Flirting with Fifty

“Thanks to Taffy?”

“And you.”

She wasn’t sure how she felt about being lumped together with a huge wet dog. “Do you have a dog?”

“I did when Oliver was young. It’s too hard now that I live alone. What about you?”

“We did on the ranch growing up, but Ted was allergic to pet dander, so no.” She hesitated. “Is Oliver your son?”

“Yes. He’s twenty-eight, a filmmaker, based out of Los Angeles.”

“Is that how you ended up here? You wanted to be closer to him?”

Jack’s brow lifted. “You understand.”

“Part of me would love to move in next to my girls, but they’d be horrified. They like their space, but they also like to come visit me here. They love the beach. And so, this summer, I moved to a new apartment, just north of Dana Point so we’re close to the beach.”

“Hoping to lure them back?”

“Absolutely. A mom’s got to do what a mom’s got to do.” She laughed, feeling surprisingly relaxed. She’d forgotten how easy it was to talk to Jack. “Are you also divorced?”

“No. My wife, Mara, died when Oliver was seven. It’s just been him and me ever since.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s been twenty-one years. A lifetime ago.”

“And you never remarried?”

“No. Tell me about your girls.”

“Michelle is twenty-six, Nichole is twenty-five, and Ashley is twenty-three. They’re all wonderful and pursuing their careers, scattered across the country.”

“You miss them.”

“I do.” It was time to stop sharing, time to stop probing, even though there were suddenly a dozen different things she wanted to ask Jack, like, when did he marry, and how did he end up with a TV show? Why hadn’t he remarried and how did he manage raising a son on his own with his extraordinary career? From the corner of her eye she spotted Greg Hsu but she didn’t see his wife, Leigh, and wondered if Leigh was on call tonight. Paige lifted a hand, and he waved back and headed toward them.

“Have you two met yet?” she asked as Greg joined them, and when she saw Greg shake his head, she made the introductions. Greg knew an astonishing amount about Jack’s work and they were soon discussing evolutionary biology, and the intrinsic and extrinsic impacts on population.

Paige let her mind wander. She wasn’t a science fiend; she preferred math, preferred equations, preferred an orderly world ruled by numbers. Science wasn’t orderly. Science was full of change and chaos . . . just like the name of the course she’d soon be co-teaching.

There was a lull in the conversation, and she felt a prickly sensation at her nape. Glancing up she discovered Jack watching her, and the prickly sensation turned into a blush, heat spreading over her cheeks, across her chest. She shifted self-consciously, wondering what he was thinking. Did he recognize her? Or was he just sizing her up? She should have worn something more business casual for tonight instead of a white embroidered dress and high strappy wedges. Her outfit was one younger girls would wear. In fact, her daughters borrowed both when they came to visit.

“Did I miss something?” she asked, body tingling uncomfortably.

“I just said that you’re my favorite instructor in the math department.” Greg smiled at her and then at Jack. “Students love Paige, especially the ones that struggle with math. She has an uncanny knack for making difficult subjects easy.”

“You don’t know that,” she protested, embarrassed.

“You have an A on Rate My Professors. That’s practically unheard of in our departments. Students fight to get into your classes.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Math makes sense to me. I want it to make sense to my students, too.”

“Why did you become a professor?” Jack asked.

“Education fascinates me. I enjoyed being a student, and then a grad student. Why not spend my entire life on a college campus?”

“It is a nice world,” Jack agreed.

“Idealized,” Greg said. “It’s not the real world.”

“Maybe that’s what I like,” Paige said, smiling, and yet feeling defiant. “Why not create the world we want to live in? I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

Jack looked at her, and their gazes locked. She couldn’t read his expression and yet she had a feeling he didn’t agree with her. In fact, she was quite sure he objected to what she’d just said, but she didn’t care. Jack King might be the new king of the campus, but he wasn’t her king and she wasn’t about to change who she was, or what she thought, just to make nice with him.

*   *   *

Leaving the party, Paige checked her phone, noting the missed call from Elizabeth. There was also a follow-up text. You’d better fill me in soon. I’m dying of curiosity. Please put me out of my misery.

Paige and Elizabeth had met their freshman year of high school in Paso Robles, and they’d become fast friends immediately, both in the same honors classes, both on the college track. Elizabeth went on to UC Santa Barbara where she eventually earned a PhD in English, while Paige had focused on math at UC Berkeley.

It was Elizabeth, a tenured professor at Orange specializing in Victorian literature and female writers of the nineteenth century, who’d alerted Paige to the opening at Orange University. She’d been encouraging Paige to move back to California ever since Paige’s divorce six years ago, but Paige couldn’t move until her girls were all out of school and onto the next thing, and they were most definitely onto the next thing now.

Paige used the Bluetooth in her car to call Elizabeth. Her friend answered right away. “Long time no talk, PG,” Elizabeth said, the nickname for Paige when she’d still been Paige Gilbert. “I thought you dropped off the face of the Earth.”

“I saw your messages,” Paige said. “I’m sorry. It’s been a crazy few days.”

“I can only imagine. What’s he like? Are you excited?”