Tenure Track (28 page)

Either the gym was warmer than usual or Lewis was exerting himself more. During a water break he finally pulled off his sweat-soaked T-shirt to expose his bare chest. Without consciously intending to, as he pulled the shirt over his head, he glanced up and noticed that Mandy was no longer on the stationary bike. Just as quickly he spotted her a few feet away, watching the game below as she wiped her face with a towel and sucked from a water bottle. When their eyes met he thought he caught a glint of approval. He continued playing with extra intensity until the next break, when he noticed she had left the second floor. His gameplay slowed down a bit, though the faculty team still won by two points.

As he showered in the locker room, his mind kept drifting back to Mandy and how she looked on the alcove. He imagined a drop of sweat rolling down her back and across that lovely tattoo. He envisioned those voluptuous breasts, lilting up and down as she pedaled on the stationary bike. Realizing the physical effect his thoughts were having on his body, he gradually turned down the temperature so that the frigid water could squelch his desire before he stepped out of the stall.

Mandy, meanwhile, was having her own issues in the women’s locker room. Her workout had started out normally that afternoon. She had spent about 30 minutes on the weight machines, followed by another 30 on the bike. She liked the upper gym floor bikes because they were less crowded than in the main workout area and it was fun to watch the basketball games below.

She recalled Dr. Burns mentioning that he played on Fridays, but it had not really registered in her mind until she saw him. She enjoyed watching him play, surprised at the intensity with which he attacked the court. She wondered if he was always like that or if he was just showing off for her benefit. Rumor had it that he once punched out a grad student during a game, but that seemed very out-of-character for him.

After finishing her cardio work, she had continued to watch the game for several minutes. She almost blushed when Lewis pulled off his shirt and glanced up at her. Again, she could not help but feel that he had taken it off for her benefit.
Was he flirting with me?
she wondered while washing her sweat away. The thought continued to grow as she lathered a handful of shampoo through her hair.
How would I feel if he
was
flirting?

Mandy’s opinion of Dr. Burns had certainly changed over the past few months. She realized her error in initially misinterpreting his shyness for arrogance. Through their many conversations and the scrapbook, he had revealed a vulnerability that was rather endearing. Looking through his memories, she could not help feeling sorry for him.
Parents gone, detached from his siblings, divorced.
Lewis did not seem to have anyone in his life other than that butt-ugly dog.

She recalled her mother once saying that many male clients took divorce harder emotionally than female clients, even if they were more reluctant to show it. Despite their bravado, Katherine theorized, men became more emotionally lost when their wives unexpectedly asked for divorce than the other way around. Observing Lewis’s reactions to the loss of Laura, Mandy wondered if her mother’s theory was true. She noticed that he had left Laura’s photograph on his desk for several weeks before finally removing it, and that he still wore his wedding ring. She knew it would take him a long time to get over the end of his marriage.

Still, she could not help admitting that his vulnerability somehow made him more physically attractive. She always thought he was kind of cute, even when he acted like a pompous idiot, but seeing him in his most wounded state somehow enhanced his sex appeal. Thinking about him as she lathered her hair, she felt a rush of excitement course through her body. She let out a deep breath as the realization hit that she actually found him desirable. Intellectually, she knew she could not act on the attraction for many reasons.
He’s just a lost puppy,
she told herself.
Resist the urge to take him home with you.

Chapter 15

Pain and Healing

Jane moved forward with the mediation plans although Gary continued to worry that it would not succeed in getting the formidable Mrs. Benedict to back off. It took a conference call between Jane, Gary, the President and Katherine to pacify everyone and reach agreement about the process. It was clear from Katherine’s tone that she would have preferred spilled blood, but the family court expert in her understood the value of mediation in certain situations. She also exhibited a level of trust in Jane, expressing that both she and Mandy would prefer Dr. Roardan, rather than Dr. Jones, be in charge of the process.

Not wanting to insult Gary, Jane suggested that perhaps Katherine’s request was more a reflection on the professors’ different personalities than their skills. Inwardly, she also felt gender played a role. From that first meeting, Katherine had sensed and trusted Jane’s maternal instincts to do what was right for someone else’s daughter, not just to shield the school from liability. Jane was to choose the mediator, but only that person, Mandy and Lewis would be present for the actual encounter. The mediator would summarize a report for all interested parties.

By now it was almost Thanksgiving. Both Jane and Gary were hoping to set up the mediation before winter break, but with the drawn-out approval process and the busyness of finals, the meeting had to be postponed until January.

In the midst of all this drama at the U., Dana’s basketball season began. Jane noticed that her daughter had been particularly pensive in the weeks leading up to the opening game—more sullen than usual, spending hours in her room or just working out. Mark initially chalked it up to senior year angst. When they noticed a dip in her grades, they began to worry that the pressure of trying for a basketball scholarship was getting to her. They threatened to cut back on her hoops time, though neither really wanted to do that, knowing how important the sport was to their daughter.

For some reason, Dana acted as if she did not really want her parents to be at the opener, telling them that it would be a lame game against an inferior opponent. When that did not deter them from coming, she claimed their presence would make her extra nervous—not that that had ever bothered her before. On the morning of the game, Dana was slow to come down for breakfast. When Jane went to check on her, she was sitting on the bed, holding her right ankle.

“
I think I pulled something,” she grimaced. Jane suggested going to a doctor, but Dana refused, insisting she just needed to walk it off. She limped out the door oddly, giving her mother a suspicious moment’s pause.

That evening, Jane was getting ready to leave the office for the game when she received an important phone call from Phyllis Smith, a professional family counselor and experienced mediator Gary had recommended to handle the Burns’ situation. Phyllis agreed to take the case, explaining that she first needed to interview both parties separately. By the time they were finished spelling out the parameters of the mediation process, the oxymoron of rush hour traffic was in full force, making it difficult to get anywhere in a hurry. Dana’s game had already started when Jane arrived at the high school gym.

She looked around without seeing Mark anywhere in the stands. Finally, she spotted Dennis standing beside Chris and Duncan, all three wearing face paint in school colors, with Dana’s jersey number printed on their cheeks. Jane gave her son a quick hug, being careful not to smear his makeup on her clothes, and asked where his father was. “’Dunno,” the teenager replied. “He was sittin’ behind the bench, but he might of stepped out to get some food or talk to somebody since Dana’s not playin’.”

Jane whipped around to see her daughter, the team’s best scorer, sitting on the bench wearing warm-ups. Dana was leaning forward, watching intently with her chin in one hand, elbow digging into her knee. Dennis played dumb. “Maybe her ankle’s still buggin’ her,” he suggested.

The Borg Queen was not buying his ruse. If Dana was hurt seriously enough to stay out of the game, surely her ankle would be wrapped or sitting in ice. She had played hurt many times before, including once with a fractured arm not diagnosed until after the game ended. Her ankle would practically have to be broken with all the ligaments detached for her to sit out a game. Jane instructed the boys to come find her if Dana started playing, then left to seek out Mark.

She caught up with her husband near the concession stand, talking with one of the other senior dads. She became more concerned as she approached his uncharacteristically stern face, with arms folded across his chest, listening intently to what the other man had to say. “Hey Bill!” Jane greeted, “Are you distracting my husband from the game?”

“
Oh, hi, Jane!” the man replied, looking somewhat uncomfortable. “Uh, I was just filling him in on the latest gossip. Hey, I’ll let you two talk. Good to see you!” He quickly scurried off to watch the rest of the game.

Mark hung his head down, looking angry.

“
Sorry I’m late,” she apologized, thinking her tardiness might be the cause of his dark mood.

“’
Doesn’t matter anyway,” he snapped, “since Dana’s not even playing!”

“
Yes, I noticed that,” she said. “Do you know what that’s about?”

He still had his arms folded and now started rocking back and forth on his feet, as if to prevent himself from exploding. “Well, I intend to find out. Do you remember that keg party at Forest Green a couple of weeks ago? Well, according to Bill, his kid heard that Coach had informally suspended all of his players who were out there for one game. I don’t know if you noticed, but most of the usual starters are warming the bench. He’s got sophomores playing!”

“
But Dana left that party,” Jane protested, not adding what else she knew and suspected about that evening.

“
Apparently that doesn’t matter,” he railed. “I mean, the girl does the right thing and leaves when she realizes she’s in over her head, and she still gets in trouble. It’s not like she was arrested! I think we need to talk to the coach.”

Jane appreciated Mark’s irritation, but disagreed with his solution. “Now, Mark, I don’t think that would help the situation. I wish Coach Gibson had informed the parents about this decision, but he has a lot of influence over these girls, so this might just get the message across better than we could.” She could not believe she was defending Coach’s influence, but she did not want to make things worse for Dana with an embarrassing parental tirade.

Jane succeeded in taking Mark back into the gym to watch the second half of the Dana-less game with Dennis. As they entered the noisy enclave, they saw their son, standing almost nose-to-nose with another boy whom they recognized as classmate Mitchell Tighe. The two seemed to be having a heated exchange. As the parents approached, Chris and Duncan nudged the two other teens, leading Mitchell to turn and quickly head to the other side of the gym. Dennis now wore the same uncharacteristically angry expression that his father had displayed a few moments earlier. When pressed, however, he just said that Mitchell was doing some trash-talking and they both got a little out of control. This excuse seemed a little strange, since presumably both were rooting for the same team.

Jane spent the rest of the game glancing between the three glum faces of her family members. For once, she was not the most serious of the four. Without their best players, the St. Luke’s girls were trounced 62-21. The entire team headed to the locker room hanging their heads in shame.

Utilizing the divide-and-conquer technique honed from almost 18 years of raising twins, Jane offered to drive Dana home while Mark would take Dennis, grilling each along the way. Jane was convinced her children were still hiding something and she wanted to find out what it was.

On the way home, Jane quizzed her daughter, carefully trying to sound concerned rather than critical. “So, why didn’t you get to play tonight?”

“
Oh, my ankle was hurtin’ too much,” she sighed unconvincingly.

“
You didn’t look like you were limping anymore. Do you need to wrap it or pack some ice on it?” Jane asked, feeding the lie.

“
No, no,” Dana protested. “I think it’ll be fine.”

“
It must hurt a lot, for you to sit out,” her mother noted. “You usually don’t let a little pain slow you down.”

“
Coach made me,” the girl explained. “He was just bein’ overly cautious. ‘Doesn’t want any of us to start out the season playin’ hurt.”

“
There must’ve been a lot of caution going around,” Jane muttered before deciding to stop this nonsense and show her hand. “You know, I heard a rumor that Coach was benching all the girls who were at that Forest Green keg party. Do you know anything about that?” Dana stared out the window. “How did Coach know you had been there?”

She shrugged. “He knows everything we do.”

Jane shook her head. “Tell me the truth, Dana. How drunk were you that night?” Jane was losing patience with the silence from the passenger’s seat. “Answer me, Dana Elizabeth!”

“
Okay, I was totally wasted! I jumped outta window when Coach got there and cut my arm on a wire fence tryin’ to get outta the golf course. That’s where I was when I called Dennis.”

Jane was very disappointed in her child for continuing to lie about the incident when she had been given the opportunity to come clean. “Why didn’t you just tell me that?” she asked, exasperated. “You know how I feel about lying. Is there anything else I need to know about that night?”