in front of
her. “They have this dome set up for as long as it takes us to decide if we
want the change done or not. Kniam met with us last night at dinner and
explained the council would not push us into any decision. They are leaving it
entirely up to us. We are supposed to have a meeting in one week with both male
and female councils to go over the rules and see where we stand on matters.”
Kenzie figured this would be the stance the council took on the refugees.
Even though yesterday Weston had been talking about branching out, today he
seemed very happy with their circumstances. She started eating her food so she
could think for a moment. Weston was polite enough to make small talk but didn’t require her to answer.
He went on about the swimming hole,
and how everyone was thinking about trying that out soon. If she wanted they
could get swimming suits from the fabricator and try their hand at swimming
tomorrow? She just nodded absently and kept eating. There was a dome called The Watering Hole everyone raved about, would
she like to try some flavored water? Again, she just smiled and nodded absently
not really paying attention.
“Am I interrupting ?”
Kenzie’s eyes flew upward. Her heart rate increased and her palms began
to sweat. With a smile, she hoped hid her
nerves, she said. “Of course not.” Remembering Weston had invited her to this dome, she hurried to ask him. “Do you mind if
Knacayn joins us?”
Chapter Eleven
“Since you were so close to finishing your meal, I figured we could take
a walk to the park and join the others.” Weston didn’t come right out and say
it, but the implication was crystal clear. He did not want Knacayn to join
them.
Turning to Knacayn, she shrugged,
“I did agree to go to the park. Perhaps—” she had been about to say perhaps
another time when he broke in.
“I would be happy to drop you off at the park after our talk.” His warm
purple eyes danced with mischief.
“I don’t think—”
“That sounds like a great—” disgruntled she broke off. Weston had argued against the idea at the same moment she
had tried to agree.
Had she only moments ago thought it might be nice to have men fighting
for her attention. The saying, ‘be careful what you wish for’ rang in her head.
Deciding to end any arguing before it began, she stood from her plate.
“Weston, I’ll meet you at the park. I did tell Knacayn I would speak with him
yesterday and he has been patient enough to wait for today.” She used her
liaison voice and it left no room for argument.
Weston immediately caved at her tone, “I will see you there in a few
minutes.” He gave Knacayn a furious glare and strode from the table.
Turning back to Knacayn she was in time to see his satisfied smile. “What
was it you wanted to talk about?” she asked.
He held out his hand, “Would you prefer to walk on the paths as we talk
or is this location better?”
“We can walk on the paths. It will be good for me to get an idea of the
community layout.” She put her hand into his and wasn’t surprised by the warm
thrill racing up her arm. She was used to her reaction to him by now. It wasn’t
her body that was the problem, it was her mind. She always had a tendency to overthink things.
“The Watering hole is this way.” He strode at a leisurely pace and Kenzie was happy
for the unhurried tour. It seemed she had always run from one chore to another and she was glad to be able to just
enjoy her surroundings for once.
“I heard about that. They have different flavors of water, is that
right?” she peered around him at the dome as they passed. It looked like the
dining hall, only every table was full of laughing, talking patrons. Not all of
them natives either, she saw a few of the Earth refugees in there too.
“That is correct, ” He answered,
stopping when he noticed she was looking inside. “Would you like to get
something to drink?”
Kenzie hesitated for a moment. Weston had offered