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Chapter Thirty-Five

AVA

T he day had gone quickly, and Robyn and I were cleaning up the lab. Ian and Evan both had class, and Norm was officially off the roster. He was walking with a cane, and he’d sent me the doctor’s report to add to my student injury report for Brimley.

Robyn was wiping down the specimen counter. The group had spent most of lab time going over the specimens and data we’d collected at the camp before our work was abruptly ended by the storm.

Now it was just casual girl time. Robyn had been telling me about a hand cream she used after being in the lab that was organic and worked well. I wrote the name of the cream in my phone and got to work organizing the cataloging area.

“So, Mia told us all about the big rescue,” Robyn said without looking up from her task.

“The big rescue?”

“When Professor Sinclair pulled you off the collapsing bridge. She said you probably wouldn’t have survived a fall into the river. She said it was moving so fast, and there’s so much dangerous debris in the river after a storm that you very likely would have drowned.” She put down the cloth she was using and turned toward me. “Very romantic, isn’t it?”

A laugh shot out before I could stop it. “My near-death experience was romantic?”

She walked over. “You know what I’m talking about, Professor Lovely. I know you like to pretend it’s not there, but trust me it’s there. I’m not just a scientist. I love romance. That’s almost all I read.”

“Really? Wouldn’t have expected that. Do you like historical or contemporary?”

Robyn sighed dreamily. “Any and all. As long as the hero is sensational and the heroine is someone I can root for and their chemistry is undeniable—even if they won’t admit it to each other—” she added with a pointed look my direction. “Love a good romance and I know one when I see one.”

“Learned something new about you today.”

Robyn grunted in frustration. “Oh, please. You’re deflecting. You know exactly what I’m talking about, and now Professor Sinclair has proven himself a true hero by rescuing the heroine from certain death.”

I shrugged. “He would have done the same for anyone in that situation.”

She grunted again and returned to cleaning. “You’re purposefully avoiding something that’s sitting right smack dab in the middle of everything.”

The intercom snapped on, and Professor Brimley’s voice came through the gritty sound. “Professor Lovely, are you in the lab?”

“Yes, Professor Brimley, I’m here.”

“Could you come down to my office, please?”

“I’m on my way.”

Robyn gave me the kind of look you’d give your friend if they’d just been called to the principal’s office. I shrugged and walked out.

I walked down the hallway and knocked on his door. “Come in.”

Brimley was wearing his wire-rimmed glasses on the tip of his nose. I recognized the paper in front of him as the report on Norm’s injury.

“Come sit down, Ava.” I wasn’t sure if him calling me by my first name was a good thing or not. I sat down and waited a moment while he put the report into a folder.

“That was quite an alarming event. I had no idea. I’d heard that a storm shortened the trip, but I hadn’t heard about the bridge collapse. My goodness, both you and Norman could have drowned.”

“Jack saved both our lives. Unfortunately, Norm got hurt as he leapt back on shore. Do you think it’s going to be a problem? I was as honest as I could be on the report, and I included all the details of caring for him while we were stuck at camp.”

Brimley patted the folder. “It was an excellent report. Thank you and no, I don’t see any problems. The students all signed a release form before they left, and since it didn’t happen here on campus, I can’t see how it could be an issue. That was the first reason I called you here. I don’t want you to worry about it. And the university will refund part of the grant money. I personally don’t agree that we should, because it was awarded to your team, and I’m still hoping to get clarification and possibly a reversal on that decision. They were the ones that insisted you go right away, so you could avoid bad weather, and instead, you ran right into it. Certainly not anyone’s fault, and with the climate everywhere being so unpredictable and fickle these days, it will be much harder to schedule these trips in the future. If I’m successful in the appeal, the money can go to your lab for new equipment. Everything in this science building needs updating. We’re still in the twentieth century with some of our equipment.”

“That would be wonderful.” I scooted forward assuming that was the end of the chat.

“Actually, there was something else,” he said quickly before I could get up.

“Yes?”

Brimley took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes a second. “Need a new prescription. Everything has a fuzzy edge with these.” He rested his thick hands on the desk in front of him and gave me a grandfatherly expression. “I know things have not gotten better between you and Jack. The little show you two put on this morning—let’s just say it’s good the two of you chose science and not the dramatic arts. Terrible actors. So, nothing changed between you? It seems like after the harrowing few days you had at the end of the trip the two of you might have found common ground.”

I sat forward defensively at first, but Brimley had a way of making you feel comfortable even if the topic was uncomfortable. I relaxed back. “I’m sorry things didn’t get better. If it’s any consolation, I can confirm that things didn’t get worse. There were even quite a few instances where it seemed that we’d become friends.”

“Really? What happened?”

It was a darn good question. I had no intention of bringing up the kiss. It would have only made matters worse, and I would probably get into trouble. “I’m not sure. For some reason Jack and I always end up getting uptight with each other. Lots of friction.”

“Or is it something else?” he asked. Here we went again with the insinuation that there was some sort of romantic tension between us rather than just good old annoyance.

“I don’t think so, sir.” Even as I said it, I wasn’t entirely convinced. But Jack had made it very clear that he was just as happy to pretend I didn’t exist. Not exactly the stuff of a passionate romance in the making.

“Well, we’ll see how it goes.” Brimley’s words sounded ominous. “As I’ve said before—it’s not ideal to have two staff members always at odds with each other. Teamwork is essential, and it creates the best learning environment for our students.”

I nodded. “I understand.” I moved to get up, and he didn’t stop me. In fact, he moved aside the report and opened another folder.

My phone beeped as I reached the door. I opened the text once I stepped into the hallway. It was from Jack. “Need your help. Could you take my six o’clock phytology lecture? Many of the students in that class have a big gap in their schedule, and they wait several hours on campus to attend this class. I’d hate to cancel.”

I blew out a frustrated breath. It seemed I didn’t exist until he needed me to cover a class, and a late class at that. I hadn’t eaten since lunch and was expecting to go to dinner with Layla. I was going to text back a no but decided to confront him directly.

I walked down the hallway and knocked before opening the door. Jack was hurriedly putting his stuff in his briefcase.

“Kind of late notice, don’t you think? I thought I was invisible. You know, just because you saved my life doesn’t mean?—”

Jack glanced up from his paperwork. He looked distraught, as if someone had punched him in the stomach. “Holly is in the hospital.” He could barely get the words out. My heart dropped straight to my stomach, and I badly wanted to erase my sharp words.

“Go, Jack. I’ll cover for you. Just let me know if you need me to take your morning classes, too.”

“Here are the notes for the lecture.” The papers slipped from his hand and fluttered to the floor. He stooped to pick them up but got too flustered.

“I’ll clean this up. Just go.”

“Thanks, Ava.” As he swept past me, I grabbed his hand. The look on his face split my heart in two.

“She’ll be fine, Jack.”

He swallowed hard and rushed out of the office.