A few minutes later, Eli entered the living room.
Scully was holding a copy of the second Trafalgar game, the one that wasn’t on the stands yet. “Can I . . . ?”
“Sure, take it,” Eli said and they went to the car.
Once they were inside, Scully said, “So how did you get her? What did you do?”
“If you mean Chelsea, she isn’t mine. She keeps telling me she’s going to leave.”
“To do what?”
“I don’t know. Travel around the world, I guess. Again.”
“I like to do things and Abby does too, but right now she’s so dazzled by her football player that she can’t remember that.”
“I know Chelsea is enjoying the adventure of trying to find out the truth about Peterson. But when that’s done, what will she do while I’m at work?”
“Help other people?” Scully suggested.
Eli glanced at the boy. “You have a brain, don’t you?”
“Right now I’d trade it for your pecs and abs,” Scully said.
Eli laughed. “I should introduce you to my cousin Raine. When we were kids he called me Toothpick.”
“I hate bullies.”
“Raine isn’t one. I called him Stump, as in tree stump. Actually, he was the best trainer in the gym. Listen, I don’t write these games alone. There’s an entire team that handles them. Maybe you’d like to have some input on the third game. Any interest?”
Scully was staring at Eli in openmouthed astonishment.
“I take it that means yes?”
“My dad owns—”
“I know,” Eli said. “He runs the local computer store and he’s a good programmer. You spend a lot of time in the back of the store with him. You’re better with software, while he takes on the hardware problems.”
“If you know so much about us, why did you ask me?”
“All the info on paper can’t tell the deeper facts about a person. I especially wanted to hear how you felt about your dad.”
“What did you find out?”
“That maybe you love the guy as much as I do my dad.”
“Yeah, I do,” Scully said softly.
“Think there’s any chance of him getting together with Abby’s mom?”
Scully smiled. “That would be great, wouldn’t it? Then Abby and I would be together and . . .” He shrugged. “Don’t tell her about that idea, would you?”
“Only if you don’t tell Chelsea my secrets.”
They looked at each other and grinned in agreement.
11
When Chelsea got back to the house it was nearly four and all she could think about was how to distract Eli. Above all, she couldn’t give him time to look in her eyes and see that she was hiding something from him.