Two of a Kind (Fool's Gold #11)(68)

“Carter,” she began.

“I know, I know,” the teen grumbled, getting off his bike and walking over to her. “Helmet first.” He took his and put it on, then waited while she adjusted everything.

“I can do that myself,” he told her.

“I know, but I feel better doing it.”

Carter glanced at Gideon and rolled his eyes. “Women.”

Gideon chuckled.

Once they’d all put on their helmets the three of them set off up the mountain.

Carter led the way on the private road by the side of the house, pedaling fast. “We’ll go really high,” he called over his shoulder.

“There’s a lookout about two miles up,” Gideon told him.

“As long as we don’t go onto the highway,” Felicia said, keeping up easily. She was wearing khakis and a sleeveless white blouse, but her office clothes didn’t slow her down.

“No highway,” Gideon agreed.

“I heard that,” Carter yelled. “I’m old enough to stay safe.”

“No highway,” Felicia repeated.

“Is there a back way to town?”

“We’ll find one,” Gideon said.

The sun was high overhead, but the tall trees provided shade. In Fool’s Gold the temperature was probably close to ninety, but up here, it was a good ten or fifteen degrees cooler.

“When did you learn to ride a bike?” he asked.

“One of the lab assistants taught me.” She pedaled steadily beside him, her face a little flushed. “He thought I should know how. Later he convinced the professor in charge of me to sign me up for swimming lessons.”

“He sounds like a nice guy.”

“He was. I think he felt bad I was alone in the lab so much, but by then, it was all I knew.”

By then. Meaning she’d known something else before. She was so intelligent, he hadn’t given much thought to the connection between what had happened to her and how it must have felt for a four-year-old little girl to be abandoned by her parents.

“You must have had someone looking after you at first,” he said.

“The university hired a nanny to stay with me. There were houses for professors on campus. I was given one of the smaller ones at first, and there was always someone to prepare my meals and stay with me at night. Later, when I was about twelve, I moved into one of the living units in the applied sciences building. There were a handful for the graduate assistants.”

“You were on your own from the time you were twelve?”

“Mostly. By then I’d published several papers and cowritten a book, so I had income to buy food. I saved the rest of it. Having a way to support myself financially made it easier to show the judge I was ready to be an emancipated minor.”

Despite his months of torture, Gideon knew that pain came in more than one form.

“You did a good job raising yourself.”

“I dealt with what I had,” she said with a smile. “I like to think my studies have helped other people, so when I have regrets about what happened, I remember that.”

“Does it make a difference?”

“Sometimes.”

Carter disappeared around a bend in the road. Felicia started to pedal faster.

“Don’t worry. The road dead-ends at the lookout. He’s got nowhere to go.”

“Over the edge.”

“You’re a worrier,” he told her. “I wouldn’t have guessed.”

“Just because I can calculate the odds of various outcomes doesn’t mean I’m a worrier.”

“Sure it does.”

* * *

FELICIA WAS CONCERNED that Gideon was being critical, but from the way he was looking at her, she thought maybe not. If she had to guess, she would say his voice had a teasing quality to it.

They rode around the side of the mountain and found themselves on a large flat plateau. Trees and rocks provided a natural wall on three sides, while the fourth was a stunning view of the entire valley. She could see the town and the vineyards beyond. In the distance turbines spun in the afternoon breeze. Carter had leaned his bike against a rock. His helmet was on the ground, and he was standing with his back to them.

“What do you think?” Gideon asked, coming to a stop beside her.

Before she could say she was impressed, she noticed Carter’s hunched shoulders were shaking.

“Leave me alone!” he yelled without turning around. “Just leave me alone.”

His reaction was hostile, almost angry, she thought, taking in his body language. She saw the stiffness in his legs and the odd way he held his arms. For a second she thought he’d fallen and was hurt, but then she understood he was upset for reasons that had nothing to do with physical pain.

“What the hell?” Gideon muttered, starting toward him.

“Stop.” She grabbed his arm. “He needs to be alone for a few minutes.”

Gideon took off his helmet and glared at her. “Why?”

She drew him to the other side of the plateau. “He’s crying.”

“What? How do you know?”

“I’m not sure. I’m guessing.”

He stared at her. “You’re guessing? You don’t guess.”

“I think that’s what’s wrong.”