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Erin sighed. "I can understand that. Poor kid."
Wiz was older than he was, but he wasn't sharing that fact with Erin, not yet. He had enough strikes against him already. Shoot. He should really get over the fantasy. 'Cause that's all it was.
"Wiz finished the coffee shop a lot faster than she said. Wonder why?" She pulled the pot off the stove, pouring it into a glass jar.
The sweet-spicy scent of tomatoes, basil, and peppers wafted to him. "You can ask. I have no clue. What she does is mostly FM to me." Programming, networks, it was all a mystery.
"FM?"
"Freaking magic."
Erin laughed again. "That's what it seems like to me, too. I can use a computer, but anything else? Nope."
A knock thudded on the door. Erin checked the side window, then opened the door and stepped back. "All done already? That was really fast."
"Yes." Wiz closed the door behind her back, scanning the entire room. She circled the room and sat on the fireplace hearth. "I did a scan while I surveyed your property. The electromagnetic frequency spectrum is very quiet in this area. So I used the wireless system, instead of stringing cat-five cables everywhere. I use multiple layers of encryption and security on my systems, but I don't think there is much of an electronic threat here."
Erin chuckled. "No, Marcus, Montana isn't exactly a hotbed of computer hackers. I know they're doing a lot with big data in Missoula, but since that's many miles from here, I think we're pretty safe."
"Yes. I like what I see here." Wiz nodded slowly. "I may have to move here."
Ryan sat upright but relaxed back into his seat when Wiz jumped. "Really? You'd move from the Fortress?" That would be great for her. And him.
"Maybe." Wiz tilted her head to the side. "Would you help me build a house?"
"Sure. Don't know anything about it, but yeah, I'd be happy to help." Ryan grinned at her, excited. That could be fun and interesting.
"Thanks." Wiz nodded sharply.
"I'd be happy to help you, too, Wiz." Erin spread sauce on a disk of dough. "I learned a lot buying and building out this place, and I know most of the local builders."
"Excellent. Better to have experts on the ground. Thanks."
"Yep." Erin lifted a pizza peel and a cutting board with plates. "I'm going to put the first pizza in. Grab what you'd like to drink, and then I'd suggest we eat in here, since it's pretty hot out there. There's salad, plates, and silverware here on the kitchen counter. Sit wherever you want. Ryan, can you open the door?"
"Sure." Ryan bounded to the patio door. Wiz recoiled against the fireplace. Moved too quick. He slid the door open and followed Erin out. Maybe Wiz could relax with him gone.
Erin opened the pizza oven. "You moved too fast." With a yank, she slid the pizza from the peel to the stone and closed the door.
"Yeah, I noticed. I'll stay here for a while." Ryan carefully avoided looking inside. He didn't want to make Wiz even more uncomfortable.
"Good idea." Erin set a timer. Then she set up the next pizza and gazed off toward the end of the property. Ryan copied her. He was pretty amazed Wiz had shown up at all.
"Do you suppose she'd talk to me?" Erin murmured.
"About what?" She'd probably never talk about what happened to her, which was a shame.
Erin kept gazing at the trees. "Whatever it is she needs right now. I don't think she's going to talk to you. Wiz trusts you but not in person. She glances over at me, but more like she does the rest of the room, just a wary scan. But the rest of the time, she watches you like you're a threat."
"I guess I hadn't noticed that. Shoot." Ryan's heart sank. He couldn't think of anything else except to leave. "Uh, I could go upstairs with my dinner. Fake a call."
"No, I don't think that's necessary." She flipped the pizza peel in her hand. "Move slow. Eat. After dinner, I'll ask Wiz if I can go with her to the shop, so we can bring her van in, and she can tell me what she wants done to it. You stay here."
"Good idea." Erin was perceptive. He probably didn't want to know what she saw in him. "Do you think it's safe to go back in yet?"
The timer beeped. Erin pulled the pizza out of the oven, put it on the cutting board, and put the next pizza in the oven, setting the timer. "You carry the pizza in and take half of it. Wiz and I will split the other half. You saw what I did, right?"
"Yeah." Ryan wouldn't argue about portions; he was starving.
