near the shore. He sat beside Tansy and looked out at her land. It was coming to life with the sun and for a while they sat and enjoyed the quiet.
A pair of loons floated off to the north and called back and forth while they hunted for fish.
He heard other birds he couldn’t identify. Full spring wouldn’t be long.
Tansy leaned into his shoulder. “Talk to me.”
He heaved out a sigh. Relentless.
“More of the same. A shitheel of a father who enjoyed beating the crap out of people smaller than him. Drugs. Alcohol. All mixed in with a pile of stupid.”
She gripped his hand in both of hers. She would understand.
“He showed up stoned and the mom refused to let him in. He beat down her door, broke six of her bones, and turned her face into a massive bruise. Then he grabbed his daughter.”
Sam breathed in the clean air.
She squeezed his fingers. “But you found him.”
“Yeah.” Not soon enough.
Tansy waited while he got it under control.
“He’d holed up in a third-floor dump. Place should have been condemned. We busted through the door to find him holding her like a shield in front of him.”
Even at her age, the baby had known she was in danger. She’d been wailing and reaching out to Sam, those tiny hands reaching for someone to save her.
“He backed up to the window, screaming about his rights to have his daughter. That he’d made her and he could do with her as he pleased.”
Sam closed his eyes, but that didn’t help. He could see the next bit like a slow-motion movie reel. It was what he saw throughout the nights.
“Then he tossed her out the window. Laughing like it was the best trick in the world.”
Tansy’s gasp of sorrow had him looking down. Tears flowed from her eyes and she gripped his hand like a lifeline. “I’m so sorry, Sam. That’s a hideous thing to witness. Hard to believe people like that exist. I’m so glad he’s going to be rotting in jail for the rest of his life. Thank you for getting justice for that little girl.”
This woman floored him. He hadn’t told her the prick was in jail, but she knew. She understood he wouldn’t have it any other way. Killing him might have been a pleasure, but Sam wouldn’t cross that line. Couldn’t.
And she knew that.
Unable to stop his fingers, Sam reached up with his free hand and brushed the tears from her cheeks.
Then he pulled her in for a hug. She always felt just right against him. She filled his empty spaces.
Tansy released his hand and reached around him to hug him back. Her hands offered comfort and for a long minute, he simply absorbed all the good she projected.
Sam leaned down and kissed Tansy’s hair.
And the mood changed in a flash.
He continued to hold her, continued to move his hands over her body softly. He didn’t touch anywhere he shouldn’t, not even when he ached to do so.
But it was different.
The awareness he always felt around her seemed to thicken, to intensify.
Science be damned. This was magic.
He couldn’t imagine she didn’t feel it as well. It was too powerful to ignore.
The motion of her hands changed. A little softer, more of a caress than comfort.
He mimicked her motion and felt the shiver run through her.
Taking a chance, Sam lifted one hand to her hair. He played with the ends of her ponytail and heard her soft inhale.
He kept moving his hand, playing with her hair along her neck, and the shell of her ear.
Her breathing changed, and the atmosphere electrified.
Tansy lifted those liquid eyes to him and he saw the attraction he’d been dreaming of.
Not wanting to risk the moment disintegrating on him, he lowered his head to hers. Slowly enough if she wanted to back away.
Instead, she leaned up and wrapped her arms around his neck.
And then he was kissing her.
And the magic took over.