Chaos Theory (Nerds of Paradise #2)(37)

Her teasing smile sent a thrill through him, but he frowned. “You can start by not calling me Darling.”

Her grin grew, filling her whole face with light. “Why not? That’s your name, isn’t it?”

He looked into the top of the open kettle to see if the water was boiling yet before answering. “You weren’t using it as my name.”

“Who says?” She feigned offence.

He sent her a flat look that said he wasn’t fooled.

“Oh, come on,” she giggled, nudging his arm with her elbow. “With a name like that, you have to expect a little teasing.”

“I’ve been teased about my name my whole life,” he replied, gloomier than he intended. Some of the humor faded from Melody’s expression, but that was even worse than being teased. “When I was in school, when I was in the Air Force,” he explained. “Constantly. It drove my dad crazy, since he had the same name and had endured the same sort of teasing.”

“Oh,” she said as though he’d explained far more than just his past.

Her attempt at understanding hit him the wrong way. “He always acted like it was my fault for being teased, when he knew full well what it was like,” he blurted before he could think better of it. “Like I wasn’t as tough as him, even though Mom was full of stories of kids poking fun at him all through school.”

“Your parents grew up together?”

Her question was so off the track of his rant that he blinked. “Yes. They grew up on the same street, actually.”

“That’s cute.” Her grin returned and she pulled her knees up, resting her arms on them and tilting her head to the side. “You could even say that’s darling.”

She instantly started laughing at her own joke, burying her face in her arms. Her back shook with mirth. And something strange happened somewhere in the vicinity of Will’s gut. In spite of the decades of torment his name had brought him, in school and at home, he wanted to laugh too. It was almost like a leaf that had been gripping tight to its branch, buffeted by the storm, finally broke loose and drifted away.

“The water’s ready,” he mumbled, not knowing what else to do with the unsettled feeling. Using the rag from his backpack as a potholder, he lifted the kettle off the fire and poured water into the two bowls of oatmeal he’d prepared. He stirred both a little, then handed one to Melody.

“Thank you, Darling,” she said as she took hers, then burst into giggles all over again.

Will had no idea what to do about her. Absolutely none. He ate his breakfast in silence, frowning at her like she was a puzzle to solve. Normal people didn’t continue to giggle and make jokes when someone told them that a nickname offended them. And while he was ready to admit that Melody wasn’t normal, that didn’t explain why he didn’t feel the least bit offended.

“We need to go to the stream today,” he said as they both finished eating and started cleaning up and packing. “Howie was generous to give us enough water to make it overnight, but we need to refill before we do anything else.”

“Good idea.” Melody stood and doused the fire while he finished packing. “If we’re lucky, we might be able to catch some fish down there too. I hear there are some superb trout streams in this park.”

Will’s brow lifted, but mostly because his instinct to shut down the idea as frivolous and distracting petered out before he could get the words to his lips. “Yeah, maybe we should give that a try,” he said instead, much to his surprise. “I thought I saw a set of fishing hooks in my pack.”

She snorted. “You don’t need fishing hooks to catch trout.”

Packing finished, he stood and slung his backpack over his shoulders. “Are you suggesting we try catching them by hand?” He strode over to help her into her backpack.

“I’ve always wanted to try that,” she said, still bright and enthusiastic in spite of his wry tone. “I mean, you see people doing it in the movies all the time. I know it can’t possibly be as easy as Hollywood makes it look—”

“Nothing ever is,” he muttered.

“—but I’ve always thought that if I just put my mind to it, I could do it in a pinch.”

Will checked one last time to make sure that the fire was thoroughly out, then they started down the slope of the hill toward where he’d spotted the stream the night before. It was still early, and the morning sunlight hadn’t warmed things up yet, but the air seemed fresh and new, and the birdsong made him happy. Which was ridiculous, but—

No, he stopped his thoughts. His dad would consider birdsong making him happy ridiculous. Melody would think it was perfectly natural. On this one thing, Will decided Melody was the more right of the two.

“I was talking about rigging up some sort of net,” she said as they walked.

“What?” He tugged himself out of his thoughts, scrambling to figure out what she was talking about.

“For the fish,” she explained. “Catching them without a hook and line. I saw a big mesh thing, like one of those environmentally friendly shopping bags, in my backpack, and I instantly thought that it would be a quick way to catch a fish.”

Will tilted his head to the side, steering them around a tree that looked like it had some sort of early bee’s nest in it. “That might actually work.”