The Professor's Predicament

by Dianne Harman

  "I'm always up for lunch at the country club. It's one of my favorite places to eat," Kat responded with a smile. "That sounds wonderful. I have an appointment later this morning at Susie's Salon, so would it be all right with you if we meet there for lunch at 1:00 p.m.?"

  "Perfect!" Deborah said. "See you then."

  Kat hung up the phone and checked the time. She couldn't believe how late it was. Where did the morning go? she wondered. Obviously lost in a story line. She hurried from her desk and went downstairs to find her fur babies, Jazz and Rudy, and take them to the backyard.

  "Okay, guys, enjoy a quick run around the yard, because I'm going to be gone for a few hours."

  After Jazz and Rudy had played for a while, they returned to the house, warm and panting. Kat filled up their water dish so they could have a drink, gave them a few dog biscuits, and led them to their wire mesh kennels in the garage. The dogs looked at Kat woefully, as she opened her driver's side door and climbed into her car.

  "Don't worry, I'll be back soon to take you for a walk," she called out. Jazz and Rudy perked up when she mentioned the word walk, and then they each settled onto the dog blankets in their kennels, ready for a nap until she returned.

  Kat backed out of the garage and headed down the street on her way to Susie's Salon. The sun was shining, and the day was bright and cool. Although she'd lived in Lindsay for many years, she still marveled at what a lovely little town it was. The streets were lined with large trees including elms, sycamores, and poplars. Their leafy branches framed the red brick houses she passed along the route.

  Neighbors waved as she drove by, and she smiled and waved back. She loved the friendliness of the small town, which was one of the reasons she'd chosen to stay in Lindsay after her husband, Greg Denham, had been killed in a car accident. Greg had been the head of the English Department at the university. He was well-liked by his colleagues and adored by his students. Although losing Greg had been a tragedy for both Kat and their daughter, Lacie, who was now in her senior year at the university, the two of them had done their best to resume their lives after their loss.

  Even though everyone had told her not to make any major decisions for the first year after his death, Kat had chosen to move. The home she and Lacie had shared with Greg had too many memories for both of them. Kat had never planned on falling in love with anyone and getting married, but then Blaine Evans had come along, and Kat had never been happier. The only thing she'd asked of him was that she not take his name, since she'd been known as Kat Denham for a long time and thought it might be easier for everyone to just keep her name, particularly her daughter, Lacie.

  Kat arrived at Susie's Salon and greeted the receptionist as she walked in. Susie was in the back of the salon, but immediately came forward to greet her.

  "Kat, it's good to see you again. Come over to my station and make yourself comfortable. Can I get you a glass of water or a cup of tea?" Susie asked.

  "I'd love some water, thank you," Kat said.

  "What are we doing for you today?" Susie asked, as she handed Kat a plastic tumbler full of chilled water with a thin slice of lime in it.

  "I need a trim and a color rinse to brighten up the style," Kat said.

  "Great, let's get you shampooed first," Susie said, helping Kat into a gown before putting a towel around her neck. She gently leaned Kat backward until her neck rested on the basin, then she warmed the water and ran the handheld spray over Kat's dark blonde locks. "I hear you had quite a scare recently while you were tracking down the person who killed Judge Dickerson."

  Kat's eyes were closed, and she let herself relax. "Yes, I did, but I really didn't have a choice. I had to find out who did it, so my husband, Blaine, could clear his name. I didn't want anyone to think he had anything to do with it," she responded.

  "Now that it's behind you, are you back to writing again?" Susie asked, running her hands through her hair to remove the tangles.

  "As a matter of fact, this morning I was working on the first chapter of the first book in my new series, The Bawdy Halls of Ivy. I plan on getting back to it later this afternoon."

  Susie helped Kat sit back up and blotted her hair dry with a bright yellow towel. As she reached for a series of bottles to mix Kat's signature color, she said, "I'm happy to hear I'll have a steamy new novel from you that I can look forward to reading. You know I've always been a huge fan of your books, even when I didn't know you were Sexy Cissy. What else is on your agenda today?"

  "After you've worked your magic on my hair, I'm heading over to the country club to have lunch with one of the professors from the university, Deborah White."

  At the mention of Deborah White's name, Susie paused from shaking the bottle of color she had in her hand and cocked an eyebrow. A moment later she resumed mixing the color but stayed quiet, which was unusual for her.

  "What is it, Susie?" Kat asked, sensing her hesitation. "Do you know Deborah? Is she a client of yours?"

  "No, I don't know her personally," Susie responded. "I shouldn't say this, but a couple of days ago I had a new client come in, a young woman by the name of Courtney Adams. She's a lovely young girl who's a student at the university, but she was really tense and riled up when she came in the shop.

  "She told me she needed a new hairstyle and started dishing about her love life. She said she was afraid the man she'd been seeing was losing interest in her. I told her as pretty and smart as she was, the man just might not be worth keeping if he wasn't treating her right. I told her there had to be a lot of other young men at the university that would be worthy of having a relationship with her."

  "Interesting," said Kat, "but what does that have to do with the woman I'm meeting for lunch later today?"

  Susie was quiet for a moment while she worked the color rinse through Kat's damp hair. "Kat, you know how people always confide in me while they're in this chair? When she said she needed to talk to someone, I just let Courtney tell me everything that was on her mind. She finally got around to admitting that she was having an affair with a married man."

  "Oh, dear. Those affairs never seem to turn out very well," Kat said, looking wide-eyed at Susie from her upside-down viewpoint at the wash basin.

  "That's what I thought, and it gets worse," said Susie, leaning back against the counter and working with a timer to allow the color to set on Kat's hair. "This man also happened to be her creative writing professor, Geoffrey White. I'm wondering in a town this small if he could be your friend Deborah's husband?"

  Kat eased herself up in the chair while the color developed. "Yes, that's Deborah's husband. They're both professors at the university," Kat said, shaking her head in sadness at the idea that her friend's husband was cheating on her. "My late husband, Greg, was the dean of the English Department, and he and Geoffrey used to work together. Greg liked him a lot. I think I met him a couple of times at some university cocktail parties." She waited while Susie went to deal with a question at the reception desk.

  A few minutes later Susie returned. "Time to get you rinsed. Lean back again, so I can get the excess coloring out. Do you think you'll bring this up with Deborah over lunch?" Susie asked her, as she washed the color rinse from Kat's hair.

  Kat didn't even have to consider her answer before replying. "No, I don't think so. It's really not my place to say anything. You know the old saying about don't shoot the messenger. I don't want to hurt my relationship with Deborah, but I guess I'll just have to see how the conversation goes. What else did Courtney say while she was here?"

  "Well, she said she'd been having an affair with him since the beginning of the school semester, but he'd recently told her that he thought it was time to end it," Susie answered. "Kat, you should have seen how upset Courtney got when she described their last conversation. She was adamant that she wasn't going to let him break up with her that easily. She told him if he did break up with her, she'd tell his wife, the dean, and everyone she could think of connected to the university. She told him she would c
ompletely ruin his life."

  "Poor girl, it sounds like she was pretty brokenhearted. I sure hope she doesn't do anything rash," Kat said. "So what kind of hairstyle did you give her?"

  "I gave her some highlights, a trim, and a lovely blowout. She looked radiant, except for her eyes being all red and puffy," Susie said. "Speaking of a trim, let's get started on your cut."

  Twenty minutes later, Kat said, "You do know how to make a woman look fabulous, no matter what her mood happens to be."

  "You'll have to let me know how your conversation with Deborah White goes," Susie said, as she trimmed, cut, and shaped Kat's hair. "I can't imagine what I'd do if my husband was cheating on me with someone half his age. That's a double whammy. First, having your husband cheat on you, and secondly, making you feel old when it's someone that much younger than you."

  "I think we can both be thankful that we're married to good men," Kat said, winking at her. "Deborah is a strong woman. If this is true, and I'm not doubting you, I hope she can make it through this mess."

  CHAPTER 5

  When Susie had finished working her magic on Kat's hair, Kat left to meet Professor Deborah White at the country club. She looked at her watch and was glad to see that she wouldn't be late. Susie was quite a talker and Kat had often spent more time at Susie's than she'd planned to. She was glad this wasn't one of those times.

  As she parked her car and made her way to the clubhouse entrance, Kat thought how much she enjoyed being a member of Lindsay's country club. She and her late husband, Greg, had made many friends there. They'd all been there to help her after Greg's unexpected and sudden death in a car accident. The club members had brought food to Lacie and Kat, taken care of their lawn, and helped them in every way they could. Looking back, she wasn't sure what would have happened to Lacie and her if everyone hadn't been so helpful and rallied around them.

  At first, Kat had been worried about finances and almost dropped out of the club altogether, but in the end, she stayed on for Lacie's sake. She thought the club, with its tennis courts and swimming pool, would be a good diversion for Lacie during the grieving period they both went through. Then two years after Greg died, when she was finally ready to venture back out into the world, the country club happened to be where she met her current husband, Blaine Evans. He had just been elected as the District Attorney, and their mutual attraction to each other had eventually led to marriage.

  Kat walked through the large ornate doors of the country club and headed across the carpeted hallway toward the hostess stand outside the dining room. She smiled to herself as she remembered the first time she'd met Blaine, which was in this very dining room. Her life hadn't necessarily unfolded the way she'd expected, but she could definitely say it had not been boring.

  When she got to the hostess stand, Kat greeted Barbara, one of the country club's longtime staff members.

  "Well, if it isn't Sexy Cissy," Barbara said with a smile, checking her clipboard. "How have you been? I haven't seen you since you solved the murder of your editor some time ago. I hope you've forgiven me for my bungling actions back then. I certainly never meant to cause any trouble."

  "Don't worry, all has been long forgiven," Kat assured her "Quite a lot has happened since then, that's for sure. For one, I got married not too long ago."

  "So I heard. Congratulations, that's wonderful," Barbara beamed. "As I recall, you were seeing the district attorney, Blaine Evans, weren't you?"

  "Yes, indeed. Blaine and I are quite happy."

  "I'll have to send you a belated wedding present. You've certainly been writing up a storm since I last saw you. I've got to tell you how much I'm enjoying your new cozy mystery series, but my favorites are the still the ones you write as Sexy Cissy."

  "I appreciate your enthusiasm," Kat replied, winking at Barbara. "As a matter of fact, I just started a new series using my Sexy Cissy pen name, and I'm working on the first novel in it now. I'll keep you posted when it's finished and headed to publication."

  "Great. I'll look forward to it. Let me get you seated," Barbara said. "Are you meeting anyone?"

  "Yes, I'm having lunch with Deborah White."

  "I just seated her. Let me show you to her table."

  *****

  Deborah White sat at the table in the country club listening to the voice on the other end of her cell phone as the private investigator she'd hired told her what she'd never wanted to hear. If she hadn't been in a room with several people who knew her, she would have screamed and yelled and caused quite a scene while she sobbed hysterically. Instead, she willed herself to remain still and impassive, while internally having a major temper tantrum.

  The perfect life she'd created, the perfect husband, her perfect job - everything was about to fall apart. Her life was spinning out of control, and she didn't know how to stop it.

  She continued to listen to him while she thought of the young woman who had come to the university in Lindsay more than twenty-eight years ago, full of dreams and hopes. The intelligent, handsome young man who sat next to her on her first day of class had become her friend, her lover, and eventually her husband. When Deborah and Geoffrey had gotten their respective doctoral degrees and were married, everyone thought of the Whites as the golden couple, the couple who had everything.

  Deborah looked exactly like the dean of a university department should look. She wore her jet-black hair pulled back in a bun, accentuating her creamy complexion. Dark eyebrows drew attention to her hazel eyes, some days green, some days light brown. It was a running joke between Geoffrey and her that when she was happy, they were brown, and when she was unhappy, they were green. At the moment, her eyes looked like two bright pieces of jade.

  Even though she was an academician, fashion had always been her secret passion, and with her looks and income, she'd been able to indulge in it. In fact, it was not uncommon to hear coeds say they learned far more looking at what Professor Deborah White wore than listening to what she said. Even the other faculty members found excuses to visit her office to see what the latest styles were, since Lindsay, Kansas did not have a reputation for being one of the fashion capitals of the United States. But that wasn't too surprising considering that the local economy was based primarily on cattle ranching and wheat farming, neither of which required wearing designer dresses.

  And now what? All Deborah wanted to do was go home, curl up in a ball, and cry until she fell asleep. She wondered how many people knew about his affair. Maybe the colleagues who stopped by her office weren't interested in what she was wearing. Maybe they wanted to see if she knew about Geoffrey's little coed that he had on the side.

  Barbara led Kat across the dining room to a small, two-person table where Deborah White was sitting. Deborah didn't notice Kat and Barbara approach, because she was so tuned in to her cell phone. Kat was quiet as she pulled out her chair and looked at the menu Barbara had handed her. Deborah looked up and acknowledged Kat with an apologetic smile. She raised a finger to indicate she was almost done and would be right with her.

  Kat was spreading a white linen napkin across her lap when Deborah finally ended her call and put her phone back into her purse. She was clearly agitated by the conversation she'd just had, and her face was drained of color.

  "I'm sorry about that, Kat. Thanks for waiting."

  "Is anything wrong, Deborah? You seem pretty upset."

  "No, things are fine," Deborah responded, shaking her head.

  Clearly things weren't fine, but Kat wasn't about to impose on Deborah's right to privacy, particularly after what Susie had just told her. She smiled at Deborah and continued to look at the menu.

  "How are you?" Deborah asked as she unsuccessfully feigned a cheerful attitude and smiled weakly at Kat. "How's the writing going?"

  "It's going well, or at least it's starting to go well now that I have time to sit down and write again. I started a brand-new series right before Judge Dickerson's murder, but I had to put it aside while I was working to clear Blaine's name.
Thanks again for all your help with that case. I don't know how I would have come to understand so much about internet porn addiction without your expertise."

  "You're more than welcome, Kat. I hope you've been able to resume your new series now that things have settled down."

  "Yes, I have. In fact, I was just working on the first chapter this morning when you called."

  The server approached their table and read the list of daily specials to them. "You know, I'm not that hungry," Deborah said, snapping her menu shut. "May I please just have a small house salad with vinaigrette dressing?"

  "And for you, ma'am?" he asked Kat.

  "I'll start with a small house salad as well, and the asparagus and cheese tart you described sounds absolutely heavenly," she responded. "For dessert, I'll have the dirt cake."

  "Excellent choices. I'll be back with your salads shortly," said the server, taking their menus and walking toward the kitchen.

  "What's a dirt cake?" asked Deborah with a laugh. "That's an odd name for a dessert."

  "It's not to be confused with the better known and more common mud pie," Kat joked. "Dirt cake is a popular dessert in the South that I've been reading about lately. It's made from crushed chocolate cookies that look like top soil spread over a mixture of pudding, cream cheese, and sugar. Today is the first time I've seen it on the menu. I guess the chef here is feeling creative, and so is my inner eater. I've heard it's delicious, so I'm anxious to give it a try."

  The two women made small talk about their work and families until their lunch orders arrived. As they began eating, Deborah grew silent and withdrawn. Kat did her best to keep the conversation rolling, but it was an uphill battle. Her friend barely uttered a word. She could tell something was eating away at her, but Deborah was doing her best to hide it. Finally, Kat couldn't take the tension any longer.

  "Deborah, listen. I know something is wrong. It's written all over your face. I may not be able to do anything about whatever is going on, but it might do you some good to talk about it. Forgive me if I'm overstepping the lines of friendship, but I'd be happy to listen, if you're up to it."