“At least you’ve got a good sitter.”
“She’s great,” Rosalinda nodded. “I just don’t like taking up too much of her time.”
“Maybe next time we can do something that he can join us at.”
“That would be great,” the younger professor agreed.
“Anything else going on?” Rosalinda’s friend asked over the table. Emmie was looking for gossip.
“I heard a few things.”
“Like what?”
Rosalinda snickered. “So, I heard an interesting rumor.”
The women were sitting around a small table in the food court located in the nursing building. It was the closest spot to the physics building where they could get themselves a cup of coffee and sit down outside of the offices. “What is it?”
“One of my students came in talking about some hot professor from the chemistry department,” she laughed.
“I heard about him,” Emmie grinned.
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. Even went to sneak a peek.” The English professor was bragging now.
Rosalinda was too curious to call her friend on the bragging. She had the urge to know what was happening on campus that made so many people talk, and had made her friend to go check this guy out. “Is he really all they’re talking about?” she asked.
The older woman feigned fanning herself like she was about to swoon. “And even more.”
“Do you have to be so dramatic about it?”
“Someone has to be dramatic, or the world will get boring with all of you analytical types.”
“We get stuff done, at least.”
“I’m sure you do, but you don’t have fun.”
“We can have a lot of fun,” Rosalinda countered.
“That’s why you’re always busy with your son when I call you?”
“I still have to be a mom,” she snickered. “Wow. Maybe I should sneak a peek at him.”
Emmie chortled loudly. “Maybe you should. But don’t let the students see you fawning all over the guy.”
“I don’t fawn all over anyone.”
“I swear that’s true. You’re about as single as single gets.”
“I just kind of want a peek at him, that’s all,” Rosalinda defended herself jokingly. “It’s not like I’m going to accost him in the halls.”
“You never accost anyone,” Emmie countered. “That would mean actually having a part of you that wants anything to do with any man who isn’t your son.”
“A girl can still enjoy looking at guys.”
“You never did tell me why you refuse to date.”
“That’s really not any of your business.”
“I know, I know. It’s just something I’m curious about,” said Emmie. “It was rude, I’m sorry.”
Rosalinda rolled her eyes. “I’m not mad or anything.”
“Oh, I was worried I offended you.”
“Nah, I get asked that a lot. I just tell people it’s my own business, and don’t feed the rumor mill more than it already does.”
“Well, this guy…he’s pretty hot. You should check him out,” Emmie said, returning to what they were discussing before.
“What do you know about him?” Rosalinda had her curiosity piqued, but there was an odd feeling on the back of her neck. Like she already knew the answer, but couldn’t identify what it was.
“Well, he just moved in from the west coast,” Emmie’s gossip starts eagerly. This was the stuff that Rosalinda wanted to hear. “I guess he had a bad time out there. He’s never been a teacher before. Mostly worked in research, but then he got the job here.”
“You’ve really got your finger on the thumb of all of this, don’t you?”
“That’s the difference between science and liberal arts,” said Emmie. “You get stuck in all the numbers. Words are my thing.”
Rosalinda laughed. “What’s his name?”
“Uh, it’s Nick. Nick MacRoberts.”
Rosalinda felt her heart seize in her chest as she choked on her coffee.
Her friend looked concerned. “You okay?”
“Say again?”
“Say what again?”
“His name?” Rosalinda tried to play it cool. “What was his name again?”
“Nick MacRoberts. He’s over in the chemistry department.”
Rosalinda’s mind started to race; she didn’t know what to say about this. It felt like her life had turned right on his head. She had already heard that Nick was back in town, but the fact that he was the hot new professor in town? She had to decide what to do. She had to say something, but her mind was blank.
“What’s wrong?” asked Emmie.
“Nothing. Sorry. Just got distracted, that’s all.”
“That looks like more than just distracted. Are you sure you’re all right?”
Rosalinda forced a smile. “Yeah. Just remembered that I forgot some paperwork that needed doing.”
“What kind of paperwork? Do you need some help?”
“Nah, if it was a grant proposal, I totally would ask you. This is a report for the work in the lab.”
“What kind of stuff are you doing?”
“Still working in fuels.”
“I don’t get why they have a physicist in fuels,” the English professor shook her head. “Of course, I don’t really get why you guys do anything over there.”
“You don’t mind taking advantage of science,” Rosalinda pointed out. “You use it all the time. You’ve even got one of those smartwatches.”
“What am I supposed to do, convert to being Amish?”
“I don’t know, is that actually a thing?”
“I would have to do some research.”
“I don’t think they recruit on the internet.”
“Of course not, they’re Amish,” Emmie teased. “What was it you’re doing again?”
Rosalinda was glad that the distraction worked. It was easy enough to pull off. In fact, it was almost suspiciously easy to do. She couldn’t help but wonder if her friend was letting her off the hook. “I’ve explained it a few times. Physicists have work in a lot of different fields.”
“I know. What is it you said?”
“Physics is the base of most sciences out there. Controlled reactions often need a physicist.”
“Oh, right. And a bunch of other jargon that I never followed.”
“And that, yeah,” Rosalinda laughed.
“Leave it to an English major to chalk it all up to jargon,” Emmie smiled at herself.
“That’s what you always do, isn’t it?” Rosalinda shook her head as she tittered softly. She was pretty used to this by now, but it still amused her. It was one of the reasons everyone wondered why they were friends, but the truth was that the different disciplines seemed to draw them closer together. Emmie was Rosalinda’s best friend.
“Pretty much. It works pretty well for me,” said Emmie.
“No wonder you went into English.”
“Hey, I remember that you had a little trouble a few times too.”
“That’s why all the smart scientists have a friend in the English department to help with grant proposals,” responded Rosalinda.
“Have you told anyone your secret to success?”
“Nah, it works better for me if they don’t know exactly how I manage to get all the funding that we need.”
“That’s why they keep asking you to help with all this research.”
Rosalinda smiled. “Speaking of which, I should probably get to work on that stuff.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, it all has to be done anyway. And I want to get back home at a decent hour.”
“No late classes today?”
“Nope. I get to take my work home with me and do it after I get the kid into bed.”
“And then crawl into bed with a book?”
“And a weighted blanket.”
Emmie laughed. “That’s a good idea. Makes you feel like you’re being held and
everything.”
“It works really well.”
“Glad I told you about it.” Emmie raised her drink. “Maybe we can get together sometime soon?”
“Yeah, I’ll get a sitter sometime soon.”
“Finally. You deserve a night off of being a mom too.”
“I love being a mom.”
“I know you do.” Emmie grinned widely. “Get to work. I’m going to go see if I can spy on that handsome new professor.”
“Good luck with that.”
“Oh, if anyone can sniff out hot guys, it’s me.”
Rosalinda continued to smile as she made her way out of the small café and back towards the physics building. It was a beautiful New Mexico day, the kind of day that most people would love to experience. She waited until she was fully out of sight to start rushing, practically running back into her office.
Once inside, she slammed the door shut. She didn’t want to be open to visitors coming in and checking on her as she pulled up the website for the college.
It took a while to navigate to the information about new hires, which was in a message from the dean, and listed the new people that had joined them for the fall semester.
When she saw the picture, she groaned. Somehow, time had made him even more handsome. It was no wonder that he was getting the reputation of the hot professor. There was no way to deny any of that.
And there he was: Nick MacRoberts, the man that she had pined after. The man that she couldn’t have.
Rosalinda’s mind wandered. She thought about the possibilities of could happen between them. She knew that Nick was getting a divorce, or was even already divorced. Either way, he was single. She wondered if she should go see him. That seemed like a terrible idea; she pushed it out of her head. The last thing she needed was for him to find out that she had kept a son from him for all those years.
She wondered if he’d ever had any more children. Maybe her brother would know.
The only question was how to ask for that information.
6
Ewing Distraction
The parking lot behind the chemistry building was full, but Nick wasn’t paying attention to the cars moving in and out of spots like a game of musical parking spots. He had gotten used to that already, and he had other things on his mind. He wanted to pace, but everyone would see him. He forced himself to stop and sit down at a picnic table.
Rosalinda. Rosalinda was here. The past few days had her haunting his dreams again. He was trying to get her out of his head, but he couldn’t focus on anything else. He’d had a crush on when he was younger. Now that she was close again, his mind was running over all of the possibilities.
Nick had to stop himself from thinking that way. It wouldn’t do any good at all. He got back up and started to head back inside, but he was stopped by the Ewings, who were husband and wife professors heading out to enjoy lunch together. They both worked in the chemistry department, and seemed to be just about as happy as any couple could be.
“How’s it going?” William Ewing laughed as he saw the younger professor.
Nick stopped. He couldn’t admit what was really going on. He needed some kind of lie to make it all work. “I was just taking a break. I’m still adapting to this stuff.”
“That happens a lot,” said Caroline Ewing. She had the sweetest smile; it was welcoming and warm, and her French accent made her seem even nicer most days. This was definitely one of those days. “This is your first time teaching, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Nick nodded, and he let them lead him back to the small picnic table that he had sat at before.
“You have to try Caroline’s zucchini bread. It’s amazing,” William offered. The man looked more like he belonged in a hard hat than a classroom. It was well known that William Ewing had come to school later in life than most, and worked his way through night classes by working construction during the day. It was a story that told people just how much hard work mattered. “She made it last night,” William added, “so it’s nice and fresh.”
“It’s just what’s leftover from my classes,” said Caroline.
Nick smiled. These professors had been here when he was in school. “You still making sure students eat before tests?”
“She still makes me haul in the big coffee pot every time her morning classes have a test,” groaned William.
“And the orange juice,” Caroline added proudly. “And milk.” She kept listing off more items that she provided every single test day.
“And every other heavy thing you wanted to give your students.” William smiled as he looked at his wife. He was so in love that it made Nick jealous.
“It’s good for them.”
“And I guess you’re going to tell me carrying them is good for me too?”
“Doctor says you need a lot of exercise, dear,” Caroline grinned, knowing that she had won this fight.
“That was one of the things that got me through school,” admitted Nick. “So many times I didn’t have the chance to eat breakfast.”
“That’s why I do it. Getting you guys to class at eight-thirty in the morning is hard enough. I know almost none of you have a chance to eat.”
“Now that I’m one of the teachers, I was considering doing that myself,” said Nick.
She smiled. “I would really like that. It’s just such a nice thing to do. I offer to make it for William’s classes.”
“I stopped teaching morning classes,” her husband interjected. “That works so much better.”
“Not everyone can run on the same schedule, and you know it,” Caroline protested.
Nick laughed. “Now, calm down you two. I don’t want to be accused of starting a fight. I would be shunned by the entire department.”
“See, he understands.” Caroline carefully shoved her husband’s arm.
William’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “It’s good to see you back here, Nick. I know we haven’t had much time to catch up.”
“You both stay so busy. It’s nice to have a chance to talk to you guys again.”
“You were such a promising student,” Caroline said. “You did so well. What grad school did you get into again?”
“I actually attended New Mexico Tech.”
“They have a chemistry department?”
“Technically they have a chemical engineering department. I double majored and actually finished out chemistry while I was there.”
“That sounds like quite the education.” William looked proud. “And now you’ve come full circle.”
“Well, my mom’s getting older.”
“Is she well?”
“They caught her cancer early and managed to get her into remission quickly, but it gave me kind of a scare.” Nick jiggled his foot. He was still thinking about Rosalinda, but talking about something else. It was starting to feel a little surreal.
“That’s good. She’s doing well otherwise?” William seemed to be sincere in his concern.
“Still telling me to clean my room. Even if I don’t live with her anymore,” Nick rolled his eyes. “She says she’ll be telling me to do that until the day she dies.”
“Cancer can be pretty scary,” Caroline nodded. “It is not pleasant to deal with. I hope that it turns out well for your mother.”
“Caroline had a scare recently,” added William. “Melanoma, but it was all removed in a single surgery.”
“One of the few bad things about the southern New Mexico sun. It’s pretty common down here.” Nick kept his smile. It was a pleasant conversation.
“That it is,” the older man agreed.
“You’re a good son for coming back here to be near her,” Caroline said. The subject seemed to make her uncomfortable.
“I try to be, at least.”
William laughed. “That’s better than a lot of people. You aren’t married yet?”
“I was, but it didn’t work out.”
Caroline looked concerned. “Did something go wrong?”
Nick shrugged. “We just weren’t meant for each other. When we split up, I took the opportunity to come back here and luckily I got this job.”
“We’re definitely happy to get you back,” William said. “When your name came across my desk, I put you in for consideration.”
“Just from when I was an undergrad here?” Nick was flummoxed.
“You were an obviously brilliant young man. I was almost certain you only improved with time,” Caroline added. “I agreed with William.”
“That’s nice to know.”
“Are you settling in well?” she asked.
“I am. I got myself a small apartment near campus.”
“Please tell me it’s not in student housing. It can get so loud there.” Caroline was still being her normal concerned self, caring so much about people. “You know how it is when you’re in college; all the partying, and having fun with your friends.”
“I wasn’t much of a partier, but I do remember how it was,” Nick agreed. “It’s a nice complex, not the kind of place broke college students flock to.”
“We have some old furniture if you need it,” William offered.
“I could definitely use some of that.”
“What do you need?”
“Everything,” Nick joked. “I only have some lawn chairs in the front room, and an air mattress.”
“A bachelor pad,” William said, poking fun at the younger man.
“I guess so. Yeah, it really is. Like the kind that shows up on sitcoms.”
“Almost exactly,” Caroline laughed.
“You can probably get your own TAs soon enough,” William added, changing the subject abruptly. “Probably next semester when you can interview grad students.”
“Do you know who the guy is that’s been assisting me?” Nick felt safe enough to ask, even if he was a little embarrassed by the words.
“That’s Ben,” William nodded. “He’s a good kid, really smart and focused. He’s working with me, but I asked him to kind of help you adapt.”
“I really appreciate him. He’s been amazing,” Nick grinned. “I swear he could probably do my job in my sleep.”
“He plans to, once he gets that piece of paper,” William explained. “He’s one of the best teachers that I’ve seen. Just really good with students. He can explain things in ways that I’ve never even seen before.”
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