“Careful. You’ll hurt my feelings.”
He took a seat behind the wheel, pulled his phone from his pocket, and sent his text. Then he started the engine and nodded to Hannah’s offer to cast the lines. The engine roared, then purred, and the Escape pulled away from the North Forty dock.
It was a beautiful summer evening with temperatures in the sixties and a nonexistent wind. The cruiser cut through the water like a dream. “Why a wooden boat, Boone? I picture you as more of a go-fast guy with a Formula or a Fountain. I know you like fast cars. I’ve noticed a Maserati in the multibay garage of yours.”
“Running a speedboat on this lake would be overkill. Plus, the neighbors would hate me because they’re so loud. The truth is that a wooden boat fits Hummingbird Lake.”
“It’s a great boat. Is the wood mahogany?”
“Yep. Wait until you see it in the daylight. The grain is gorgeous. I managed to track down some old Connelly wooden skis that complement it nicely. I’ve actually been on the lookout for an antique boat for a winter restoration project. Love me some classic beauty.” He paused a moment, then added, “You belong in this boat on this lake, Hannah Dupree.”
She felt her cheeks flush. She took Boone’s comment as a compliment, not a come-on, and she was rusty on reacting to those. So she let it pass without a response, turned her face into the breeze, and lifted her face toward the starry sky. The moon was a fingernail rising in the east. She picked out the Big and Little Dippers, then asked, “Do you know the constellations?”
“Not really.” He eased the throttle back to neutral and switched off the engine, allowing the boat to drift.
“Stargazing is actually an interest of mine. I took a class in college and got hooked.”
He opened a box built into the transom and removed something Hannah couldn’t see. Then he sat upon the cushioned sundeck, scooted back, and lay down. He patted the seat beside him. “Come, show me.”
Hannah hesitated only a moment before lying down beside Boone McBride. He switched on the item that he’d removed from the box and handed it to her. “You keep a laser pointer in your boat?”
“I have them stashed about lots of places. They come in handy. So show me the stars, Hollywood.”
She sat up. “Hollywood?”
“Yeah. You remind me of all the classic movie stars rolled into one delicious package.”
Oh. Well. Hannah ran from that by lying back down and speaking in a professorial tone. “I’m going to point out the Summer Triangle. We’re looking for three bright stars. The first is here. Altair, in the constellation Aquila, the Eagle. See it?”
“I do.”
“Next is Deneb.” She drew a line with the pointer to another bright star. “Deneb is in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. Finally, here’s Vega in the constellation Lyra, the lyre. Cygnus is a horizontal cross of five bright stars. In dark sky conditions, Cygnus helps you find the Milky Way. There’s too much light here tonight to see it.”
“I know of a great dark sky spot only half an hour from here. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to take you up there one night.”
“I’m definitely interested. I love the Milky Way. It’s been many years since I’ve seen it, though.”
“It’s a date.” Before she could protest the terminology, Boone continued, “I recall a few of the stories that are connected to constellations, but I don’t know Aquila or Lyra or … what was it? Signa?”
“Cygnus. As far as the Summer Triangle goes, in Japanese mythology, the celestial princess and goddess Vega fell in love with a man named Altair. Because Altair was a mortal, her father didn’t approve and forbade them from seeing each other. The two lovers were separated by the Celestial River—the Milky Way. According to the legend, once a year a bridge of magpies forms, represented by Cygnus, and the lovers can be together again.”
“That’s not as tragic as some of the mythological stories.”
“True.”
“So what else do you have?”
“Hmm. Scorpius.” She used the laser to trace the star path. “Antares is the big red star. It’s something like eight or nine hundred times bigger than our sun.”
“You do know your star stuff, don’t you? I’m impressed.”
“It’s not very useful.”
“Don’t knock yourself. My brain is a font of useless information. Though I do a few useful things too.”
Hannah grinned into the darkness. From what she’d seen, she was pretty sure Boone McBride’s IQ was off the charts. “Give me an example. One of each. Start with useful.”
“Okay. Give me a moment to think. I want it to be impressive. Hmm.” He swiped the laser pointer from her hand and began playing with it, bouncing it from star to star while humming the Jeopardy! theme song. Finally, he said, “I know how to start a friction fire.”
Hannah narrowed her eyes. Was that a come-on? Then she remembered something his cousin Tucker had said tonight. “Your cousin operates a wilderness school. I’ll bet he taught you.”
“I could have learned in the Boy Scouts.”
Hannah’s lips twisted in a wry grin. “For some reason, I can’t picture you as a Boy Scout.”
“I never liked those uniforms. But yes, Tucker taught me fire starting and dozens of other wilderness skills. Useful information.”
“Okay, then. What’s your useless offering?”
“I can name the capitals of one hundred and ninety countries.”
“Really?”
“Yep.”
“I couldn’t name one hundred and ninety countries, much less their capitals. Why would you want to do that?”
“It was a great bar bet in college. Plus, it made the coeds believe I was brilliant. Made it easier to get the girls.”
“Something tells me you never had any trouble at all getting the girls.”
He heaved a dramatic sigh. “It was a burden I stoically bore.” She snorted, then laughed. “Actually, I was pretty much a one-woman man all the way through college. I fell hard and fast for the gal I married.”
Hannah pulled her attention away from watching the pulsing light of a satellite moving fast across the night sky and looked toward Boone. “Tell me about her. What made you fall for your Mary?”
Hannah wished she hadn’t asked the question when Boone didn’t immediately answer. He dropped the laser pointer onto his chest, then laced his fingers behind his neck. Hannah had opened her mouth to say Never mind when he said, “She had a troubled family background. Her dad was an alcoholic and verbally abusive. She never admitted it, but I think he hit her a time or two. The night we met, we went to a frat party with our friends. While I was at the bar getting us a couple of beers, some guys cornered her and got too friendly for her comfort. I chased them off. Might have been some fisticuffs involved.”
“Is that when your nose was broken?”
“Noticed that, hmm? Yep, ruined my good looks. Both times.”
“Twice?”
“The first time I was twelve and going around with my cousins. The second time was not too long ago during a valiant matchmaking effort between Devin Murphy and his true love, Jenna. You met them tonight.”