Page 124 of Boiling Point
I told her everything—the dead battery in the rain, the tea fiasco, the motorcycle ride to Oklahoma, the pull we couldn’t fight, the week on Lake Rayburn, my decision to transfer so we could be together legitimately, and finally, the trip to England to meet his family. I left out the engagement detail, but only because Cal and I had agreed to keep that to ourselves for now.
“Wow.”
“Yeah…”
“So this is the real deal, then? He’s not exploiting you, coercing you, or abusing his position?”
“Not even a little. This is real, Aunt Suzy.” A beat. “I love him. I really do.”
She blew out a long breath. “You really should have told me sooner.”
“I know. But I’m telling you now. I’ve been accepted—with scholarship—to the engineering programs at both SMU and UTD. I’m choosing SMU, and I’ll file my withdrawal from Page this week. So everything will be…legal.”
Suzy was quiet. Too quiet.
“You’re not saying anything.”
“I’m thinking,” she said finally. “Trying to decide whether to be relieved…or scared out of my mind.”
“I’m not in danger,” I said, keeping my voice as steady as I could. “We’ve been careful. No one at school knows. Well…” I caught myself. “At least not officially.”
“What does that mean?”
“Someone knows something—I just don’t know what or how much. Cal got called to campus first thing this morning.”
A breath crackled through the line. “Gabrielle…I need to tell you something.”
My stomach turned. “Okay…”
Her voice dropped. “I didn’t mean for this to spiral. I just…I didn’t know what else to do. So I sent an email with what I knew and asked the administration to look into it.”
The room went still. “Youwhat?”
“I just…gave them enough to ask questions. To make sure this wasn’t—” She exhaled shakily. “God, Gabrielle, I was scared. Yes, you’re twenty-five, but this is the first time you’ve really been out on your own. He’s your professor. What if it wasn’t what you thought? What if you got hurt and I sat back and did nothing?”
I stared at the blank TV screen, my heart thudding. I didn’t know what to say. All the words dissolved on my tongue, sour and useless.
“I’m sorry, Gabrielle,” Aunt Suzy said, voice quivering around an unfamiliar burr. “I was just trying to protect you. I hope you can see that.”
I pulled the phone away and stared at it, like it might offer some guidance from the digital ether. Then I pressed it back to my cheek. The garage door rumbled open—low and steady, like a warning bell. Cal was back.
“I can’t talk to you right now.”
Disconnect.
I stood, walked into the kitchen, checked the water level on the kettle, and switched it on. Tea made everything better, right?
Chapter 45
Callum
“Thank you, love,” I said as I accepted a cup of tea from Gabrielle. The warmth seeped into my fingers. I held it like it might keep me afloat.
She didn’t say anything. Just gave me space.
I took a sip.Perfection. She’d come a long way. At least I’d been good for something.
“Formal inquiry is going forward,” I said at last, when it was clear she wouldn’t ask. “They’ve put me on administrative leave. Full pay, health insurance, the works. I can’t set foot on campus, talk to students or staff, or so much as send an email. I am, for all practical purposes, persona non grata at Page College.”
