He left her office and settled behind his computer console. After selecting and editing some of the photos that volunteers had taken over the weekend, he scheduled them to go up on the different social media sites. Writing captions was the worst. Ronald enjoying the sunny weather! Wanda is looking forward to seeing you the next time you visit Furry Tails. Beverly wishes you a very happy Monday.

The captions sounded maniacally happy to him, as if a clown with a painted-on smile and a white flower in his hat had written them. Even so, Finley kept encouraging him to make them even more cheery.

If she wanted them cheerier than this, she was going to have to hire the good witch from The Wizard of Oz to write them.

That afternoon, Luke came to a stop in the open doorway of the room housing the Center’s after-school program.

Ben stood in front of a whiteboard, talking with enthusiasm about how clouds store water. The kids watched with interest. Akira, the woman who ran the program, was so busy staring at Ben she hadn’t noticed Luke’s appearance.

In the middle of a sentence, Ben caught sight of him, paused to nod at Luke, then finished his thought. “Any questions?” he asked the kids.

He called on a pale-haired girl with a braid.

“Rain, snow, sleet, and hail are called precipitation,” she said. Not a question.

“That’s right,” Ben replied. “Good.”

“Oooh!” a redheaded boy said. “Isn’t hail a bad word?”

“No,” Akira assured him. “Hail—H-A-I-L—is a perfectly good scientific word. Who knows what hail is?”

“It’s like round ice cubes,” another boy answered. “We had hail at our house last year, and I caught every single one in my baseball cap before it hit the ground in my backyard.”

“Impressive,” Ben said. “Please prepare the ingredients for our storm-in-a-cup experiment. I’ll be right back.” Ben stepped into the hall with Luke. “Hey. Nice to see you.”

“Hey.”

“How’s Agatha?”

“Terrible.”

Ben laughed. “Everything good with you?”

“Blair came by my apartment on Saturday. She said you told her where I live.”

“Yeah.”

“Do I seem like someone who has the gift of hospitality?”

“No.”

“Visitors put me in a bad mood. Just so we’re clear, I don’t want anyone else to know where I live. It’s bad enough having to deal with those who already know. I just want to be left alone.”

“Got it.” Apology entered Ben’s friendly expression. “Sorry.”

Luke ran a hand through his hair and saw that several of the kids were peering at them. He moved out of the doorway. Ben followed.

“Just how much of a rebel without a cause is Blair?” Luke asked.