Page 39 of Falling for the Enemy

We both stared at the river. The last bit of light reflected off its rippling surface. “How long do you think it’ll take before we can wade across?”

“Sure doesn’t seem to be receding quickly. As long as there’s no more rain, I’d say another full day at least. And I was thinking about how we’re going to get Norm across.”

“Just leave me behind. I’ll die and get eaten by the ants,” Norm grumbled as he hobbled around the end of the log on his makeshift cane. He sat down with a plunk that made the log roll back.

“Swelling’s down,” I noted.

“Yeah, but the pain isn’t,” he said. It was the answer I expected from Norm. He wriggled the toes on his foot in front of the fire. “That feels good. My foot was getting cold.”

“That’s from the elevation,” Ava said. “Do you have any dry socks? We can slide one on carefully.”

“This fire will do the trick,” Norm said. He sighed so loudly it was more of a moan. “Professor Lovely, don’t be too disappointed, but when we get back—if we get back,” he added with his usual pessimism, “I’m leaving science. I’m going to start a graduate program in software development.”

We both looked at him to check if he was being serious. It seemed he was.

“But you’re a good scientist,” Ava said with only a touch of conviction.

“I like science, but my heart has always been with technology. I’m a big gamer.”

Ava turned slightly toward Norm. “I didn’t know that.”

“Yep, won some championships, even.”

I was utterly confused. “But why did you major in science?”

Norm grew quiet as he stared down at his toes wiggling in the heat from the fire. “My dad was a botanist. He wanted me to follow in his footsteps. He used to buy me all kinds of science kits and books and …” He sighed, this time a real sigh. “He died when I was twelve. Cancer.”

Ava reached over and patted his hand. “You didn’t want to let him down.”

“Yeah. There wasn’t ever any question that I’d go into science, but this week has proven that it’s not for me. Oh, I enjoyed collecting and cataloging the mushroom samples well enough, but pretending that my heart is in something that it’s not is making me miserable.”

“Your dad would be proud of you no matter what you decide to do,” Ava assured him.

“Professor Danvers, the head of the software engineering program is a friend of mine,” I said. “I’ll let him know you’re interested in moving over. It’s not a guarantee, but it’ll at least get the door open for you.”

Norm smiled, and I realized then that I’d never actually seen the guy happy. “That’d be great, Professor Sinclair. See, I told Ian you weren’t such a big grump.”

Ava was working hard to hold back a smile all while pretending to be interested in the fire.

Norm took a deep breath and picked up his walking stick. “I guess I should continue on my journey. I was headed toward the outhouse, but the fire looked inviting, and I needed a quick rest.” Norman stood up and looked at both of us. “Huh, maybe Ian was right about one thing after all.”

Ava smiled up at him. “What was that?”

Norm chuckled. “Oh nothing.” With some effort he got around the seating log and hobbled toward the outhouse.

Ava shrugged. “No idea what that was about.”

I knew, but after the awkwardness under the cecropia trees I decided not to push my luck. “I’m not a grump,” I said in the grumpiest tone imaginable.

Ava patted my hand and snickered. “No, of course you’re not,” she said in the most condescending tone imaginable. “Seriously, Jack, that was kind of you to offer. You have no clue whether Norm is even qualified for a program like that, so I know it’ll mean sticking your neck out a little.”

“It’s not that big of a deal. I’ve been to Las Vegas with Danvers, and well, let’s just say what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, so Danvers is very lucky.”

She peered sideways at me. “Are you going to resort to blackmail?”

“Wouldn’t call it that, but Danvers owes me. And you will, too,” I added.

Her hand flew to her chest. “Me? Why me?”

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