“And I have it on good authority there’d be a student uprising if you quit, so …”
“Sadie, you’re in charge here. I’ll do whatever you want. Whatever it takes for you to be happy. Because what will make me happy is being with you. And I hope you’ll consider giving being with me a chance.”
“I could never be happy knowing you’d given up your career for me.” The hopeful expression on his face falters. “So I guess we need to have a serious talk with Jennifer and work out if there’s some way we can both stay here.”
Ethan drops his forehead to mine. “You have no idea how relieved I am to hear that.”
Chapter Forty-Nine
Ethan
This time, the meeting with Jennifer is much happier. I’m much happier. Because I have hope that not only will I get the girl, I might even be able to keep my job.
“Are you two all caught up now?” Jennifer asks as we settle into chairs at her meeting table.
“I don’t want Ethan to resign. Please don’t accept his resignation.” Sadie jumps straight in.
“Oh, I never had any intention of accepting his resignation. Now that everything is out on the table, I have to tell you how sorry I am that I had to recall you from Egypt, Sadie. But since Riley had copied Martin in on her email—and we now know why—I had to be seen to be taking things very seriously.”
“Thank you.” Sadie sags with relief.
“You should, however, consider your wrists slapped. If you’d told me upfront, all this idiocy could have been avoided. And I’m afraid I can’t avoid HR putting a note in your files.”
“Understood.” I try not to smile. If that’s the worst thing to come out of this, I’m way ahead. No regrets.
“Anyway, if you both want to stay on, here’s the way it’s going to work. I will supervise Sadie’s PhD from now on. Ethan, you’ll have to appoint a new tutor for your classes this semester. Fortuitously, I’ve heard a rumour there’s a student at Cambridge looking to do a couple of semesters here. Do you know an”—Jennifer looks at one of the papers in front of her—“Edward Simpson?” she finishes, looking up with a broad smile.
I should never have doubted this woman had my back.
“As for the accusations Riley made, they’ve already been withdrawn. I also have statements from the other students on the dig refuting all her claims. I’m meeting with the vice-chancellor this afternoon to discuss Martin’s role in this debacle. I’m pretty confident he’ll be announcing early retirement by the end of the week.”
“What about the, umm, intimate thing? That’s true.” Pink creeps perfectly up Sadie’s cheeks.
“Honestly, I don’t give a fat rat’s pyjama coat about your sex lives. The problem for me was only ever about the favouritism. Oh, and endangering the life of a student.” Jennifer roars with laughter.
“And what about Sadie’s reputation? You’re aware of her family history. It’s important to her not to be gossiped about.”
“I’m a genius, not a miracle worker, Ethan. But I think we’ve got it pretty well contained. It’s not in anyone’s best interests for this to get out. Garret has agreed to suspend his complaint about Riley Hall on the proviso that she keeps the whole sorry tale to herself. Which I think she’s happy to do since it hardly covers her in glory. Meanwhile, here’s a form for you both to fill out for HR, which is what you should’ve done in the first place, advising them of a prior relationship.” Jennifer hands over the paperwork and stands.
“Thanks, Jen. We’re sorry we caused so much drama.”
“Ahh, don’t worry about it. Makes a nice change from arguing about who’s taking what subject and who’s hogging the admin staff. I’m just sorry it all blew up just as I was going away.”
“Thank you, Jennifer. I’ll forward you all my thesis work now.” Sadie holds out a hand, and Jennifer clasps it warmly.
We’re almost out the door when Jen speaks again.
“Now that I know what’s been going on, I can’t believe I didn’t see this before. You two are perfect for one another.” And with a shooing motion, she sits behind her desk and turns to her computer.
Sadie gives me an incredulous look as we stand in the hall, somewhat at a loss for what to do now.
“Did she just say …?”
“Yes, she did. Something you probably don’t know about Jen is she’s a hopeless romantic. Never accept an invitation to the movies unless you’re prepared to sit through a rom-com.” Because I can now, I reach out and tuck a loose strand of hair behind Sadie’s ear. We grin at each other.
“How about …”
“Why don’t we …”
