A Rare Find. Tracy Kelleher

contract and everything,” Press suggested.

       “That may be so, but I think it’s better that I don’t. Interaction with people has never been my strong suit.” Penelope was sure that Press knew all about her being terminated as an assistant professor at the University of Chicago when she didn’t get tenure. That career low point had eventually led to her current position as the curator of Grantham’s Rare Book Library.

       Penelope laid the priceless manuscript in the display case, locking it and her memories away. Then she glanced at her watch. “Goodness, it’s practically six o’clock. You should get going, or you’ll miss dinner at your Club.”

       Press shrugged. “Somehow, I think Lion Inn will go on without my presence for one night.” The Social Clubs at Grantham were the bulwark of the college students’ social life, providing dining facilities besides a continual round of parties and sports leagues. “There’s still a lot of work to be done, and I don’t want you to have to do it all.”

       “Nonsense. I’m sure you want to spend your remaining time with your friends. Pretty soon you will graduate, and you will all be going your separate ways.”

       Press shrugged. “I guess I’ll miss some people, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy the graduation activities. You remember them, right?”

       Actually Penelope couldn’t recall any festivities when she graduated from Grantham, but that was because she hadn’t attended any.

       Press carried on without waiting for an answer. “To tell you the truth, though, a part of me is so ready to get out of here. Four years is a long time to be in one place. On top of which, I grew up in Grantham anyway. So even though I’ve lived in the dorms the whole time, it’s really kind of like I never left home. All I want to do now is to get out of here—far, far away.”

       At one point, that had been Penelope’s ambition. After all, she, too, had grown up in Grantham. But here she was, back again, doing a job that her family never would have thought was in her future. Not that she didn’t find fulfillment in her current position. But life, as she had found out, didn’t always proceed as planned.

       She was about to impart this pearl of wisdom to Press when he blurted out, “I can’t wait to take off for Mongolia. It’ll be amazing, don’t you think? Especially going out into the countryside.”

       Penelope smiled and answered, “I think it will be a fascinating venture, especially the sites of recent paleontology discoveries. You must contact the relevant academics in the field. Perhaps I can help? I know a bit of Mongolian, as it turns out.” She recognized what appeared to be astonishment on his face. “What?” she asked. She was never quite sure if she was gauging body language correctly.

       “You know Mongolian?” Press asked.

       “Just a smattering. I was interested in languages written in the Cyrillic alphabet at one point. Standard Khlakha Mongolian, the dialect spoken in Mongolia proper, as opposed to the autonomous Inner Mongolian region of China…” Penelope stopped, noticing a certain fog settle over Press’s expression.

       She waved her hand dismissively. “There I go, off in my own little world. I told you I was no good with social interactions. Now, as for staying—there’s absolutely no need. I’ll be working on the installation for several days. Furthermore, I am very keen for you to go to Lion Inn tonight because, if memory serves me correctly, it is Beer Pong night. You must promise to give me a full rendition of the competition. I am very much interested in the sociological aspects of the game, with the idea of establishing an anthropological link to Roman drinking games.”

       Actually she had almost no interest in Beer Pong. But perhaps in telling this little white lie she was exhibiting a certain sensitivity to social interactions. At least she was trying.

      CHAPTER THREE

      June

      Grantham

      NICK©RAISED©HIS©GLASS of red wine. “To old college ties,” he toasted. “With an emphasis on the old.” He took a large sip of the Australian shiraz.

       “Speak for yourself,” his host, Justin Bigelow, replied. Justin and his wife, Lilah Evans, who was also a Grantham University classmate, lived in a modest one-bedroom apartment in the center of Grantham. They called it home when they were in the States, but spent much of their time in Africa on behalf of Lilah’s nonprofit organization. Back in her senior year at Grantham, Lilah had founded Sisters for Sisters to help women and children in the central African country of Congo. Now, eleven years later, it was going strong, providing health-and-educational services in rural settlements.

       “Lilah and I are as youthful as ever,” Justin chided him.

       “Speak for yourself,” Lilah piped up.

       “Hey, there’s nothing wrong with getting older. I earned my gray hairs,” Nick announced grandly.

       “If you’re going to claim they’re a mark of hard-earned maturity and wisdom, don’t even try. No one with even a smattering of fully functioning brain cells would have submitted to that crazy massage.” Justin chuckled. “I loved that episode.”

       “Glad to oblige.” Nick took another sip. He had lived to regret that episode in more ways than one. Not only was his neck perpetually out of whack, but people who met him for the first time inevitably brought up the massage debacle. The price of being semifamous, he told himself.

       “Even back in college when you were my Residential Advisor, you were not exactly a role model. Not that I didn’t enjoy myself, of course. I still remember you orchestrating all us freshmen advisees in stealing the clapper from Grantham Hall.”

       It was a well-known tradition for students to try to steal the clapper from the bell tower atop the administration building in the center of campus. This centuries-old battle between the students and the administration had led to some epic adventures and even more epic tales.

       “Excuse me. I did a good job. Did you guys get caught? Hell, no. Not on my watch,” Nick boasted, and took another gulp. He really should slow down, but then, hey, he wasn’t driving. He barely needed to roll down a gentle hill to get back to his hotel.

       Then there was the irritating fact that despite the easy manner with which Justin had invited him to dinner on his first night back to Grantham, he wasn’t feeling all that relaxed. There was something about returning to the scene of his first big screwup—not finishing college—that had a disquieting effect. All those parental dreams that he had squashed without a second thought.

       Lilah, seated across the wooden table, shook her head. “I like that. Your definition of morality is that it’s all right as long as you don’t get caught.”

       “I bet you never considered stealing the clapper, did you? I have vague memories of you being always on the forefront of whatever good cause was going around, and from the looks of things, you’ve made that your life’s work.” Nick poured himself another glass of wine and held the bottle out to Lilah. “Drink?”

       Lilah laughed. “No wine for me, thanks. I’m three months pregnant.”

       Nick eyed Justin. “As I recall, you always were a fast worker.” Then he turned to Lilah. “And I guess congratulations are in order. If anyone could reform a party boy, it’s you.” He picked up a fork and dug into the pasta that Lilah had just served. It followed an absolutely superb appetizer of marinated grilled eggplant.

       “Yum. This is good.” Nick nodded after a large forkful. “Actually, speaking of great food, my producer’s been laying the groundwork around town for this show I’m filming, but frankly, I’ve got my number-one priority—Hoagie Palace.”

       Justin passed the freshly grated Parmesan. “Oh, yeah, you gotta go to The Palace.” He used the student slang for the beloved greasy spoon in town.

       “And I was hoping you’d both accompany me on my pilgrimage,” Nick said. “You know, some nice on-camera interplay of how the food