'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.'
'In the past few months I have regretfully come to the same conclusion,' Edward conceded reluctantly.
'What's more, I know he faked his para-profile on his marriage agency registration last year so that he could be matched with me. Or maybe he bribed my counselor. I'm still not sure which. Either way, his only goal was to get himself into the right circles here at Northville so that he could use his charisma-talent to land a good post. And darned if his plan didn't work.'
'Your father and I have had a few suspicions along that line,' Anna admitted. 'Unfortunately, there is no way to prove that.'
'I know.' Orchid grinned. 'Which is why I was left contemplating such a primitive sort of revenge as pushing him into a pond. But I never got the chance, thanks to Rafe. He interrupted things before I could finish. And now he's claiming that the final result wasn't even real revenge, just an accident.'
'Deliberately pushing Luce into a pond would have been childish and immature,' Rafe pointed out.
'But fun,' Orchid said.
Anna shook her head. 'So much for all those years of meta-zen-syn training.' She looked at Rafe. 'So you're going to stick to your story? Preston really did fall into that pond by accident?'
'Sort of,' Rafe said.
Orchid pounced. 'Ah-hah. I knew there was more to it than that. What, exactly, happened at the reflecting pool this afternoon?'
'If you must know, Professor Luce took a swing at me. He lost his balance when he missed. That's how he fell into the pool.'
The other three gaped at him.
Orchid recovered first. 'Preston tried to hit you?'
'Fortunately, one of the benefits of being a strat-talent is that I have fairly quick reflexes,' Rafe murmured. 'I was able to step aside.'
'But why on St. Helens would Luce take a swing at you?' Edward stared at him, still astonished. 'I've never noticed any violent tendencies in him. Besides, he never even met you until today.'
'He was probably pissed-off because I told him that when I took control of Stonebraker Shipping I planned to review the portion of his grant funding that was derived from Stonebraker's corporate contribution to the North Institute.'
Orchid stared. 'You did what?'
'I strongly hinted that I had the power to see to it that any projects that listed him as primary analyst would be handed off to someone else on the institute staff.'
A stunned silence descended. Rafe watched with amusement as the full impact of what he had just said hit the other three.
'My God,' Orchid whispered. 'You threatened to cut off a huge chunk of his grant money.'
'I didn't exactly threaten,' Rafe said carefully. 'I pretty much promised I'd do it. I also warned him that as Stonebraker's C.E.O. I'll have a certain amount of influence with some of the other corporate heads who contribute to the institute.'
'So much for being primitive.' Edward's face screwed up into a strange expression. 'What a perfect meta- zen-syn revenge.'
'Thank you,' Rafe said. 'I like to think I'm not entirely a victim of my throwback genes.'
The look on Edward's face got odder. And then he exploded with laughter.
Anna's eyes sparkled with humor. She clapped a hand over her mouth and dissolved into muffled giggles.
Orchid was the only one who did not look wholeheartedly amused. There was a distinctly wary gleam in her gaze. 'I assume that just because you're cutting Preston's funding, you won't withdraw corporate financial support from the institute altogether?'
