by Bird, Peggy
“Yeah, yeah, yeah! A mere technicality.”
“And we’re going to the university and … do what?”
Alex stared Blake directly in the eyes, as if the answer were right in front of him. “What are we going to do? Well … well … I haven’t figured that part out yet. But guaranteed we’ll do something.”
As Alex dragged him off the couch and into the kitchen, Blake asked yet another question. “I hate to mention this, but how are we going to get to the university?”
“We have a car. It’s sitting in the garage. And I’m betting the keys … ” Alex paused, searching the hook where all of JJ’s keys hung in the kitchen, “ … are right here.” Triumphantly, she picked out a set of keys.
“How do you know there’s another car in the garage?”
Alex chuckled.
“What’s so humorous about that question?”
“Nothing but the answer, sweetheart. I saw the car the day you threw me over the deck railing because you were saving me from the fire. The car, I’m betting, is her late husband’s. I don’t suppose he’ll mind much if we use it.”
Chapter 16
Though Blake was thoroughly convinced the trip to the university was nothing but wasted effort, he felt a wave of excitement well up in him at the prospect of leaving the house. “Road trip!” he shouted, shaking his head from side to side, his hair tousling about in response. He snatched the keys from Alex and ran for the door to the garage. “I’m driving.”
Blake stood momentarily paralyzed, his mouth hanging open in amazement. “You’ve got to be kidding me. This isn’t a car; this is a wind-up toy. You can’t expect me to fit into a Mini Cooper!”
“Baby, we don’t have a choice. If we expect to get our mission accomplished in this world, then we need to use whatever means it takes.”
“Even if it means I have to fold my legs eleven times in order to fit in that thing?”
“Exactly. I’m glad to see you’re getting into the spirit of helping JJ.”
Blake shook his head, opening the car door. He scrutinized the space — or lack of it — as if trying to size up how he would squeeze his tall frame into the vehicle. He finally climbed in the front seat, carefully dragging and arranging his legs in what little space there was.
“Ow! Who was this thing made for … munchkins?” It was difficult to understand him; his knees knocked into his chin every time he opened his mouth.
Blake took a good look around him to familiarize himself with all the knobs and controls of the car. Puzzled, he quickly turned to Alex who had climbed into the other side.
She smiled and gave a happy little shrug. “You’re not in London anymore! You’re sitting on the passenger side. And I know you don’t want to go through that whole process of getting out and then getting back in on this side.”
Alex started the car and began backing it out of the garage. She suddenly stopped. “There’s only one slight flaw in my plan. I’m not exactly sure where I’m going.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m already taking care of it. Gypsy knows how to get us there.”
“Gypsy?”
“Yeah, look right here.” He pointed to a small digital screen in the middle of the dashboard. “I just program in the University of Northern Ohio as our destination.”
The voice spoke, “Turn left onto North Pine Boulevard.”
“Ooohhh, a GPS system.”
“Yeah, that’s what I said, ‘Gypsy.’ Let’s get going. If I stay in this car too long, I’ll never be able to unfold my legs again.”
As Gypsy directed them toward their destination, the pair found themselves in the middle of the old industrial center of Bell Wyck. Alex looked bewildered as she stared at the aging, rusting empty buildings on one side of the road and the boarded up storefronts on the other. Her eyes reddened. Tears ran down her cheeks.
“What’s wrong, love?”
“Look at it. Just look at it. It looks more like a war zone than a city. How could anyone live around here? It’s depressing.” She paused. “It’s really the first time I’ve ever seen anything like this. JJ didn’t put depressing scenes like this in our world. Everything where we come from is beautiful.”
Blake had to agree. Even he was taken aback by the stark reality of a rusting, deserted factory town. He had no words to describe it himself. “It is disturbing,” he finally managed to say.
As Gypsy guided them away from the abandoned industrial area, Alex began to feel better. “I didn’t realize how lucky we are to have JJ shielding us from that. It only makes me more determined to help her find the happiness she deserves.”
• • •
“Excuse me.” Alex twirled a strand of her hair as she measured her next words. “I was wondering — ”
“Remember, you’re the one who said we were going to tell the truth,” Blake reminded her.
Alex winced.
Deb looked up from her computer. “May I help you?”
Alex hesitated so Blake jumped right in — ready to tell the truth — their perspective of it at least.
“Why, yes you can.” He looked around. “But is there somewhere a little more private where we can speak? Where random people would be less likely to walk in on us?”
Deb’s lips curled in a smile, but before she could respond, a man — apparently the department chair — opened his door and came out carrying a stack of folders.
He acknowledged the pair. “Excuse me. I just want to steal Deb for one minute.” He handed his secretary the folders. “Here are potential candidates to fill in for Dr. Kalinger this term. Please find out how many are available and schedule interviews with me as soon as possible.”
As he turned to go, Deb replied, “But wouldn’t JJ be the logical choice?” She put on her best act of innocence. Chare laughed. “Don’t even play that game with me, Deb. I know darn well you listened in on my conversation with JJ earlier this morning. And you know she said no.”
He pivoted to leave, but stopped and looked back at Alex and Blake. “Either of you have college teaching experience? I’m looking for a good prof for this term. The best just turned me down.”
“Sir,” Alex spoke up. “Actually that’s why we’re here — about JJ.”
“Oh?”
“This is a little difficult to explain. And she would kill us if she knew we were here. But, we really think she should be teaching this term. We think that it would — ”
Blake jumped in. “We think it would not only refresh her skills at teaching, but the change would enhance her creativity as well.”
Chare smiled. He looked to Deb who shrugged her shoulders in return. “Okay, let’s take this into my office. Deb, I have a feeling you should come in, too. This sounds like some type of conspiracy that’s going to need your devious mind. And, of course, I mean that in the best of terms.”
The four of them entered his office. He closed the door as he beckoned them to sit. He sat behind his large mahogany desk. “Okay. So just tell me straight. First, who are you, and what are you up to?”
Alex appeared to be tongue–tied. Blake laid all the cards — well, almost all of them — on the table. He introduced himself as JJ’s cousin and Alex as his fiancé from Kansas. And then he set the scene for Chare and Deb. “So, you see, JJ needs to take this position in order to force her to interact with Prof. Cooper. I realize, sir, that matchmaking isn’t normally part of your job description, but you’ve also already admitted she’s the best candidate for the job.”
Alex finally spoke. “Yes, so you’d be accomplishing two very worthwhile goals. You’d have the best person working in the position. But you’d also have the satisfaction of helping a loving relationship blossom.”
Not to mention helping us get back to our own world.
Deb broke into laughter. “It’s anything but loving yet, from what Kenn says.”
“Yeah, JJ hasn’t yet realized that Kenn really is the man of her dreams. It may take a little more interaction with him on a regular
basis. You do know that’s the premise of all the great love stories?” Alex sighed at the phrase “great love stories.”
Dr. Chare leaned back in his large leather desk chair, carefully stroking his head with his hand. “But, this is real life we’re dealing with, young lady, not some fictional love story.”
“Yes, sir. I’m keenly aware of the difference between the events of a romance novel and real life. But I also believe that it’s no reason not to try to get the two of them together. It really does sound like there’s some chemistry between them.”
Chare spoke again. “This is not within the realm of a department chair. My job is not to worry about — and especially foster — romances between professors.”
Alex slumped in her seat.
“Deb, get JJ back on the phone. Tell her that every other candidate has already been grabbed up by another school or is unavailable to teach. Heck, you’re the creative liar of the group. Tell her anything, but make sure she’s here in time next week to teach the 9 A.M. Historical Conspiracy class. Just try not to tell her the class is team taught and, above all, don’t mention Kenn Cooper.” Chare sounded like a general gathering and commanding his troops for combat.
Raising an eyebrow, he turned his attention towards Alex and Blake. “How does that work for you?”
Alex rose to leave. “Thank you so much.” Blake jumped up, took the chair’s hand and pumped it vigorously. “Thank you sir. Thank you very much.” He paused.
“Is there something else, young man?” Chare asked.
“Why, yes, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble?” And then he posed his question for Chare’s ears only, causing him to chortle. “Yes, if JJ agrees to this, I certainly can arrange for that. It would be the least I could do.”
As the three left the room, he pulled out his copy of JJ’s second book, Love’s Revenge, opened it to where his bookmark lay, and continued reading.
Chapter 17
Kenn panicked when he heard his mother was on line one. And when he heard the click of Deb’s receiver leaving him hanging, he felt as if he were going to have a full-blown anxiety attack.
He knew what the topic of their conversation would be even before he picked up the receiver. And he didn’t have the emotional energy to deal with it. But line one kept blinking at him. He had no choice. First the surprise dinner invitation Saturday — and now this. Deb certainly seemed to be pushing her luck.
Suck it up, he told himself. He raised the receiver and pushed line one. “Hi, Mom.”
“Son, so good to hear you. You do remember Sofie Addelmyer, don’t you?” His mom wasted no words on small talk.
“No, Mom. And hello to you, too.”
“Sofie and you sat next to each other in the first grade, in Mrs. Brown’s class. She had curly blonde hair and those cute glasses.”
“Are you talking about the mean girl with the frizzy hair who always kicked me when we went out to recess? That Sofie Addelmyer? The one who wore those horrible pink glasses with glitter?” Could there possibly be two Sofie Addelmyers in this world?
“Yes, hon, she’s the one,” Mrs. Cooper said without skipping a beat. “Well, I saw her mother at the supermarket the other day. And Sofie’s a reference librarian in Wilmington, Delaware. Well, her mom and I thought we’d get you two kids together. It seems like the perfect match, the reference librarian and the historian.”
“Why? So she can kick me when I ask for a historic document she thinks I shouldn’t see?”
“Oh, honey, she’s an adult now; she wouldn’t kick you. Get over it.”
“I’ll pass.”
Mrs. Cooper continued to protest. Kenn, though, was in no mood to humor his mother’s misplaced zeal. “Mom, I really haven’t had a good weekend. And I’m running late to class.” Okay, so that last part was a lie — but she was in Boston, she didn’t know any better.
“You know I love you, Mom. I’ll try to make it home soon. Bye.” He clicked down the receiver as quickly as he could. For a moment he felt a glimmer of guilt settling in his gut. Then he recalled what Sofie Addelmyer looked like in the first grade. Self-preservation. Purely self-preservation.
• • •
“But Deb, I’ve already said no. There’s no possible way I can teach right now. I’m working on this novel, and it’s just not moving forward as quickly as I had planned,” JJ said. And then there’s the issue of that idiot of a professor you have in the department. And I have two unexpected characters staying with me. The list goes on — but there’s no way in hades I can explain it all to you. You’d never believe me! “You cannot tell me that there is no other person who can teach this term.”
“Two classes. That’s all you have to teach. A few hours a day, the rest of the day is yours. The chair is desperate. He’s depending on you to say yes.” Deb paused as she changed her tone from one of firm negotiation to sly persuasion. “And you know, he was there for you when you needed an ally in the department.”
“It’s just not fair of you to bring that up.” Deb didn’t reply, allowing the silence to work its magic.
Inhaling deeply and audibly exhaling, JJ recognized when she was beaten. “All right. What time are the classes?”
She shook her head in disbelief as she wrote down the class times. Hanging up the phone, she wondered — and worried. What had she gotten herself into? “Dammit.”
It was true, of course. She knew she owed Dr. Chare, one of the few in the department to believe she could write intelligently and up to academic standards on the topic of conspiracy theories. He had fought hard for her chosen dissertation topic. Not only that, but he’d given her every advantage he could and fought even harder to get her panel to accept her dissertation once it was written.
He had been a second father to her through that entire process. Not only was he a staunch defender of her abilities, he displayed a sincere interest in her as a person. How many times did they talk when JJ thought the pressures were trapping her in an emotional cage? Whatever the situation, he knew how to put it in perspective. His encouragement and support allowed her to focus her efforts on the important work of research and writing.
If it weren’t for him, JJ knew she would not be where she was today. Yeah, she decided that facing the possibility of running into Cooper was worth the price of helping Tom. It was the least she could do for him.
Who was she fooling? It wasn’t just a possibility that she would run into Cooper. It was a certainty. She just had to be mature about the matter and deal with it.
Alex calmly looked up from the Vogue magazine she was reading. “Something wrong?”
“I have just been guilted into teaching this term. Not fair. Not fair at all.”
JJ stood and paced using what little room she had in her office. “Okay, it’s not going to be as bad as I think it will be,” she said, talking more to herself than her houseguests. She chewed on her lower lip as she furrowed her eyebrows. Oh, God, it couldn’t be!
“I just have to go on campus, teach, hold short — ” JJ stopped in mid-stride, whirled around at what seemed like lightning speed, and looked Alex in the face. Shaking both index fingers at her, emphasized, “ … and I mean short … office hours. Then I’m home.” She continued her pacing. “And all the while I’ll pray that I don’t even get a glimpse of Kenn Cooper.”
Just thinking about seeing him again brought up the memory of … sensual discovery? Not again, she inwardly moaned. She recalled sitting next to him at Nan’s where, just for a brief moment, she thought he could quite possibly be the most sensual man alive.
The sudden appearance of this thought frightened her. When did she start thinking of him as sexy or sensuous? Her mind quickly offered a counter argument. Of course, she felt that the moment she had seen him standing casually and leafing through a book. Perhaps she felt an attraction even before she actually bumped into him. If she were honest with herself, she felt something sensual just standing next to him. Okay, she admittedly stole a glance at him before their accidenta
l physical contact.
JJ stopped pacing. “Aghh!” Blake and Alex looked up at her and then at each other, exchanging smiles.
Alex deliberately set her Vogue magazine aside. “What’s wrong?” she asked innocently.
“Nothing. Nothing at all. I’m going to take a cold shower. I’ll be back.” She left the room, shutting the door behind her.
Chapter 18
Memories flooded JJ as she wended her way across the quad of University of Northern Ohio toward Mundain Hall, the home of the history department. The tree-lined quad, the old stately buildings imposingly sprinkled around the green expanse, and the traffic of students swiftly changing classes and lugging the ubiquitous backpacks created a flashback to her graduate days. And then there were the squirrels — both brown and black — that dotted and dodged the quad, resembling windup toys sprung too tightly. They reminded her of the times she shared her outdoor lunch with them.
Not only had JJ earned her doctorate here, but she had also taught here for several years. In many ways it had been home and would probably always have a place in her heart.
Not that her graduate years were easy. Quite the contrary. They were fraught with conflict. But then, JJ did nothing less than challenge the standard interpretation of historical inquiry. A long-held tenet of the discipline maintained that no historian who expected to be taken seriously would research conspiratorial rumors that inevitably became the fallout of national and international events.
JJ delved headfirst into the details of many of the popular conspiracies circulating on the Internet. Then she added a dimension that caught the eye of Chare. She interpreted them through description and documentation of the temperament of the nation. By taking a snapshot of the country’s emotional state, she was able to show how and why the conspiracy theory began, as well as gauge the legitimacy of it. It was only in this way, she argued to her mentors and professors, that the charges of conspiracy could be understood.
For a graduate student, it was not only a creative stance to take, but a brave one as well. Had she not had the backing of the chair, she might have been tossed out of the program within weeks of being accepted. Instead, she not only convinced her advisors of the value of the research, but she turned that research into a book — a book that was well respected in academic circles and still sparked controversy.
