“See?” She gave him a smile. “Like that.”
Tanner stared at her, a dumbfounded look on his face. “Wait. What? You grew up on a farm?”
She winced as she realized she’d never told him about that part of her life. “So, I guess I never mentioned that?”
“No, you didn’t. In fact, in all the time we’ve known each other, I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned your family. I got the feeling it was a touchy subject, so I stayed away from it.”
“I’m kind of private when it comes to my family.” She shook her head. “It’s complicated.”
He shrugged. “Family usually is.”
She silently agreed as she lined up another log. But instead of taking a swing at it, she stared down at the big piece of wood thoughtfully.
“I grew up in a rural area about three hundred kilometers south of Moscow near the Ukrainian border,” she said quietly. “During the day, my dad worked in a factory building trucks and tractors, then in the evening, he helped my mom and me on our five-acre farm. We grew mostly potatoes, along with some other vegetables when the season was right. I helped with all the planting and harvesting when I was younger, but that trailed off when I started secondary school, which is when I began to get serious about my science classes.” She rested the ax against the log and walked over to Tanner, shoving her hands in the pockets of her coat. “My parents didn’t understand most of the stuff I was learning and used to joke that maybe I’d been switched at birth, since neither of them had ever been good at academics. But they recognized that a career in science would be a way for me to get out of the hard life they’d grown up living, so they made sure I dedicated my time to studying instead of helping out on the farm. I felt bad about that, but it was what they wanted. They didn’t even complain when I went off to the university in Moscow right after I finished school.”
“Huh,” Tanner said. “You seriously grew up on a potato farm? I did not see that coming. I had visions of you sitting around with your parents at breakfast discussing the periodic table and the theory of relativity. I can’t believe you never mentioned the farm thing to me.”
She gave him a sheepish look. “This is going to sound horrible, but I spent a lot of years feeling embarrassed about where I came from. Most of the other students I studied with at the Lomonosov University in Moscow were more sophisticated than I was. I grew up a potato farmer with parents who never made it beyond the ninth grade. I guess I got used to not talking about my family even after I got away from that world.”
“Hey,” he said softly, reaching out to brush some hair that had come loose from its ponytail back from her face. “It’s nothing to beat yourself up about. You wouldn’t be the first person to hide your parents’ background from your friends. The important thing is you love them, and they know it. Do you get to see them very often?”
She smiled. Sometimes, Tanner could say stuff so perfect, it was hard to believe that other times, he could be such a pain in the butt. “I used to see them all the time, but not as much over the past few years. My work back in Moscow consumed all my time in the months before Stutmeir’s goons grabbed me. I was so bad about calling my parents that they never even realized I’d been kidnapped. And when I did call after coming to the DCO, they simply assumed I’d moved to the United States to further my genetic research. I send them money all the time, trying to make things easier on them, but I know they’d rather I come home for a visit.”
Tanner nodded. “You should. The DCO could help you get a flight home. In fact, you could probably leave straight from here.”
Zarina fought the urge to roll her eyes. She didn’t know who he thought he was fooling. He was suggesting she visit her parents because he wanted to get rid of her. She’d be lying if she said it didn’t hurt a little, but she knew he wasn’t trying to be mean. Knowing him, he thought he was keeping her safe.
Well, she wasn’t going to let him push her away, and she definitely wasn’t leaving him out here by himself, even if that was what he wanted. If that meant living through the winter with him in this prepper camp, badgering him about taking her hybrid antiserum, she was prepared to do it. She’d freeze to death, but she’d do it.
“I’m sure you’re right,” she said with a smile. “But because it’s been so long since I’ve seen Mom and Dad, I’m sure another couple of months won’t matter. I think I’ll just stay here with you for now.”
Tanner’s jaw clenched, but other than that, he gave little sign her words had bothered him. Instead, he walked over and started lining up more logs to split, as if he planned to spend the entire day doing it. Knowing him, he probably did.
“What about your family?” she asked when the silence began to stretch out to the point of discomfort. “Cam said your mother hasn’t changed your room since you joined the army, which means they must still live in Seattle, right?”
“Olympic Hills, actually.” Tanner turned his attention from the logs he still needed to split to stacking the wood he already had, aligning the pieces almost like a jigsaw puzzle so the wall of firewood was straight and stable. “It’s the northernmost part of Seattle.”
From the conversation with Cam yesterday, it was obvious Tanner hadn’t been in contact with his family since he’d left three
