Lani snuffled.
“Must be nice having all your friends around you. Real friends, I mean, ones you grew up with.”
“It has its moments, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
She turned suddenly, and their eyes caught.
“You are a very lucky man.”
“I’ve always thought so. How about you? You miss your friends?”
She looked away. “Of course.”
Noah didn’t know anything about Lani Sullivan other than she liked to bake and eat peanut butter by the jar. She knew his friends, his sister, and plenty of other things, but wasn’t offering any information about herself. Okay, there was that noise she made when they’d made love, but he didn’t think it likely she even knew she’d made it. He sure wished he hadn’t remembered that right in this moment. Noah thought about the swim he’d taken earlier in the cold waters of Lake Howling. That cooled him off.
“There is a disease that is wiping out the Oregon potato crop. It’s dire, and we have been growing another crop by genetically inserting DNA. I won’t go into detail, but basically, we are giving it new or different characteristics. This could be something life changing to the way the plant grows or making it resilient to disease.”
Trask spoke well, Noah would give him that, but he didn’t like the man. Something was off with him, and he couldn’t pin down what.
“Dr. Trask, what happens when you leave? How can we be sure that what you leave behind doesn’t affect the ecological characteristics of our environment?”
“That’s a hell of a good question from Declan,” Buster muttered.
“He does do a lot a research,” Willow added.
“We will undertake rigorous tests to ensure it is left as we found it. Plus, our facility follows guidelines to ensure there is no impact on the surrounding area. We put our potatoes through strict tests before they are consumed by anyone.”
“Says you!”
Howlers were great hecklers. It was something they relished, if given the opportunity.
“We have a surplus of potatoes and have brought them to town for you all to try.”
“I don’t want to wake up with an elbow growing out of my forehead!”
“For the love of God, Jed. Eating a potato that is genetically modified won’t do that,” Cubby growled.
“I still think they’re aliens,” Ethan whispered. He looked tired and not his usual slick self. But happy, and that was what mattered.
“I think we should have potato day!” Noah searched for the owner of that voice and found Gussie Neeps. She was the local fudge maker and had ties that dated back to the beginning of Howling. “We can have the best food created from potatoes. Potato and spoon races.”
“Is she actually serious?” Lani whispered, looking torn between laughter and horror.
“Totally. Howlers love parades, carnivals, in fact anything they can put a label on and call a celebration. We already have about a dozen festivals for things each year.”
“I’ve never been anywhere like this place. It’s like a little microclimate of weird.”
“But in a good way, right?” He leaned in and inhaled. Her scent wasn’t anything from a bottle, but it was still sexy as hell.
“Is there a good way to be weird?”
“Totally.”
“If you say so.”
“I’ll judge the competition,” Dr. Trask said with a smile that had a few of the women sighing. Lani, he noticed, was scowling.
“So how are your potato peeling skills?”
