“Close your mouth,” Mrs. Pike chided, crouching next to Charlie with a handful of paper towels. “You’re making Emma feel bad.”
How can you tell?Charlie wondered. The younger Koenig was lost in the pages of her book, like nothing else mattered. It was another trick Charlie wished he could learn, though he wasn’t looking to hide in plain sight right now. If Jean was in the world, he wanted to be there too.
“I’m going to introduce you now,” his mother whispered, “so try to be calm.”
Could she hear the frantic pounding of his heart? Calm might as well be the moon for all the hope Charlie had of getting from here to there.
“Charlie, this is Eve.”
His smile faltered. “What?”
“Eve. E-V-E. Like in the Bible. She’s Sockless Tommy’s niece.”
Charlie looked from his mother to Jean, waiting for one of them to correct the record. “I don’t understand?”
“It’s three letters, dear. You’ll get there.” Mrs. Pike patted him on the cheek. “Eve, this is Emma. She’s scientific, like our Charlie.”
“Not exactly like,” Emma replied, without looking up. “I study more complex creatures.”
“My Emma is a doctor,” Mr. Koenig informed the room.
“A doctor of psychology,” his daughter said. “I can’t remove your appendix.”
Charlie put a hand to where he thought his appendix was, relieved surgery was off the table.
“She will analyze you,” her father warned. “Hard to keep secrets around this one.”
“I told you not to try, Papa.” Emma turned a page.
“That’s a useful skill in business.” It sounded like Charlie’s dad was congratulating Mr. Koenig on his daughter’s degree, as if he’d written the dissertation himself. “Psychology, that is. Unlike snakes!”
“I don’t study consumer behavior.” Emma sounded mildly offended, as if he’d accused her of working retail.
“I was never one for the books myself,” Charlie’s father announced, in case any of them had missed his athletic physique. “More of an outdoors type.” As if realizing he might be offending Emma, he made a quick pivot. “We here at Pike’s are big supporters of science. In fact, we recently funded a research expedition in Australia. They were nice enough to let Charlie tag along. It’s good to give the young people a chance to spread their wings before they settle into the business.”
Charlie was afraid to look at Jean in case she thought he’d bought his way onto that trip. He was almost positive he’d earned his place.
“Isn’t this nice?” Charlie’s mother said, ignoring the strained atmosphere. “Charlie and Emma, reunited. Did you know he has a snake named Emma?”
Unlike his dad, Charlie’s mom didn’t try to sweep their son’s interest in snakes under the rug. On the other hand, she still talked about it like a childish hobby, on par with Legos or Pokémon. Not something you’d go to grad school for, much less make a career of.
“Emma means universal,” bipedal Emma pointed out. “It’s a common name.”
“My Emma isn’t common. She has magnificent ventral scales.”
“I bet he says that to all the girls,” Jean murmured, earning a bark of laughter from Mr. Koenig.
“We took him to Reptile Gardens at an impressionable age,” Mrs. Pike said, in the tone of someone confessing a childhood head injury. “Somewhere between the alligators and the chickens,he fell in love and never looked back. My Charlie is all about commitment.”
Jean made a sound that might have been a snort.
“I have antihistamines,” Emma said, sparing her a brief glance.
“How nice for you,” Jean replied.
Charlie took a tentative step toward the couch. “What—I mean. When… ah. How was your trip?”
“I don’t do small talk,” Jean said, still not looking at him.
