of cheese from the rest of the slice—to find Baby looking at her.
“Right?” he said with a knowing smile.
“It’s amazing.” She didn’t want to think about the number of calories something this wonderful must contain.
“If you turn Mr. D loose, he’ll never do you wrong. I just can’t eat here very often if I want to stay in any sort of shape.”
She rolled her eyes. “Ha. As if you have anything to worry about. With that logic, I should probably stop after one bite.”
“Don’t you dare. Mr. D would be mortally offended.”
“Okay, but it’s going to make me squishier.”
He shook his head. “Soft. You’re soft.”
“Is that okay?”
“Oh yeah. Soft is good.”
God. His voice made her squirm. She had to look away.
They both finished their first slices and were well into their second when the interruption came.
“Dr. Harrison?” She looked up at the young, dark-skinned man who’d walked past their table then turned back. “You probably don’t remember me; I know you’ve had a lot of students. I was in your Literary Analysis in Contemporary Computer Culture seminar a few years ago. My name is—”
“Kendrick. Right?”
He nodded. “Yes. Kendrick Foster. It’s good to see you again.” He turned to Baby. “Hey, Baby.”
“Hey, Blaze.”
She raised one eyebrow. “Blaze?”
Kendrick shrugged. “All these Linear Tactical military guys around here have a codename. I decided I needed one and since I’m half black and half Asian...or as I would say, Blasian. Which got reduced down to Blaze.”
She couldn’t help her chuckle. “I like it.”
She didn’t remember a lot of specifics about Kendrick in her class except that he’d been an excellent student and not interested in a Comparative Lit concentration—Harvard’s fancy word for academic major—at all. He’d been studying the crossover effects of literary analysis and cyber culture. He’d spent hours in her office picking her brain about the ramifications.
“I thought you went to Yale?” Baby asked Blaze.
“Yeah, for undergrad, graduate school was at Harvard.”
“Nerd,” Baby whispered under his breath.
Kendrick thumped him good-naturedly on the back.
“I’m picking up a pizza to go, but saw you over here, and I couldn’t believe it. I thought I’d heard there were some ...issues on campus and that you weren’t teaching anymore.”
Well, that was enough to kill her appetite, even for the delicious pizza. “That’s true, unfortunately.”
Kendrick immediately picked up on her turmoil. “Hell, I’m sorry. Look, all I’ve heard is rumors, and you know how the network has nothing better to do than spread gossip. I ignored it because I remembered what an amazing teacher you were.”
She shook her head. “You took a class that was primarily taught by my teaching assistant.”
“But you were always willing to talk to me and answer my questions. You made a difference for me.”
She folded her napkin in half and then in half again. “I appreciate it. I hope your studies ended up panning out the way you’d planned.”
“Working with Linear Tactical? Let’s just say it’s not the way I’d envisioned my career, but I wouldn’t change it. Are you going to be around for a while? How did you end up in Oak Creek?”
“Riley Harrison is my brother. So yeah, I’ll be here for a while. I’m teaching at Teton State College.”
She looked over at Baby. She knew she should tell Kendrick that she was also waiting tables, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words or to see the pity in his eyes.
Baby gave her a smile, his green eyes sympathetic.
She knew he would keep her secrets, not that it would take long for Kendrick to find out the truth.
“Phoenix is your brother? That’s awesome.” Kendrick shifted from one foot to the other. “And TSC is lucky to have you. Maybe you’ll break up another scholarship fraud ring like back in Cambridge.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, my claim to fame. I wish that was the gossip still being spread about me.”
Kendrick’s name was called over at the counter. “There’s my pizza. It’s good to see you, Dr. Harrison.”
“Please, call me Quinn.”
It occurred to her that Kendrick was probably Baby’s age. Perfect. Now she felt both fat and old.
“Quinn,” Kendrick said with a smile. “I hope you’ll stay in Oak Creek a long time.” With that, he waved and turned toward the counter.
She folded her napkin in half again, creasing the edge with her thumb, waiting for the questions Baby must have about what Kendrick had said.
“Please tell me Kendrick was the worst student you’ve ever had, or that he did something really stupid that I can use to lord