3. Abbot #2
Blindingly, Abbot lets the idea of their ski weekend fade away, replaced by Abbot in Steve’s office, teaching Steve’s courses, bumping into Ned in the hallways like they used to here.
Sharing students and colleagues, sitting together at faculty meetings, meeting for lunch every day.
He squeezes Ned’s hand. Is he thinking the same thing? Imagining that same perfect picture?
“I won’t spread the news, as long as you know you’re still pitching every game this spring,” Ned says.
“I promise,” Steve says. “And yes, that’s the long and short of it.
My wife was offered a job up here—she’s at Adams too, actually—and she’s in the middle of negotiations.
So here I am, and really, thank you. I know a spousal hire isn’t what you all were expecting, but I’m excited about the idea of joining all of you. ”
“Our dean, my lovely wife, as you all know, wants to move this forward quickly,” Chris says. “So I invited Steve up. Instead of trying to schedule a traditional job talk, we’re doing this meet and greet right now. Oh, and Steve, before I forget, take a copy of this book too!”
“Run,” Lee whispers.
“What was that?” Steve asks.
“Nothing,” she says quickly.
Abbot grips Ned’s hand. He and Ned could work together.
Soon, too. This could be Abbot’s last semester here at Callahan.
He could sell his house and move and be in Boston by the end of this spring.
No more two-hour drives between them, no mess of traffic and weather keeping them apart.
Abbot can be closer to him and to Peggy, and to family dinners and the warmth of the time he gets to spend with them.
Perfect, he thinks, and the word echoes through him over and over. Perfect, perfect.
“You all get to know Steve a bit.” Chris taps his phone, then catches Abbot’s eye. “Henry? Can I borrow you a minute? Ned, you come too, of course. I’ll be right back, folks.”
“They get to leave?” Aliyah asks.
Abbot stands, but casts a look at Steve. He wants to pepper him with questions. When will Adams be hiring? Is the job already listed? Should Abbot have been looking before now, and has he missed an opportunity he didn’t even know to hope for?
No, if Steve is still negotiating a new position at Callahan, Abbot has time. He likely hasn’t even informed Adams yet, hence not wanting Ned to know he’s here. So there’s a chance. A real, actual possibility of working once more in the same department as Ned.
“Just a quick minute,” Chris says in the hallway, leading them toward his office. “Ned, I have to say, what a surprise to see you up here!”
“Jen last-minute wanted Peggy tonight,” Ned says. He rubs his thumb over the back of Abbot’s hand. “So hi.”
Chris is smiling back and forth between them, clearly pleased.
It’s been an entire month. Abbot ignores Chris, leans in, and meets Ned in a quick kiss.
“Hello,” Abbot says softly when he draws back. It’s so much less than what he wants. But Ned is here, and he’s clearly come up to spend the night together, and a happy shiver runs through him.
He really loves me, he thinks now like he has again and again since last fall, caught surprised once more. Ned loves him, and he drove up here to see Abbot two days early, and Abbot can’t help his smile.
Cold air whips down the hall. Abbot reluctantly moves back from Ned as the building’s main door opens and someone comes in.
Chris waves to them. “Here we are. You found us alright? Into my office. It’s warmer in there.”
But Abbot stands still in the hallway.
Shoulder-length gray hair, falling in stylish waves above the collar of a double-breasted coat belted at the waist. A smile aimed at him, and the enveloping scent of too-familiar perfume as he’s pulled into a hug he doesn’t want.
“I swear, every time I see you, I expect you to be ten years old all over again,” Beverly says when she finally lets him go.
Abbot wants to wipe his nose free of the scent. To pull away, to find the stairs and put a floor between them, plus the closed door of his office.
No, she’d follow him there. Smile as she looked around, comment on the picture of Liesl—So grown up! she’d say—and exclaim over the books on his shelves, reading the titles with friendly curiosity.
Ned squeezes his hand. Abbot pretends to not see the question on his face as Ned draws him into Chris’s office.
“That’s better,” Chris says, rubbing his hands together like he’s the one fighting a chill. “I have one thing to wrap up, Bev, and then we can go.”
“No rush,” she says. “I’m happy to get to see you for a minute, Henry. How are you?”
“And you know Ned, right?” Chris asks.
Abbot should step aside. Make room for Ned to move toward Beverly’s smile. Introduce them, but he’s rooted to the floor.
“This is Ned?” Beverly asks. “Really? What a treat, I had no idea I’d get to meet you tonight. I’ve heard so much.”
“A surprise for us all,” Chris says. “Ned, this is Bev, old friend of the family.”
“So nice to meet you,” Ned says.
Abbot feels the press of Ned’s fingers on the small of his back when she releases his hand. It’s steadying. Grounding. Abbot manages a breath.
But then her smile turns to him once more, and she takes a step closer, and that scent. “I just got to see Liesl,” Beverly says. “I had a quick evening to stop in with her and your father, on my way back to Boston.”
Back to Boston? Since when is she in Boston? She’s supposed to be safely ensconced in Atlanta, nowhere near the Northeast. Like a bee he knows is in the room, one he can keep an eye on from a distance, always maintaining that span of miles between them.
“What a treat to fly through Geneva,” she goes on. “Liesl is such a little grownup. I only missed you by a day, but I figured I’d see you up here anyway.”
“Bev had a conference in Zürich,” Chris says as if Abbot is listening, as if he cares.
Abbot wants to leave. To be gone already. To ride the high of Ned coming to visit him, of an opportunity at Adams, of being able to rush out of here before this conversation with Beverly goes any longer than he’s already endured.
“Your old stomping grounds,” Beverly says.
“I bet that’s beautiful this time of year,” Ned says quickly, his hand resting more firmly on Abbot’s back. “And Liesl is taller every time I see her.”
“Thirteen going on twenty-three, I’d say.” Beverly laughs and reaches into her purse. “Henry, I’m glad I ran into you. Your father gave me this for you. Said you forgot it.”
He hadn’t forgotten the envelope she holds out. He’d left it behind. Stuffed it in the drawer of his desk in his father’s house and specifically flew home without it.
“And that’s not all Beverly has,” Chris says.
It’s enough. Too much. She holds it in midair, and Abbot stares down at the plain white paper, the way the contents bulge slightly.
“Henry?” Chris asks.
Abbot doesn’t move to take it. He doesn’t want it. Wasn’t that clear when he left it behind? When he never opened it?
Ned takes it from her, breaking the stretching silence as he tucks it into his jacket pocket. “So nice of you to bring it. Thank you.”
“Of course, no trouble at all. I was already coming up to see Chris and Susan,” she says. “And, well. Henry, catching you now is so much better than a phone call. Or do you want to do the honors, Chris?”
“No, no, I couldn’t possibly,” Chris says. “Oh fine, I will. Henry, Bev has a wonderful surprise for you.”
Abbot tries to take another step back, but Ned is there. Beverly has never brought good news. Your mom’s not feeling well, she’d said, smoothing his hair back as he tried to twitch away.
Abbot doesn’t want whatever’s coming. He wants to stuff Beverly back in his past where she belongs and keep her there, rather than face the rise of guilt and grief she brings with her.
“She’s just taken a position at Newbury University,” Chris goes on.
Ned whistles. “Newbury? Congrats. That’s amazing.”
“And not just any position. Dean of Arts and Sciences.”
“Oh, okay, yeah not just any position,” Ned says and laughs. “Really, that’s incredible. You must be thrilled. Newbury, that’s—yeah, that’s a school.”
“Ned’s also down in Boston,” Chris says to her.
“Yes, I’ve heard,” Beverly says. “At Adams, is it?”
“Sure am.” Ned’s hand presses Abbot’s back. “I do have to be properly pedantic as only Bostonians can, and remind you all that Newbury is technically across the river in Cambridge.”
“Steve said ‘wicked’ just now when he came in,” Chris says. “Did you hear that, Henry?”
“True Boston man,” Ned says after a beat of silence.
“Soooo,” Chris says. “I have given Beverly my blessing, Henry.”
“And I heard from your dad how much time you’re spending in Boston these days,” Beverly says.
“She has a position for you,” Chris says. “For the fall.” He’s smiling, and she is too.
Abbot stiffens. He can feel his father’s fingers in this. Is this what he wanted to talk about? All those conversations Abbot dodged while he was at home?
“At Newbury?” Ned asks, his voice rising.
“Yes. In our sociology department,” Beverly says. “I have some retirements coming up, and I talked to the department chair. I have a tenure track opening for you.”
“Newbury,” Ned whispers.
Abbot steps back, but Ned’s hand is there, stilling him. No. Abbot doesn’t want this. He doesn’t want Beverly here, doesn’t want Newbury University if it comes with her, even if it’s closer to Ned.
And he certainly doesn’t want his father involving himself in his life.
Most of all, he doesn’t want the question in Ned’s eyes, the envelope he still holds, and the curiosity on Ned’s face.