Man Who Loved Pride and Prejudice (15 page)

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Authors: Abigail Reynolds

BOOK: Man Who Loved Pride and Prejudice
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   Cassie sipped her coffee, puzzled by the difference from the man who had a tantrum the previous summer over being recognized in the same restaurant. "You were very nice to her."
   He looked back at her. "That's Scott's doing. He finally managed to convince me that it's better to give in gracefully than to fight it, even if I hate it."
   Cassie tried not to think of her embarrassing loss of temper the last time Scott's name had come up between them. "You made her very happy. Surely that's worth something."
   "That's what Scott keeps saying," he said. Cassie noticed his cheeks were flushed. "How are things at Haverford?"
   "Busy. My three-year review comes up in May, so I'm working on my file for that, on top of the usual work."
"Is this review important?"
   "Oh, yes. It's when they decide whether to renew my contract or let me go, and they'll give me the first feedback on how I'm doing on the road to tenure. It's anxiety provoking, to say the least."
   "I can't imagine you'd have any troubles."
   "I hope not, but you never know." She took a last bite of her pie. "But now I really do need to be going." She wasn't looking forward to the hours in the car with no company but her own.
   "Where are you parked?"
   "Over in the MBL lot, not far. Right by my old lab." She smiled sadly.
   "Let me settle up here, and I'll walk you back."
   "You don't have to do that," objected Cassie automatically, reaching for her bag. "You must have been on your way somewhere."
   "No place important." He leveled a stare at her as she opened her wallet. "You're not going to embarrass me in front of my legions of fans, are you?"
   She looked at him for a moment and smiled impishly. "All right, but only for the sake of your fans." She watched as he dropped several bills on the table, probably twice what they owed. She hoped his fans appreciated it.
   There was a moment of awkwardness when they arrived at her car, as if neither was sure how they should part. Finally Calder said, "Thanks for putting up with me delaying you. Can I ask you to send me an email when you get home, just so I know you got there safely?" He fished a card out of his pocket and gave it to her.
   "What, no autograph?" she teased.
   With an amused look, he took the card back from her and wrote a few words on the back and then tucked it in her shirt pocket. "Have a good trip," he said.
   "Thanks. And thanks for the tea and sympathy."
   "Any time." He watched her get into her car. She turned once to wave as she drove off.
   Cassie took the back roads to Route 28. Watching the familiar scenery go by, she was once again saddened by the prospect of not returning this summer. If she thought about it too long, she would start to cry again, so she deliberately diverted her mind to consideration of Calder Westing. It was surprising enough they had managed to have a completely civil conversation, but the change in his manner when he talked to the waitress was remarkable.
   Thinking of it reminded her of the card he had given her. She hadn't wanted to admit that she still had his card from the previous summer as a sort of memento. She had meant several times to throw it away, but something stopped her each time, so it continued to reside in her wallet. Shaking her head at her own foolishness, she pulled the new card out of her pocket and glanced down to see what he had written on the back.
To Cassie, with fond memories of my very favorite trip to the beach.
Calder Westing

She felt a rush of heat run through her, embarrassed to discover he was thinking about it when they were together. Her embarrassment was quickly replaced by other feelings, though, as her body remembered his and the pleasure he had given her. She had a sudden mad impulse to turn back to Woods Hole and find him. The very image of throwing herself at him was enough to make her laugh, and she managed to make herself put the card back in her pocket and focus on her driving. But she could feel its presence against her body, lying over her breast like the touch of his hand.

   It was after midnight when she finally arrived back at her apartment. She went to the refrigerator for a cold drink and then remembered Calder's request. She booted up her computer, thinking carefully about what to say. She took out his card again to read off his email address.
To:
[email protected]
From: C. Boulton
Subject: home safe
Dear Calder,
As you can see, I managed to arrive home without
alarming an undue number of state troopers. Thanks
again for the pie.
   
Cassie

The next day Cassie grimly began to revise her plans for the summer, going through her data from the last three years to see where there might be more room for analysis. She spoke to one of her colleagues about using space in the main lab during the summer months and began to investigate what it would cost to transport some specimens down from the Cape. She could do some of the simpler work at Haverford. It would be slower without access to the more advanced equipment at the MBL, but it would be progress of a sort.

   By the end of the week, she had her preliminary plans made. She refused to look back at what could have been, a skill which had always served her well. Even Erin, who understood better than anyone else how much this loss would hurt her, refrained from offering sympathy; she recognized Cassie was ignoring her own pain.
To: C. Boulton
From: C. Westing
Subject: Re: home safe
   Glad you managed to avoid causing too much trouble on your way home. I would feel sorry for any poor state trooper who tried to stop you!
   Calder

Cassie smiled a little as she read the message and marked it to save.

Chapter 9

TWO WEEKS AFTER HER return to Haverford, Cassie received a voice mail from Ella Connors at the MBL. She was tempted to put off making the call until later, knowing it was likely the expected denial of her appeal, but forced herself to do it right away.
   "Cassie!" came Ella's energetic voice when she identified herself. "I've got some good news for you."
   "Good news?" she asked cautiously, afraid to raise her hopes.
   "It looks like we're going to have funding for you after all. We've been shifting some money around, and we should be able to offer you an unrestricted onetime grant."
   "Really?" Cassie could hardly believe her ears.
   "Looks pretty definite at this point. Hopefully we'll be able to get paperwork off to you next week, but in the meantime, we're holding your lab space unless you tell us otherwise."
   Cassie couldn't stop smiling. "No, please hold it. I'll be there, you can count on that."
To: C. Westing
From: C. Boulton
Subject: good news
Just wanted to let you know I had some good news from
the MBL today. I don't know how they did it, but they've
managed to find some funding for me this year, so it looks
like I'll be wading through the muck in the marshes again
this summer after all. Sorry to have cried on your shoulder
over what turned out to be nothing, but you know me. I'll
do almost anything for a good slice of apple pie.
To: Cassie Boulton
From: C. Westing
Subject: Re: good news
   Glad to hear you'll be going back. Hope you'll eat plenty of squid for me. And you're welcome to cry on my shoulder any time. By the way, I really do like blueberry best.
Cassie felt a particular poignancy in her arrival at Woods Hole for the summer. Instead of rushing straight to the lab to get started, she spent her first day walking up and down Water Street, stopping in the bookstore, enjoying the scent of the beach roses in the town garden, and sitting at Stony Beach looking out over the water.
   She had hired one of her students from Haverford to be her lab assistant, and he was as excited and starryeyed at having a taste of real science at the MBL as she had been her first summer. Chris was a tireless worker, leaving Cassie more time for analysis and writing up her paper, and he also had an entertaining, quick wit. Watching him, she remembered how much more there was to experience at the MBL than she had taken advantage of in the last few years. She began to take time to learn about other people's research and attend more of the lectures and seminars offered by the MBL.
   She made a point of taking a walk each day, sometimes around Eel Pond, sometimes through town, and sometimes along the edge of Buzzard's Bay. When she walked along the bay, she would see Penzance Point, once again forbidden territory, and wonder what had happened to Scott. Was he again spending the summer there, or had he made other plans? She was curious enough to go onto the Internet once to check if he had sold the house, but found nothing.
   One benefit had come from her brief association with Calder Westing. Rob was spending the entire summer at the MBL, and to Cassie's surprise, the news didn't particularly trouble her. A year of being haunted by Calder had allowed her to put that pain behind her.
   One day in July, Scott appeared unexpectedly at her lab. It took her a moment to work out what was different about him. He was dressed in a T-shirt and jeans that looked like they were off the rack, unlike the casual but expensive clothes he had worn the summer before. He seemed uncomfortable with Chris in the room. Saying he could only stay a minute, he asked whether she'd like to have lunch sometime. She agreed, with a bit of trepidation, and arranged to meet him the next day.
   "Where do you want to go?" he asked.
   She hesitated a moment. She almost always went to the Dock of the Bay Café when she ate out, but that might be too full of ghosts for both of them. "How about Shuckers, at noon?"
   "Noon it is."
   This left her a day to wonder why he wanted to see her. She hoped he wasn't going to ask questions she couldn't answer about Erin. But once they met, he seemed only interested in hearing about her year and her research, at least until the waiter took their order.
   Finally, he looked at her rather sheepishly. "I suppose you think I asked you to lunch so I could pump you for information about Erin."
   "The thought did cross my mind."
   "You're right, then." He played with his drink for a minute. "I've tried being patient, but it's been five months, and not a word from her. I'm not good at patience. It's been hard."
   "I'm sorry. I wish I knew what to say."
   "Can you just tell me about her, how she is, what she's thinking, that kind of thing?" His voice was pained. Cassie could see how much he hated having to ask.
   "I can't tell you where she is, or how to reach her."
   "I already know. She's working for the Sacramento Metropolitan School District as a consultant."
   Cassie looked at him in surprise. "You said she hadn't been in touch with you."
   His mouth twisted wryly. "She hasn't. After you wouldn't tell me, I had someone find her." In response to her suspicious look, he added quickly, "Don't worry; I'm not stalking her or anything. I couldn't stand not knowing where she was. It was making me crazy. There wasn't any snooping into her personal life, I promise you. And I've respected her desire not to hear from me."
   "That was wise of you." She suspected Erin would be furious if she knew he'd done that much.
   "If so, it's the only thing I did that was wise. Last summer I thought I was happy because I was finally taking some time off. I didn't realize it was her. I've dated a lot of women, but frankly, I wasn't all that interested in their minds, and they weren't interested in much besides my money. I picked out Erin because she was pretty. It was just dumb luck that she was also someone I could talk to, who understood about my job, the problems in the biotech industry, research issues. I liked that. When I figured out she didn't care about my money, I liked that, too. But even then I didn't understand. I hated it when she went back to Duke, and I decided it was because I didn't like long-distance relationships. When I finally came to my senses, I realized it was… other things, and that Erin was what I wanted."
   "At least now that she's not in academia anymore." Cassie hoped she didn't sound as bitter as she felt.
   His mouth twisted. "I hated Duke, no doubt about that. Everyone there treated me like I was a dunce because I was in business, not pure research. They wouldn't even let me in the labs to see Erin because they thought I would mess something up. I go into biotech labs every day, for God's sake."
   So he hadn't liked being a second-class citizen. He looked so put out she almost laughed. "That's not why they wouldn't let you in, you know. They were probably working on projects they hoped would have commercial applications and didn't want somebody to beat them to it. None of them would be above selling you a finished product."

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