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Chapter Thirty-Four

JACK

“ H ow is she?” I asked the second Gwen answered.

“Her fever spiked last night. She’s got a sore throat and headache. I think it’s just a flu, but if she’s not better later, I’ll make an appointment with the pediatrician.”

“Let me know if you need me to take her.”

“Thanks, I’ll let you know.”

I had no idea why I blurted the next thing, but sometimes I was amazed at my level of stupidity. “Who’s Nate?” I realized the second it came out that I sounded jealous, but that wasn’t the case.

“Don’t know if it’s any of your business, Jack.”

“It is if he’s sitting in my house with my daughter.”

“Nate’s an accountant, and he’s very nice to Holly. I figured we’d both be moving on. It’s time.”

“I agree,” I said. Not that I’d given it any thought. One bad marriage and divorce was probably enough to last me a lifetime.

“Oh, do you have someone?” Gwen asked.

“Now who’s being a busybody? And no, there’s no one.” As I said it my mind drifted right over to Ava. It was an instinctual thing that I needed to stop. Ava had made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with a notion of us . “I’m just looking out for Holly’s well-being.”

Gwen’s sharp, dry laugh shot through the phone. “Yes, I know because it’s what I do every single day.”

“Great, as long as we’re on the same page,” I said curtly. “I’ve got class in fifteen minutes, and I need to gather my notes. I’ll check in later to see how Holly’s doing.” I hung up not bothering with a goodbye.

A knock on the door interrupted my review of today’s material. “Come in.”

Pam peered inside with a big shiny smile. I’d hoped that the expedition had dampened the crush, but she’d managed to wrangle the seat next to me on the plane home. She talked non-stop about what a terrible trip it was and how they should consider letting Professor Lovely go because of it. She had a lot more criticism for Ava, but I ignored most of it and spent a good portion of the flight pretending to be asleep. (If only it hadn’t been pretend.)

“Just checking in. How are you?” she asked and then invited herself in. “I’m exhausted. Never again. That’s for sure.”

“Then you might consider changing your master’s program like Norman. A good scientist should always have a lot of hands-on experience.”

Pam sashayed closer and giggled flirtatiously. “That is what the lab is for. Doesn’t mean you have to be out in the mud with mosquitos and all the other things that make being in nature miserable. Not all of us like to have dirt under our fingernails like Professor Lovely.” She rolled her eyes. “Seriously, did she make up that name? I hear that she’s in trouble because Norm got injured on the trip.” She looked far too excited about the prospect. “Do you think she’ll get fired? Maybe they can break up that whole ragtag grad group.”

I stood up quickly enough that it startled her. “I’ve got class, Pam. If you have a question about something in the lab or on last week’s lecture, come back during my office hours; otherwise this conversation is over.”

Pam’s chin dropped in shock. She stood there while I gathered up my notes for the lecture. Pam spun around so fast; papers fluttered on my desk. Before she got to the door, I decided to set her straight on a few things. “By the way, Professor Lovely is one of the finest, most accomplished and experienced scientists I’ve ever had the honor to work with, and her grad students are intelligent, skilled and make a great team.”

She walked out without another word. Well, if that didn’t end the crush, then nothing would. I thought about my words as I headed to the door. I meant every one of them.