Page 56 of Falling for the Enemy

AVA

The 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 likelywould 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.”

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