North Dakota Weddings (9 page)

She stepped through the door and looked around the large room—almost as big as a two-story house. The diesel generator as well as other equipment had been removed. All that remained were the four shock absorbers in case of a bomb blast. Though she grew up hearing stories about the Cold War era, it was difficult to imagine living with that fear, even though there were still plenty of armed missile sites around the country, especially in North Dakota.

“So this was why you were anxious to get back.” Elisa stepped into the room behind her.

“Yeah, I wanted to see if the electrician got the power working. We pumped the water out so he could work.” Andi motioned for Elisa to come all the way in.

“The place is a mess.”

“You think?” Andi teased, happy Elisa took an interest, no matter how small. “It feels good when you transform a mess into something beautiful.”

“So, why did I have to come? Why can’t you just drop me off at the Rhubarb Festival? It started today, you know.”

Andi kept her focus on the room so she wouldn’t react. Did Elisa honestly think with her attitude that Andi would drop her off for a little fun? She’d been having a little too much fun for months now. Hence, summer school.

“I wanted to check the power. But starting tomorrow, I’m going to put you to work so you can learn responsibility.”

“I’ve got homework, you know.”

This coming from a person who was hard-pressed to even attend school? Andi eyed her sister, soon to become a woman. She wanted Elisa to have every opportunity and planned to try a different tactic. Scolding her would only drive her further away.

“We’ll figure out how to make this work.”

“I doubt it.” Elisa turned on her heel and trotted out.

Andi sighed. She saw great potential in Elisa. If only her sister would see the same. Though Andi might listen to her own advice. Ever since Jorgen dumped her because she wasn’t as educated—would no longer fit into the life he wanted—she’d looked at the world differently, feeling anything but adequate. No one could ever accuse Andi of not trying, but now Elisa was the one with opportunities ahead of her, and Andi wouldn’t let her throw them away.

Elisa was right about one thing though. This room was a mess. Once Ground Zero sold, Vance would pay her the balance of her fee plus some, and that was enough motivation to wash away her fears.

She closed her eyes and imagined discovering what her grandfather had hidden. Was it a slice of history? Or was it something valuable in terms of cold, hard cash?

Guilt began dropping on her like splotches of paint. She’d almost told Vance about her search the other day when she’d shared about her grandfather working at the military base, but she’d been afraid of how he might react. She didn’t know him well enough. Would she ever?

Then he’d acted differently toward her this morning. She’d had to coax out of him the grin she liked. Did it have anything to do with the remodeling? She hoped not.

“Hey there.” Vance leaned through the open doorway and smiled.

Seeing Vance, Andi straightened. “Hi.”

He strolled the rest of the way into the room. “I wanted to apologize for my behavior this morning.”

“Oh, you’re fine. We all have our good days and bad days.” And lately, she’d had her share of the latter.

“It’s just that there’s a problem at my company. I need to be there to work on it, but I can’t exactly work on it there.” He laughed and shoved a hand through his hair. “I’m not making any sense, am I?”

Andi laughed. “For a smart guy, no, you’re not. But I’m sure it has more to do with my ability to understand than it does with you.” Why had she said that?

A pained expression crossed his face. “You’re wrong, actually. You’re a beautiful and intelligent woman. On the other hand, I’m not so good at communicating.”

Andi felt herself blush at his compliment. She wished she could believe him, and averted her gaze. He was being so…honest, and she was being so…not. More guilt splotches.

“I’d like to know more about my uncle. You worked with him, knew him for a while. What can you tell me about him?”

What was he playing at? Did he know about her search? She studied him. The need to tell the truth chiseled at her. “Since you asked, there is something I have to tell—”

“Can we go already?” Elisa stood in the doorway, arms crossed. “I’m tired and hungry. You didn’t even let me get a snack.”

What are you, five?
Andi didn’t want to argue in front of Vance. Her shoulders fell. “I’m sorry, I have to go. We can talk later.”

She stomped after Elisa into the elevator, swathed in guilt paint splotches because she’d just used her sister as an excuse to avoid telling Vance the truth, and was ready to throw out her earlier resolve not to lecture or scold Elisa. “Did you have to be so rude? I was in the middle of a conversation.”

When she received no response she glanced at her sister. That explained it. She was plugged into music.

Just as well. Drained, Andi didn’t have the energy to talk to the teenager at the moment. Once outside, they headed for the truck.

“Hey, wait up,” Vance called.

Andi turned to see him walking toward her, out of breath. He must have taken the stairs. She admired his lithe form, wondering how he kept in shape with the way he ate.

“Yeah? What’s up?”

“I don’t feel like eating dinner alone tonight, especially in the dungeon. How about I take you and Elisa somewhere? Where’s a good place to eat?”

Andi stood speechless.

Elisa leaned out of the truck. “The Rhubarb Festival. They have food there.”

Talk about selective hearing. “Elisa,” Andi hissed. She hadn’t even accepted the invitation yet.

“Come on, Andi. We can make it a business meeting, discuss the work you’re doing.” He pulled his glasses off and hung them from the corner of his lip—a mannerism that was beginning to grow on her.

Why did she always have to like smart guys?

V
ance held his breath. Would she agree? He wanted a replay of the Andi he’d seen this morning—lively and flirtatious, especially after the day he’d had. He wanted to see a flash of her hundred-watt smile.

Instead, she cocked her head. “You’re the boss,” she said, then climbed into her old pickup.

“Stellarific.” Vance grinned, though her words didn’t hold much encouragement. Still, it was hard to keep a guy down amid the prospect of having dinner—even at a rhubarb festival—in the company of a beautiful woman. Add to that, coming above ground into the real world for a change was almost like watching a meteor impact on Jupiter—a rare, celebratory event even for astronomy geeks.

Truck started and rumbling, Andi rolled down the window and leaned out. “The festival should have a lot of your kind of food, though mostly rhubarbrelated, including pies, a carnival, and competitions between the longest stalk and the largest leaf. What more could you want?”

“Rhubarb, huh?” He’d eaten strawberry-rhubarb pie once. Made him sick.

“I don’t suppose you know where the Rhubarb Festival is, do you?”

“I’ve been out of the dungeon and around the block a few times, but can’t say that I do.”

“Follow me.”

“I’m right behind you.” Vance pulled his keys out of his pocket and locked the entrance to Ground Zero.

He climbed into his car as Andi turned onto the main road and sped away like she was running from the law. One thing about this part of North Dakota—it was so flat you could see someone coming for miles. He chuckled as he climbed into his car and followed Andi from a distance for several miles and then into town.

He teased her, pulling next to her when the road allowed, and waved. Only Elisa responded. Waiting behind Andi’s truck at a red light, he noticed Andi watching him through her rearview mirror.

He’d told her it could be a business dinner—a small twist of the truth. During his day of writing slightly malicious code to slow the misuse of his algorithm, Andi had permeated his thoughts. When he needed to concentrate most, he couldn’t shake her smile or her earlier playfulness, though it had lasted all of fifteen seconds. As far as talk of remodeling the missile site, whatever it took to keep her company. Maybe he was only focused on her because she was his primary human contact throughout the day.

Nah. There was more to it than that.

Vance followed her into a parking lot filled with cars. People headed toward what looked like a pavilion-enclosed farmer’s market and a small carnival. He waited as Andi and Elisa got out of their truck. Andi gave a tight smile, giving him the impression she’d rather be anywhere else. Or had she and Elisa been at it again?

“How long does this festival last?” he asked.

“Through the weekend. Today’s the first day,” Elisa said, as they headed toward the pavilion.

There was a small entrance fee of three dollars a person. Vance paid for all three of them despite Andi’s protests. They visited several booths featuring various rhubarb recipes, jams and jellies, bread and cookies, and surprisingly, pork roast, stir-fries, and potpies.

Andi bought two slices of pie, one each for her and Elisa, and offered Vance a bite of hers.

The memory of the last time he’d eaten anything rhubarb prickled. “Shouldn’t we eat dinner first?”

Andi worked to swallow her mouthful of pie. “I thought you were the king of junk food?”

Vance enjoyed watching Andi stuff her face with pie. “Once in a while, I get hungry for real food.”

Music boomed from the nearby carnival. Elisa handed Vance her unfinished pie. “Here, you can have this.”

Vance tossed it in the garbage can next to him.

“Hey sis, I see some friends. I’m going to hang out.”

Irritation flashed in Andi’s eyes. “Oh no you don’t.”

Elisa glared, then looked at Vance and softened. “But I want to go on the rides.”

“We’re here because Vance wanted dinner, remember? Some of the restaurants offer sample meals made from rhubarb. Let’s walk across the street to the corner of Main and Houser. Otto’s has steaks.”

Vance grinned, his mouth watering at the thought of prime rib. “Can I get that without rhubarb?”

Andi laughed and the smile Vance liked almost peeked through. Oh yeah, she was definitely loosening up. Once inside Otto’s, a hostess showed them to a booth where Andi and Elisa took their seats opposite each other. There was an awkward moment when he needed to decide where to sit.

Finally, he slid next to Elisa, facing Andi. “This way I can see your pretty face.”

“Go, Andi. Vance thinks you’re pretty,” Elisa said.

Rather than killing her sister with a glare, as Vance would have expected, Andi kept her eyes on the menu, though a light shade of pink rose in her cheeks.

Andi shy and embarrassed because of him? Was he delusional that a girl like her could like a guy like him? Or could he relish the twist of heat in his stomach?

The waiter brought their drinks and they ordered. Andi took a sip of her water with lemon. Taking her time, she shared about growing up in the area. In her voice, he heard a sense of pride mingled with past hurts.

“Tell me, how did you end up in North Dakota all the way from Texas?” she asked.

He would have loved to hear more about her, but apparently she was ready to turn the topic to him.

Funny, he couldn’t run from thoughts of ANND or Peter even at a Rhubarb Festival. “My college roommate and I had a competition to see who would start his own company first. Four years later, I got a call to work for him in Fargo—that was last year. I think maybe he just wanted to rub my face in it, but I was tired of working as one of hundreds of droids in a large Texas company. Plus, he offered me the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Peter had plenty of talented programmers but had wanted Vance to join him. Better to be a big fish in a small pond, Vance’s dad always said.

“So what do you do exactly?” Andi asked.

“Let me guess. It has to be something related to computers.” Elisa had her back to the wall, sitting sideways in the booth.

Vance laughed. “Why do you say that?”

Their waiter brought their food and set plates before each of them.

Elisa tore a chicken strip in half and dipped it into rhubarb and horseradish sauce. “You just have that look about you.”

Vance glanced at Andi, trying to read her. Andi chewed her food while bearing a friendly smirk.

“So, you, too, huh?”

Vance thought he’d seen a subtle nod, but Andi just smiled.

Elisa laughed. “Andi’s last boyfriend was a geek.”

Andi scoured her sister with her gaze, then she looked at Vance. Fortunately her expression softened. “You never did answer my question. What do you do?”

Vance savored a bite of his medium-rare prime rib. “You know, they really do have some of the best steak in North Dakota. I’ll give you that.”

“Yeah, I agree. What do you do?” Andi wasn’t going to let it go.

He couldn’t exactly tell them all the secret stuff. “I work for a data mining company. You were right, too.” He glanced at Elisa. “I’m a programmer. I like to call it software engineer—sounds better.”

Elisa leaned closer. “What’s data mining?”

“Leave the man alone, would you? Let him tell us what he will.”

Now she takes that stance. Well this was it. Once he told her everything, she’d write him off. But then again he was leaving, wasn’t he?

“In Texas, I worked for one of the largest database computing software firms in the world. We developed software to manage large amounts of data, which required supercomputers. If you think about it, everything we do in this technological age generates data. Data mining, in the simplest of terms, is looking for hidden patterns in the data.”

“But why would you want to do that? What do you do with the information?”

“Predict the future,” he said, then took another bite of steak, ignoring the baked potato, and chewed.

Elisa laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Not entirely. Patterns in the data can reveal future trends. Behavior.”

Andi’s eyes grew wide and she lowered her fork slowly to her plate. “Like when I receive a catalogue in the mail that I didn’t ask for, it’s because they decided I’m a potential customer.”