Twenty
“Any professional advice as to what I should do next to figure out why Norma Jean is so put out with me?” Seth asked, turning to Annaliese, who immediately sent him a wrinkle of her nose.
“I’m not certain my professional advice is all that professional as I haven’t exactly spent my life working with adolescent girls, although...” She tapped a finger against her chin. “Iwasan adolescent girl at one time, and I was also prone to feeling misunderstood, which is what I think Norma Jean might be feeling right now.”
“And what did everyone do when you were feeling misunderstood?”
“I don’t recall anyone ever doing anything as Drusilla, even though she’s my older sister, is too close in age to me to have lent me any real support, and besides that, she had her own issues back in the day. My mother, as she’ll now willingly admit, was far too consumed with her social activities to spend much time with me. And my father, before you ask, was never around, and even if he would have been, he would have merely given me another doll if I’d ever mentioned feeling misunderstood, thinking that would cheer me up.”
Seth felt his heart give a bit of a lurch when an image of ayounger Annaliese sprang to mind, one where she was holding a doll she probably had no interest in while undoubtedly wishing someone had simply given her a bug.
“I think I should go speak with her,” he said, earning a smile from Annaliese that left his heart lurching again, but this time for a completely different reason.
“I imagine she’d appreciate that.”
“Think you should come with me?”
“When she’s obviously still put out with me?” Annaliese asked. “I think not, but your mother and I will be right here in case you end up needing some assistance.”
After returning Annaliese’s smile, Seth turned and strode after Norma Jean, not having to stride very far before he found his sister leaning against the side of the saloon, her arms crossed and a decidedly grumpy look on her face.
“Are you up for a chat?” he asked as he leaned against the side of the saloon beside her, refusing a smile when she slid him a side-eye and took to looking grumpier than ever.
“Did Mother tell you to come chat with me?” she asked.
“No, I decided to chat with you all on my own.”
“Annaliesedidn’t encourage you to come find me?”
“Why do I get the distinct impression that you have some sort of issue with Annaliese?”
“Because I do.”
He turned to face his sister. “You know that’s not an answer, Norma Jean, but should I assume it’s because I came to the academy the day of the skunk debacle to have lunch with Annaliese?”
“You came to the academy the day before that to see her as well, something that had all my friends in a tizzy, especially when you came bearing gifts for Annaliese.” She rolled her eyes. “Personally, I wouldn’t have been all that impressed with habitats for bugs, but Velma thought those were simply divine gifts, and the Zambarello sisters thought I should write a newplay and add a scene where the hero does exactly what you did, something that left me feeling quite as if I was going to lose my lunch.”
“And you wanted to lose your lunch because ...?”
“Don’t be dense, Seth. You know a lot of my friends have decided to play matchmaker with you and Annaliese, and by having you take the time to build her those habitats, you once again became the topic of every conversation I had while school was in session, and even afterward. It was annoying.”
“How could I have possibly known that my interest in Annaliese would annoy you?”
“Perhaps if you ever bothered to ask me anything, you would have realized that.”
“It would have been difficult to ask you anything about Annaliese before you left Chicago as I was only beginning to realize that the fascination I was feeling for her wasn’t simply due to the symmetry of her face.”
Clear temper flashed through Norma Jean’s eyes. “Do not tell me that you’re thinking about courting her, are you?”
“Annaliese and I haven’t spoken about courting, but ... what if I am?”
“Then I’ll refuse to return to Chicago because formal courtships, from what we learned in one of Annaliese’s classes, can take months—monthsduring which I’ll have to tolerate listening to my friends wax on and on about how they had a hand in making the Chicago match of the year. Frankly, I’m tired of listening to my friends wax on about you, and I was downright weary when they constantly begged me to come watch you work before I finally convinced them you’re almost at your last prayers.”
“I’m not even thirty, so those last prayers are going to have to wait. With that said, though, you could have always told them I was too busy to be bothered, sparing yourself some annoyance.”
“And lose the only chance I had to actually see you in any given week?” Norma Jean snapped before she pressed her lips together, quite as if she hadn’t been intending on letting that slip out.
It really wasn’t much of a surprise when his heart, quite like it had recently done with Annaliese, took to lurching. He reached out and took hold of Norma Jean’s hand. “I wasn’t aware you wanted to see me.”
