Calytrix by Chris Keniston

Author:Chris Keniston [Keniston, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Indie House Publishing
Published: 2020-03-23T16:00:00+00:00

***

Sitting on the step staring up, Callie wondered what was that man thinking. Handing him a dish, she sat down beside him. “You were the topic of conversation in the kitchen.”

“Me?” His eyes flew open and she thought she saw a hint of panic.

“Everyone seems quite pleased with how the tutoring is going.”

His shoulders eased, and was that relief flashing across his face? “So I heard at the barber shop.”

“Even her math teacher says she’s been more attentive and involved in class.”

Stabbing at the pastry, he paused, the fruit slipping from his fork. “It’s only been two days.”

Callie shrugged. “I’m just repeating what I was told.”

“From what I’ve heard around town today, it seems to matter to everyone that she make it into college on a scholarship. As much as I’d love the idea of making a real difference, this early in the game all the conjecture might just be wishful thinking on everybody else’s part.”

“I don’t know. Maybe all you are is the mathematical equivalent of a sugar pill, but either way, I’ll take it.”

“Sugar pill?”

“You know, placebo. It’s all in the mind. The man who thinks he can and the man who thinks he can’t are both right.”

“Got it.” He took another mouthful of the dessert.

Twirling her college ring around on her finger, Callie considered what she wanted to say next. He’d nearly cleaned his plate by the time she looked over at him. “I don’t suppose you want to tell me what that odd math conversation earlier between you and Lucy was all about?”

“Did she say something?”

She shook her head. Everyone was too excited talking about Deidra and the upcoming baby, mostly at the same time.

His fork settled on the nearly empty dish. “Was it that noticeable?”

“To anyone paying attention.” She had run her mind around the earlier scene and come up empty, except for a similar reaction from Lucy before. “Does this have anything to do with also cutting her excitement off the first night you arrived?”

He stabbed at the last bite of dessert. “Maybe.”

“Lucy seems to be onto something that you don’t seem to want her to share.”

Setting his plate to one side, Zane glanced out onto the lake and then slowly took in the area around them.

“If it’s none of my business,” she started, “you can just say so. I promise I won’t ask again.”

Hands folded together, leaning forward slightly, he nodded as if talking himself into something before facing her. “When I was in seventh grade my baseball coach noticed I could pitch at nearly 90 mph.”

Callie whistled. “Not bad.”

“No. Not bad. And by the end of high school I was pretty darn good at not bad.”

“Okay.” Callie chuckled. “That made no sense.”

The side of his mouth tipped up in a half-hearted smile. “Deidra reminds me of me.”

“Really?” She didn’t have a clue where he was going with this.

He nodded. “Yeah. She can really throw a ball. Any ball.”

“That she can.”

“My senior year of high school, I did a summer camp with coaches from the major leagues.

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