A New Hope (Thunder Point #8)(64)

“What’s your name, kid?”

“Charlie,” he said.

“I’m Frank,” the guy said, sticking out his hand for a shake. “New in town?”

“I...uh... My mom works for Mrs. Banks...”

“Oh—the new lady? ALS, I heard.”

Charlie nodded.

Frank clicked away at his keyboard while Charlie just sat there. Then he pushed up his glasses and read the label on the plastic bottle.

“Allergies?” Frank asked.

“Peanuts, shellfish and insect bites.”

“You carry an Epi?”

“Uh-huh.”

“That juice is okay. No additives. No MSG, no artificial sweetners, no gluten or corn syrup.”

“Oh,” Charlie said. “Thanks.”

“So—what are you doing on the computer? Games?”

“I have a few games, yeah. You?”

“I have some papers to read.”

“You’re a teacher?”

He laughed. “No, a student. I’m reading some published papers for research—physics, mainly. And astronomy. Have you heard the term ‘astrophysics’?”

Charlie nodded, feeling a little better about everything. The guy didn’t look like a nerd even if he was wearing glasses. Kind of thick ones. “The study of physics as it applies to heavenly bodies.” He opened up his laptop, clicked it back to life and turned the screen toward Frank, showing him the TED Talk.

Frank grinned and said, “You are my brother. I’ve seen that one. How old are you?”

“Fourteen,” he answered, fighting the blush. “I’m short for my age.” He had rejected the word small, even if it was accurate.

“So was I,” Frank said.

“You’re not anymore. I guess you grew.”

Frank chuckled. “I have an older brother, big jock. He got all the testosterone in the family. I think he was shaving in the sixth grade. I started shaving two or three weeks ago. I was small, skinny, nerdy.”

“No way.”

“Way.”

“You get beat up a lot?” Charlie asked.

Frank frowned at the question. “I had a couple of secret weapons. There was my brother, for one thing. But also I helped kids with their homework all the time. Kept me safe. Why are you listening to that video? You like astronomy?”

“Yeah. I like science. Where are you a student?”

“MIT,” he said.

“To be an astrophysicist?” he asked, in awe.

“Physics is my study but I love astronomy so I’m looking at it, but who knows? I’m not even two years in yet.”

“You live here when you’re not at MIT?” Charlie asked.

“I’m home for a visit—just a few weeks. I’m getting ready for fall. How about you? What are you headed for?”

I’m headed for being a freshman if I live that long and no one beats me senseless for being a nerd, Charlie thought. “I start high school in the fall. So I don’t know.”

“You know what you like, though, right?”

“Science. Math. Star Trek and House.”

He laughed. “A Trekkie doctor, I like it.”

Troy came outside with a cup of coffee. “Oh, God, there are two of you!”

Frank laughed and looked back at his screen. “You have your laptop out half the time,” he accused Troy.

“Schoolwork, young man.”

There was the sound of whooping and laughter wafting across the bay. “And here come the women,” Frank said. Two young women were approaching on paddleboards from the marina side of the bay. “Do you know when Landon and Cooper are going to get here?”

“Soon,” Troy said. “But there’s not enough wind on the bay yet.”

“There will be,” Frank said. “Stick around, Charlie. We’re going to have some fun today. Windsurfing.”

“Really?” he asked a little excitedly.

“Well, I’ll be windsurfing. No one else has done it yet. Cooper’s renting us some equipment.”

“I don’t know how you talked him into that,” Troy said with a laugh.

“He said if it works he might turn it into a business opportunity.”

“That explains it. By the way, I’ve been windsurfing. Badly, but I’ve done it,” Troy said.

As the women got closer to the shore in front of Cooper’s, Frank put away his laptop, got up and went down the steps to greet them. He left the backpack on the deck by his chair. The women were wearing wet suits with long sleeves and were covered down to their knees. And they were gorgeous. They pulled their paddleboards up onto the sand, Frank lending a hand.

“Those are not women,” Troy advised.

Frank kissed the redhead.

“On their way to becoming women. On their way fast, I’d say. But they’re still girls. They never had girls like that when I was his age,” Troy muttered.

Landon’s truck came across the sand to Cooper’s. The bed was full of equipment. And as if Frank commanded the heavens, the wind immediately picked up. And the beach became a swarm of activity. Equipment was unloaded. Landon pulled on a wet suit. There seemed to be some assembling required. Troy locked the back door of the bar and wandered down to the beach. Charlie could see that the windsurfing boards were slightly lighter and trimmer than the paddleboards.