At Fault
Page 17
The article Dr. Hall had submitted had quietly disappeared. In its place, a thoughtful obituary was published. He was hailed as, “The pioneer of geothermal habitation, an idea which may one day change the way we live.”
There was a sharp knock on his office door before it opened.
“Grace,” he said, standing to greet her. She wore a fur-trimmed coat with a fuzzy hat over her blond curls. “I didn’t think I’d see you until dinner.” She smiled and gave him a hug.
“I had to check out your new office,” she said, walking up to the window as she pulled off her outerwear. “Holy shit, check out this view.” Beyond the campus were jagged, snow-covered mountains to one side and the ocean on the other.
“Certainly beats the view from the West Hall basement at SLAU,” he joked.
“How’s your Finnish coming along?” She tossed her coat onto his desk, then took a seat on the sofa in his shared office.
He sat down next to her. “Pretty well, actually. Their philosophy here is that the foreign professors should teach lots of courses to give them a chance to use the language. Kind of a sink-or-swim mentality.”
She chuckled and shook her head.
“Are you back in school?” he asked.
“Well, sort of. I’m taking a few art classes. I’m trying to build up a portfolio so I can apply to a graphic design program.”
“That’s excellent.”
“My dad is furious.”
He laughed. “You could still marry the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.”
“I guess. But not right now. I need to take some time and focus on me.”
“Good choice.” He got up and shut down his computer, then put the journal on his bookshelf. “If you can handle the weather, I could give you a tour of the campus.”
“That would be lovely.”
Acknowledgments
Thank you so much for reading my novel! Please consider leaving a review to let me and others know what you thought. To keep up to date with my writing and new releases, sign up for my newsletter at join-now.BethMartinBooks.com.
I would like to give a big thanks to the members of my writing group who encouraged me to finish this story, along with giving me helpful advice and teaching me about rock climbing.
Although Peter is a geologist, a lot of his traits and experiences were inspired by the wonderful mathematicians I met at UCSB. Being an academic is hard, and postdoc positions are all but unavoidable. Studying the sciences truly is a work of love, and I hope this story has provided an accurate picture of the struggles involved in pursuing a scholastic career.
As always, I want to thank my editor, Josiah Davis. I swear I’m trying to learn how to correctly use commas.
My biggest thanks goes to you, my readers. Without you, my dream of becoming an author never would have come true.
Other Novels by Beth Martin
The End of Refuge
Quality DNA
Mental Contact
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.
Copyright © 2018 Beth Martin
Cover design by Beth Martin. Star crossed lovers image by Mike Ver Sprill/Shutterstock.com. Crack texture by Nonthepcool/Shuttertock.com.
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