Decision made, she unlocked her car and got in. She put on her favorite upbeat playlist and turned the music up loud as she drove to the university. To refamiliarize herself with its layout, she turned onto the road that ran around the campus perimeter.
As she drove, she took in the stately brick buildings she remembered. There were also quite a few new, modern-looking additions, some of which seemed to be academic halls, some dorms. The university had evolved, just like Elena had. After looping the campus, Charlotte parked in the visitor’s lot and started walking.
She’d visit Wallis Hall first, where her mom had taught. When she was here last month, Charlotte had been completely focused onAllan Svenson. This time, she would go inside with her mom in mind. Hopefully something or someone there would give her a new lead.
Two young women passed her, walking in the other direction, laughing as they looked at their phones, and something about the closeness between them reminded Charlotte of her and Elena at that age. How different might Charlotte’s life have been if she’d attended NU with Elena the way they’d always planned?
“Charlotte?”
Her stomach pinged with that all-too-familiar fizzing sensation before her brain even recognized Marin’s voice. Charlotte spun to face her with an almost embarrassing amount of enthusiasm. “Marin, hi!”
Marin’s brow wrinkled. “Are you looking for me? What are you doing on campus?”
“I ...” Charlotte gave her head a quick shake, trying to clear her muddled thoughts. “I had lunch with Elena near here, and then I decided to stop by the campus, maybe wander around my mom’s old building and see if anything new shakes loose. It sounds silly, I know, but ...”
Marin’s expression softened. “That’s not silly. It’s a good idea to talk to people who knew your mom, and there are certainly people in her department who’ve worked here that long.”
“That’s exactly what I’m hoping.” But now she was distracted by looking at Marin.
A slate-gray pencil skirt peeked out from below Marin’s maroon wool peacoat. Her hair was pulled back, emphasizing her cheekbones and the graceful slope of her neck, and goddamn she looked good in her professional attire. Like, ridiculously hot.
“I’m off to my introductory statistics class,” Marin was saying as Charlotte spiraled about how hot she was.Get a grip, Charlotte. Seriously.“Feel free to stop by and observe after you’re finished poking around campus, if you like.” A smile flitted across Marin’s gorgeous face. “You can let me know if I’m a boring teacher or a fun one.”
“I’m sure your students find you fascinating.” Charlotte certainly did. “I won’t be interrupting if I come in halfway through your class?”
“Not at all. I’d love for you to come. Ziegler Hall, room 311.”
“Okay then.” Charlotte hoped she didn’t look as smitten as she felt. “I’ll stop by in half an hour or so.”
“See you then.” With a wave, Marin walked away.
Charlotte glanced over her shoulder, hoping for a glimpse of Marin’s ass in that skirt, but it was hidden by the peacoat. Not straight, indeed. Charlotte’s body was sending some pretty serious signals on that subject. She shook herself out of her Marin-induced stupor and kept walking toward Wallis Hall.
It looked the same as it did in her memories, a stately but somewhat dated brick building. Charlotte entered the hall, breathing in its musty scent, like old books and dust. God, it even smelled the same. A directory on the wall nearby caught her attention, and she crossed to it, hoping she would recognize a few names, people her mom might have introduced her to.
But none of the names looked familiar. Not a single one ... aside from Allan Svenson, of course. The department chair was a woman named Karen Canterbury. Maybe she’d been here awhile? Charlotte took a photo of the faculty directory so she could do some internet sleuthing later and see who had been teaching here thirty years or more. There probably weren’t many. She’d gather a list and contact them all to see if anyone remembered her mom.
It was a long shot, but if she took enough of those, hopefully one of them would yield answers. After all, she’d already uncovered her mother’s affair and learned about the missing duffel bag. Who knew what else she would learn? Even if it took the rest of her life, she wouldn’t stop searching until she’d found out what happened. She couldn’t keep living in the shadow of her mom’s disappearance.
Charlotte was sick and tired of feeling adrift, ofsearching. One way or another, she had to know the truth. Maybe then she could finally find where she belonged and settle down. She wandered throughWallis Hall, feeling a slight pinch as she passed what had been her mother’s office. It belonged to a professor named Kristina Liang now.
“Can I help you?”
Charlotte was startled to realize she’d been lingering in the doorway to this woman’s office, and now Professor Liang was watching her. “I, um, this used to be my mom’s office. She ... we lost her about thirty years ago.”
The professor’s expression turned sympathetic, although Charlotte couldn’t tell whether she knew who Charlotte’s mom was. Certainly, she was too young to have been teaching here then. “Would you like to come in and have a look?”
Charlotte’s feet made the decision for her, carrying her over the threshold. “Thank you.”
“Of course. I’ve only been here a few years, but I’ve heard about Dr. Danton’s legacy. I assume she was your mom?”
“She was.” Charlotte swallowed over the lump in her throat. She hated talking about her mom in the past tense, even if present didn’t feel quite right either. Being stuck in limbo like this was hellish. And being in her mom’s old office was ... hard. The weathered desk looked to be the same one that had been here then.
Curious, Charlotte stepped forward, checking the corner by the wall, andgod, there was her name scratched into the finish. She’d done that one afternoon when she was bored, then spent months waiting for her mom to notice and fuss at her for it, but she never had.
Charlotte was surprised to realize she was smiling. Maybe not all her memories of this place were bad ones. “Thank you,” she told Professor Liang before she went back into the hall.
She walked through the rest of the building and spoke to a few more people, but no one here this afternoon had known her mom. Once her curiosity was satisfied, she left Wallis and crossed the quad, looking for Ziegler Hall. Charlotte didn’t think she’d ever been inside the mathematics building before. She asked a student for directions,and soon she was walking up the wide front steps of one of the newer buildings on campus.
