Chaos Theory (Nerds of Paradise #2)(25)

“Unless you count the fact that we’re all going to lose weight out there in the forest,” Laura said.

“Here’s to hoping.” Sandy held up the glass of orange juice she’d just poured for herself as a toast.

Melody would have made another comment, but her attention had drifted to the other loaded buffet table that ran parallel to the one where she was fixing her plate. Will had joined that line and was adding a variety of breakfast meats to his plate. He didn’t look up at her, but she sensed that he was highly aware of her presence. He had been since she’d walked into the gym where the breakfast was being held, but all he’d said to her so far was one ever-so-exciting word: “Hi.”

“Are you two going to be okay alone together in the wilderness?” Sandy leaned close to Melody to ask. “Because he looks a little…off.”

Melody sighed and moved on to a tray stacked with every kind of Danish imaginable. “He got a little touchy yesterday and blew up at me.”

“Yeah, he mentioned something about that,” Laura said.

Melody raised her eyebrows. “Did he?”

“Okay, well, he didn’t exactly say anything, but the way he kept silent said it all.”

Melody let out a wry laugh. “I know what you mean. Anyhow, he came over and apologized, and I totally forgive him. For that. There’s something else bothering him, though.”

“Psht, I could have told you that.”

For the second time in ten seconds, Laura surprised Melody. She gave the frumpy woman her full attention. “Why are we not best friends?” Her lips twitched into a smile.

“Well, I just moved to town,” Laura answered, taking the question seriously. “And I don’t know if you’d actually be willing to put up with me getting all excited about fossil vertebrates.”

“How do I know unless I give it a try?” Melody grinned.

Laura blinked. “Oh. Well, okay. Maybe when this is done we can go out to coffee and I can tell you about the theories I have about potential locations for scientifically significant fossil finds in the area.”

“Sounds fascinating.”

Before Melody could say more, they reached the far end of the buffet table, and she came face to face with Will. He held his plate in one hand and coffee in the other, and stared at Melody as if there were something he was supposed to be doing but couldn’t remember what it was. He couldn’t have been more awkward if he’d dropped his plate down the front of her khakis. Melody, on the other hand, smiled at him as though all was right with the world.

“There’s a table over there.” She nodded to the corner of the room as though they’d already decided to sit together. “Come on.”

Without waiting to see if he’d follow, she headed across the room, winding around tables already filled with friends and neighbors, saying hi to as many people as she could along the way. Will didn’t say a word, but when she set her breakfast on the table and took a seat, he sat right next to her. She picked up her silverware, cutting into a sausage, and watching him, waiting for him to open the conversation. The longer the silence between them went on, the wider her smile grew.

“I assume you’re saving these for us?” her mom asked as she arrived at the table, Dave and Calliope with her.

“Yep. All yours.” Melody exchanged a knowing grin with Calliope as she sat on Will’s other side. Will still hadn’t said anything, but the sheer level of concentration he was giving his bacon told the whole story. The combined force of the Clutterbuck clan made him nervous.

“It was nice of Howie to include the families of all you competitors,” Luna said, picking up an orange from the bowl in the center of the table and starting to peel it. “He’s always been so generous.”

“I tell you, if the Haskells keep up this sort of generosity, they’re going to run out of money,” Dave said, cutting into his frittata with the side of his fork.

“I doubt it.” Sandy joined them, sitting across the table from Melody. She’d picked up Jogi between the buffet and the tables. He looked like a puppy in obedience training as he scrambled into the seat beside her. “Client confidentiality prevents me from spilling the details, but let’s just say that the Haskell family has known exactly where to invest since the 1840s.”

“I figured their financial roots ran pretty deep,” Melody said. She peeked at Will, who was at least trying to look like he was involved in the conversation now.

“They’ve probably got all their money in something weird,” Calliope said. “Something that no one else would think to invest in.”

“Like vast stretches of barren wasteland in the Canadian tundra that turns out to be loaded with diamonds,” Melody suggested.

“Or maybe there are secret reserves of oil underneath the old Paradise Ranch property,” Calliope said.

Melody gestured with her fork as she said, “You know, Laura Kincade was just telling me she thinks there might be major dinosaur fossils around here.”

“Laura thinks there are dinosaur fossils all over Wyoming,” Will said.

Melody was so surprised to hear him speak that she just turned to him and smiled instead of blabbering on.

“There are dinosaur fossil sites all over Wyoming,” Dave said. “I was just reading about the Green River Formation the other day.”