Reunited(12)

“Yeah. And I have no idea why.”

“It bugs me too, and I know exactly why. Because I like to know why. Evidently you do, too.”

“I guess so. I never really thought I cared about math. About anything about school. I guess I do.”

“That’s not a bad thing, Brett.”

“Maybe not. I would like to get this scholarship. Not that I’m looking forward to four more years of school, but it’s better than going to work right now.”

“In college, you can find answers to lots more questions.”

“I suppose. Of course, Michelle thinks we’re getting married. If I go to college, I can put off marrying her.”

“Do you want to put off marrying her?”

“Yeah. No. I don’t know.”

“You’re only eighteen. It’s not a sin to want to put off marriage for a while. I sure don’t want to get married right now.”

“But you have a future.”

“What kind of talk is that? You have a future.”

“I might if I get this scholarship.”

“You have a future anyway. It’s what you make of it that matters.”

“I don’t want to end up like my dad. Going nowhere in a nowhere job.”

“I heard he had an accident. I’m sorry.”

“Well, he’ll live, but he’s on disability for the rest of his life.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You already said that.” He smiled.

“I know. I don’t know what else to say. I understand, though, why you want to get your math grade up. You want that scholarship.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“You’ve done well. I think you’ll be okay. I can continue to meet with you each Monday.”

“But we still need to figure out the answer to our question.”

“What question?”

“Why a negative times a negative equals a positive.”

“Okay, Brett. But we don’t have to figure it out tonight.” She took a bite of pizza.

“Why can’t we? I’m here, you’re here. With my curiosity and your brain we ought to be able to handle it.”

“Okay.” She swallowed and took a sip of water. “Let’s do some analysis then. We understand why two positives equal a positive, and why a negative and a positive equal a negative.”

“Yep.”

“So we need to think about why two negatives equal a positive.” She inhaled. “I’m stumped.”

“I feel a little better if it stumps you, too. You’re the smartest person I know.”

Heat crept up her neck. “Am I?” It wasn’t like her to be coy, but she couldn’t help it.

“Yep, you always have been. I thought for sure you’d know the answer to this.”

“Maybe we can figure it out together.”

He smiled. “I’d like that.” He looked at the graph she’d made. “I wonder…”

“What?”

“Well, you know in English, like a double negative.”

Brett Falcone knew what a double negative was? “Yeah…what are you getting at?”

“Like we said, negative two times two is like having two sets of negative two which is negative four, right?”

“So having negative two sets of negative two would be a double negative, right? So that would make it positive.”

“Oh my God.” Kathryn shook her head as a light bulb lit. Had the Italian Stallion truly figured this out? “You’re saying that having negative two sets of negative two would be like having two sets of two.”

“Yeah. The double negative makes it a positive.”

“Oh my God,” she said again. “That actually makes sense.”

“It does?”

“Yes, Brett, it does!” She jumped up. “If you didn’t have two sets of negative two, you’d have two sets of positive two, which would equal the same thing. You’re right, it’s a double negative! And that explains why it shows a positive volume on the graph.” She picked up the paper and stared at it, awestruck. Brett Falcone was not stupid. Mr. Phillips was right. He was intelligent. He just didn’t know it. Very intelligent. And very, very attractive to her right now.

“Amazing. If you had two sets of two, you’d have four. If you lost two sets of two, you’d have negative four. But if you lost two sets of not having two, the double negative results in gaining four. You’re a genius, Brett! A genius!”

Her heart soared. Knowledge was such a beautiful thing. Emotion swelled within her, and before she could think about what she was doing, she pulled Brett up from the couch and wrapped her arms around him.

And before she knew what was happening, he kissed her.





Chapter Five


“You haven’t changed a bit, Kath,” Brett said as she opened the door.

Neither had he. In fact, he looked even better than he had twenty years ago. He was no longer a boy. He was a man. A very handsome, sexy, hot man. Her body quivered.

She let out a shaky laugh. “I have a few wrinkles that say otherwise. And the gray hairs.”

“I don’t see any gray hairs.”