Sharon Mignerey - In Too Deep

“They do pile on.” He laughed again, a deep, rumbling purr that encouraged her to laugh with him. And she did, feeling a rapport with this man she had experienced with only three other men in her life. Her father. Her husband. Her brother-in-law, Ian. Fleetingly, she wondered, if like Ian, this was a man she could entrust with her life. Her laughter faded. She turned away that thought as her gaze fastened on her daughter. Act the act, she reminded herself. This wasn’t California. She and Annmarie were safe.

“Are you responsible for that major cleanup project in the front office?” Quinn asked, pulling her attention back to him.

The question sounded to Lily like an accusation. When she had first set foot in the facility two weeks ago, she had found the office in complete chaos. Quinn Morrison might be a brilliant marine biologist, but organized he was not. Papers and files had been piled on every available surface of the office area, and two huge file cabinets that still bore their shipping tags were empty. Ignoring the mess on that one desk he’d told her to leave alone, she had gradually read, labeled and filed everything.

“Responsible?” She shook her head. “No. I’ve settled in like you told me to and acquainted myself with the research.”

“Getting acquainted with the research is one thing. Cleaning is another.”

“I was trying to find a place to sit. And since you had those empty file cabinets—”

“If I’d wanted a janitor, I would have hired one.” The instant the words left his mouth, Quinn heard the annoyance in them and reluctantly admitted he was irritated. When he’d left a month ago, the place had looked a shambles, but at least it was his shambles. When he’d walked in a half hour ago, he’d barely recognized the office. The homey touches on one desk—pictures and a plant—were an invasion to his space.

“I’ve moved something you need—that’s why you’re upset.” Her gaze openly searched his face. “What are you looking for?”

Quinn stared at her, surprised she hadn’t taken offense. Her willingness to take responsibility for his being annoyed took away any fun that he might have had in continuing to bait her.

“There were a bunch of files on clams we collected from the vent site. I’d like to find the ones on the hemoglobin levels found in the dissected clams,” he said. He’d need those reports sooner or later, he decided, but now was as good a time as any to figure out if he’d ever lay hands on any of his data again.

“I know exactly where that is. And since I couldn’t find the electronic file, I scanned them, so they’re also in the computer.” Lily’s glance went to the children who were bent over a tide pool. “Come on, Annmarie,” she called. “Time to go.”

Quinn looked at the shoreline, noting the tide was still going out. “They can stay here if they want.”

“Says the man with no kids.” Lily grinned. “I might let them walk from the research center to Thad’s house, but leaving them alone on the beach…” She shook her head.

“Asking for trouble, huh?” Time to be agreeable, though he thought she was being a little overprotective. Then again, maybe this was the way caring mothers acted. Like he would know.

“Big-time.”

As soon as Lily saw that the kids were right behind them, she headed toward the path that led up the steep slope to the research center. The bounce in her step matched the enthusiasm in her voice. “Do you have the data for the clams harvested from the Juan de Fuca site? Since this vent isn’t as deep, any variances should be interesting.”

Quinn followed her, wondering if she’d managed to really bring enough order to the files that she really did know exactly. He would have spent a couple of hours looking for the files, much as he’d never admit that to her. “Given your previous research, I would have thought the microscopic life around the vent would be more interesting to you.”

She glanced over her shoulder. “Like the barophiles? Or the autotrophs? They’re magical.”

That wasn’t the word he would have applied, but he liked the thought.

“Have you isolated any organisms yet?” she asked.

He shook his head. “We’re still in the survey stage. We’ve scheduled a week to gather samples when the summer break ends.”

“Figuring out how a living thing creates food from inorganic material,” she continued, “could keep a scientist happy for years.”

“You?”

Her smile faded. “I…left that behind.”

He still couldn’t believe that he’d managed to snag someone with her credentials for the research assistant’s salary that he could offer within the budget of his current grant. Now that he’d met Lily Jensen, Ph.D., he was even more confused. Especially after she’d made it clear during their phone interview that she was now using her married name. Since all of her publishing had been done under her maiden name, why in the world was she distancing herself from it?

“What made you give up the publish-or-perish career track to come here? There’s not much challenge for someone who’s had her own lab and grants big enough to support a staff.” He didn’t elaborate that the grants he’d secured so far were much too small to do the research needed. If she had come across those documents, she would have already figured that out. He gave her one of his practiced smiles. “Kick me if I’m being nosy.”

She didn’t respond for several seconds, then carefully said, “I needed a career change. No. More than that. A life change. My sister Rosie lives here, so we came here.”

“Ah.”

“Ah?” She turned face him.

“Everyone sometimes does,” he said with a nod. “Needs a change that is. After a divorce—”

“I’m not divorced.”

“After being fired.” His smile stayed firmly in place. He knew he was prying, and he wondered how long it would be before she told him to back off.

“I wasn’t fired. The university even offered me a bigger lab as an inducement to stay.”

That didn’t surprise him. She had a slew of papers that made his own publishing record look meager. “After rescuing your kid from drugs.”

“Annmarie is only five-years old, for pity’s sake,” she responded. The corners of her eyes crinkled as though she couldn’t decide whether to laugh at him or to be mad at him. “Okay, yes, wanting a good place for her to grow up was part of it. But I’m not so idealistic as to think children in small towns don’t have their problems. I grew up in a small town—”

“Where?”

“Petersburg.”

“Alaska? You’re not a California girl?” From her blond hair, casually secured in some kind of big clip at the back of her head, to the honey tan of her skin, she conjured images of the old Beach Boys’ song about California girls.

Lily shook her head with a chuckle. “Not me, though I lived there for the last ten years.”

“Which explains why you’re cold.” The long red sweater belted around her waist hadn’t kept her from shivering, even while they walked up the slope.

She shivered again, glancing back toward the beach where the children were tagging along behind them. “It’s a nice day.”

Without hesitation, he took off his vest and draped it over her shoulders. She stopped walking and turned around to face him. Since she was higher on the slope, they were eye to eye, and he realized she was petite, her bone structure fine.

A question formed in her eyes. “Are you always this—”

“Inquisitive? Pushy? Nosy?” he finished.

She shook her head, her gaze deeply searching his eyes as though she saw a hero. For an instant he wished he were.

She simply watched him with those dark brown eyes that were unusual in a complexion as fair as hers. He’d been around enough women to recognize the spark of interest in her expression, which was totally at odds with her body language.