Page 67 of Burn With Me

As I think about how the rest of the night went, a smile takes over my face.

Luke is one of the most caring people I’ve ever met. He never makes me feel pressured about our relationship or makes me choose between him and my work . . . He’s been practically perfect.

I really don’t know what I did to get so lucky to find someone who makes me think that maybe I could love again.

I pull into my parking spot and walk up to the door with Penny next to me and Ginny on my shoulder with her little harness on. After typing the code in, I open the door and rush to turn the alarm off.

Did I set this bad boy off when I first got it because I forgot it was there?

The answer is yes.

I still think it’s overkill, but everyone else thinks it’s needed. Wayne said the only time they used that door was to go to the bathroom, so he doesn’t think any of the construction would have caused that damage. Which in turn made him upgrade all my locks and check all my doorframes.

I’m getting the animals settled when I hear Kristen walk in with Professor Judy.

“Hey, everyone. I’m just getting Penny and Ginny settled in the office, and I’ll be right out.”

“No rush. I’m going to set up Professor Judy in my office, and we’ll meet you in, say, ten?”

“Perfect.” I turn and look at Penny and Ginny. “Okay, you two be good. You have water and toys. I’ll check on you in a few.”

I walk out the door, closing it slightly behind me.

Kristen is talking to her professor next to the testing kit shelves.

Sticking my hand out to shake Judy’s hand, I say, “Thank you so much for coming out here today. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time for this and all the help you’ve been over the last week.”

“Nonsense. Kristen has been telling me about what you’re doing here, and it’s something special. If I can help in any way, I will. Let’s start with the easy stuff. Can you guys walk me through how you do your testing? The breakdown of mediums used for each plant tank as well as the fish you’re using and why.”

I take a deep breath, suddenly nervous that I haven’t made the best choices for those things.

Impostor syndrome sucks balls, but I’m excited to have another set of eyes on everything and get honest feedback to improve my system.

“I can see you’re nervous. I promise I’m here not to tear your work apart. I truly think what happened was a fluke based on what I’ve seen in your reports, which are fantastically detailed, by the way, but together, as a team, we can break down what’s going on and hopefully figure it out together. The most I’ll ever ask of you is that if a student would like to intern for college credit, we can work something out because I cannot say this enough, you’re doing great work here, Amelia.”

I hear the truth in her words; she isn’t just saying that.

I know I do good work.

I wouldn’t still be selling produce if I wasn’t, but something is obviously not working anymore, and I need help, and I’m big enough to admit it.

“I know, and I appreciate you helping more than I can put into words. Let’s dive in.”

After five hours of the three of us going through everything tank by tank and step by step, we wrap up. I look around and start double-checking as I lock the doors.

“I think I have a good chunk of information to take back with me, as well as us talking about different mediums to try in a couple of sample tanks, which is super smart to have, by the way,” Judy says, looking down at her notes.

I smile at her, glad that I did this because she’s a wealth of information. “Actually, I started with just one. It was Kristen’s idea to expand that.”

“She’s bright and has a great future ahead of her in this field.”

“Oh, I know. If I could keep her here forever, I would, but I’ll never hold her back.”

“Stop it, Am, you aren’t holding me back. This is exactly what I want to do. Your vision lines up with mine and what I want to do, plus I get to do research on the side. It’s perfect,” Kristen says as she walks up to me.

“I mean, I’m keeping you for as long as you want to stay.” I smiled at her. “Does anything else need to be done?”

“Nope, everything is ready for morning deliveries. Pizza boxes are in the garbage, and I updated the program with today’s test numbers and already emailed and logged the graphs,” Kristen says.

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