He smiled to himself. The lady did have an instinct for the romantic.
He opened the glass door and stepped out into the balmy night. Simultaneously he released a psychic probe onto the metaphysical plane. The brief sense of disorien-tation lasted only a few seconds. When things steadied he saw the clear crystal prism Orchid had crafted for him. He sent power through it, watched it shimmer as she tuned its various facets to focus his talent with perfect clarity.
The night opened up around him.
For a moment he savored the heightened awareness, knowing that through the focus link Orchid was able to enjoy some of the same sensations.
Then he cut off the flow of talent and walked across the meta-zen-syn garden to where Orchid waited for him. He wondered how much longer it would take her to understand that she was his true mate.
He knew she was aware of him, but she said nothing until he reached the rock where she sat. Then she turned her head to look at him.
"You pushed Preston into that pond for me, didn't you?"
"Why is everyone so convinced that I pushed Luce into that pond? I keep telling you, he slipped and fell."
She ignored that. "How did you know that I very much wanted him to fall into that pond?"
"It came to me in a blinding flash." He took a seat on the rock beside her.
"I'm serious," she said. "How did you know?"
"Telepathy?"
She waved that aside with an irritated little motion of one hand. "Tell me how you knew."
He was surprised by the urgency in her voice. "It wasn't as if there were a lot of options. I mean, you had the reflecting pool no more than a couple of steps away and you had Luce almost within pushing distance. There was a certain sparkle in your eye that I have come to know very well. I already knew you didn't much like the guy. It didn't require telepathy to figure out what you were thinking."
"I see."
"But the synergistic result was very similar to telepathy." The meditation stones were more comfortable than they appeared, he discovered. He settled into the curved seat, leaned back, and rested his weight on his elbows. "Why does it worry you that we might be developing some kind of psychic connection that goes beyond a focus link?"
She was silent for a moment. "I've spent my whole life being different. I'm not sure I want to be any more different than I am already."
"I can see where you would have felt a little out of place here in Northville," he conceded.
"Don't get me wrong. I love my family. I value what I learned here. I even enjoy coming back to visit my relatives. Northville will always be a part of me, but this is not where I belong."
"I understand."
"I always knew that I disappointed everyone by failing to pursue a career at the North Institute the way my brothers and my cousins have."
"Hey, you want to discuss disappointing other people?" Rafe heard the glass door of Anna's and Edward's room open behind him, but he did not turn around. "Try walking away from Stonebraker Shipping when everyone in the family expects you to join the company the day you graduate from college."
"I can imagine what it must have been like for you. But now you're going back. You've completed the circle. I can't do that. I can't come back here. Not permanently."
"There's no need," Anna said gently from the shadows beyond the pool. "You are finding your own balance in life."
Orchid turned her head. "Think so?" She smiled faintly. "That's a very meta-zen-syn thing to say, Mom. You know, I always knew that stuff was good for something."
"The trick is to use it properly." Anna sat down on a meditation stone and glanced at Edward, who had followed her out into the garden. "Isn't that right, dear?"
"Precisely right." Edward lowered himself onto one of the smoothly shaped rocks. "Speaking of weighty philosophical questions, what is going on out here? It's nearly one o'clock in the morning."
"I couldn't sleep," Orchid said.
"I knew she wasn't asleep so I came out here to see what she was doing," Rafe explained.
Edward looked at him with unexpected sharpness. "How did you know that Orchid couldn't sleep?"
"Don't ask," Orchid said quickly. "Rafe thinks we're developing some kind of telepathy."
Instead of chuckling at the ludicrousness of that statement, Edward simply nodded. Rafe thought he looked oddly resigned.
"I was afraid of that," Edward said.
Anna's face was thoughtful in the moonlight. "One must accept the inevitable, dear. The forces of synergy balance themselves with or without our assistance."
Orchid scowled at her parents. "What the heck is that supposed to mean? Don't tell me you two actually believe in telepathy? Everyone knows it's nonsense. It's a metaphysical impossibility. Psychic energy doesn't work that way."
"Don't tell that to two people who have been married as long as your father and I," Anna said.
Orchid wrinkled her nose. "Okay, I'll admit that you and Dad can finish each other's sentences and you know all of each other's jokes. But that's not the same thing as telepathy."
"No, of course it isn't," Anna said soothingly. She looked at Rafe. "What made you push Preston Luce into the reflecting pond this afternoon?"
Orchid grinned.
Rafe spread his hands. "Why does everyone think that I tossed Luce into that pool?"
"Because," Orchid said with mocking patience, "we saw Preston climbing out of the pool, that's why. He was soaking wet. You can make all the meta-zen-syn comments you want about balance and harmony, but I know that he did not fall into that pond by accident."
Rafe studied the intelligent faces of the other three people who shared the night with him. "Did anyone actually see me throw, toss, or otherwise heave Preston Luce into the pool?"
Orchid exchanged glances with her parents.
"No," Anna said slowly. "I don't believe I actually witnessed the incident."
"Neither did I," Edward admitted. "That section of the garden is quite a way from where most of us were standing."
Orchid looked at Rafe. "Okay, I didn't actually see you do it, but it's the only explanation. Why are you arguing the point?"
"Because I resent the fact that everyone assumes that just because I'm a strat-talent, I would do something so gauche and tacky as to push a man into a reflecting pool at a wedding," Rafe said.
"Now, Rafe," Orchid began. "That's not quite what—"
"Your assumption about what happened between Luce and me only goes to show that even sophisticated, intelligent, well-educated people have some grave misconceptions about strat-talents. It's no wonder a guy like me can't get an agency date. Talk about being stereotyped as the primitive type."
A charged silence descended on the courtyard garden. Rafe enjoyed the expressions of chagrin that appeared on the faces of Edward and Anna. He gave everyone what he considered his most virtuous smile.
Orchid rolled her eyes.
"You may be right," Anna said. Her expression was somber, a little troubled. "I don't like to admit it, but I did leap to the conclusion that Preston Luce did not fall into that pool by accident. Not that I was complaining, you understand."
"He certainly deserved that and more," Edward agreed. "But you're quite correct, Rafe. We should not have assumed that you would do something so ... well, so physical just because you're a strat-talent."
"It was your daughter who intended to push him into the pool," Rafe said. "Ask her."
Anna and Edward turned to her.
"Is that true?" Anna asked, eyes gleaming with amusement.
"Yep." Orchid exhaled deeply. "I figured it was the least I could do under the circumstances. I don't care how good Preston is when it comes to pulling in grant money, he's a nasty little user."