The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut, #1)(95)

“That’s amazing. And how—”

“Good evening, everyone. Have you had an opportunity to look over the menu?”

That poor waiter—I don’t think I’ve ever hated anyone quite as much as I hated him in that moment. It wasn’t his fault. He had a job to do—and, truly, I should eat something—but I wanted to hear more about the church. “I’ll need a minute.”

“I can order for you, if everyone else is ready.” Nathaniel looked up from his menu. “The menu hasn’t changed from when we were here before.”

“Take your time.” The young man flashed his teeth in a way that said that he was really an actor. He was handsome, if you go for the Clark Gable type, but he was never going to land any roles if his next line was any indication of his acting ability. “Say, aren’t you the Lady Astronaut?”

“Only on TV. Not when I’m having dinner with my family.” Which was maybe a little too sharp, so I gave a sugar-laden smile to counterbalance it. “You understand, right, honey?”

Poor kid. He’d thought he could suck up by “recognizing” me. His face fell and you could see him thinking that he’d kissed his tip goodbye. Hershel had covered his mouth and was studying the menu with the intensity of a man trying not to laugh.

“Sorry, ma’am.” The waiter made a vague gesture to another part of the restaurant. “There were just … there’s a family with some little girls, and they recognized you. I said … They were shy, and I said I could help them out.”

Oh. Well, that changed things. And I had to give him credit for not backing down from a promise to kids, even if all I really wanted to do was spend time with my aunt.

Aunt Esther watched the whole conversation with quiet interest. Her head tilted to the side as each of us spoke, which just made her look more like a little bird. When I had visited as a child, she and Grandma had always made time for me and my endless questions. Did I repay that by giving her my attention now, or by following her example and visiting the little girls?

Sighing, I turned to Nathaniel. “Would you order for me? I’ll be right back.”

It says something that I wasn’t nervous walking over there. Maybe I was just worn out from the testing, or maybe I was finally getting used to the spotlight. I could hope for the latter.

The family was sitting at a table close to the entrance. The wife wore a small Star of David on a chain. My heart lifted a little at that. Funny how, even though I was there with my family, just seeing someone else who was visibly Jewish made me feel less alone in the room.

The younger of the little girls spotted me first, and her brown eyes went wide. Her rosebud of a mouth dropped open. She poked her sister in the side.

“Ow! Mama! Shoshana is poking m—oh my gosh.” The older girl was perhaps ten, and had the same dark brown curls as her little sister. “Oh my gosh.”

The father looked around in the direction of his daughters’ stares. Seeing me, he pushed his chair back and stood. “Thank you for coming over, Dr. York. I hope we didn’t interrupt your dinner.”

“Not at all. It’s just a family gathering.” Telling him that it included an aunt who I’d thought was dead would only make him feel guilty.

“Robert Horn. My wife, Julia.”

“A pleasure.” I shook her hand. The skin was rough and chapped, as if she spent a lot of time washing dishes.

“And these are our daughters, Chanie and Shoshana.” The obvious parental pride shone through his smile. “They are big fans of yours.”

“I’m going to be an astronaut!” Shoshana announced.

“I bet you will.” I turned my attention to Chanie. “And how about you?”

“A writer.” And then, as if seeking my approval, she added, “But I’ll write about space.”

“Well, then. It sounds like the future will be a wonderful place.”

We chatted about nothing, which I had become very practiced at over the past several months. What I’d come to realize is that, with kids like these, it was less about me and more about elevating them—not because it was me, but because I was something out of the ordinary.

It was easy to confuse that with extraordinary. I wasn’t. I could have been anybody so long as I was Somebody, if that makes any sense. They would have been just as excited to meet Hedy Lamarr.

Though, to be fair, I would also be excited to meet Hedy Lamarr.

For me, the out-of-the-ordinary person that I met that night was Aunt Esther. When I got back to the table, she had Nathaniel, Tommy, and Hershel crying with laughter. Literally crying. Nathaniel had gone red in the face and was blotting his eyes with his napkin.

I slid onto the bench, jealous at missing whatever the story had been. Aunt Esther’s cheeks had a flush of red to them, and her wrinkles were twisted up in a bow. Fortunately, Nathaniel had ordered a martini for me, so I had that for consolation.

Tommy grinned at me. “The damn thing’s hot!”

“Look what you’ve done.” Hershel shook a finger at our aunt, who did not look even a little abashed. “He’s going to teach that to his sister, and my wife will have my head.”

“Eileen won’t mind.”

“Doris.” Hershel wiped his eyes and sobered a little. Our cousin Kenny and his wife Eileen had died in the Meteor. Presumably—like most, they’d just vanished. “My wife’s name is Doris.”