"Fine," I answered. Yes, limited details were best. My murky academic life at present was not my favorite subject, anyway. I stared out the window at the soft morning scenery flying by as Tyler drove us to the campground.
"How's our thesis?" Henry smiled, teasing me by using the pronoun "our."
But instead of being amused, more of that repressed bitterness that had resurfaced the night before flicked the back of my neck. How could Henry have just left me high and dry like that? For all he knew, my professor hated the whole thing and I was flunking out.
"Fine," I repeated.
"What did Masen say about the new theory in part five?"
I gazed out my window. "He hasn't seen it yet."
"Why?"
"I haven't turned it in."
I heard him shift in his seat, rotating toward me. "Why not?"
"Because I don't think it's ready. In fact, I might want to scrap it and start over." This wasn't at all true, but I felt like lashing out.
"That's irrational." His expression was stern, and I could suddenly see the future Henry arguing a case in a courtroom, throwing out objection after objection. How annoying. Today he was dressed in dark jeans, a white crewneck T-shirt, and a dark gray wool sweater that both zipped and buttoned up the front. Kind of overkill.
He leaned on the cooler separating us. "You do realize that's going to put you a year behind? Don't you think you should … "
The act of folding my arms silenced him, my non-verbal communication screaming at him to butt out.
"Sorry," he said, raising one hand to shield his face. "I'll spare you all unwarranted guidance."
"Thank you, Counselor for the Prosecution."
"I just don't want you to waste your time," he said, choosing not to let the subject drop.
"Waste my time?" I echoed. "Is that what you think I'm doing?" I sat back, reeling in my frustration. It probably wasn't fair to erupt like that. After all, he had no idea how badly I was stressing about school.
"Sorry, that was rude," I said and leaned my head against the seat. "I'm turning it in to Masen soon. Though it still needs a lot of work." I exhaled a wistful sigh. "I wish I could take a semester off to get it done. That would be pretty amazing, actually."
Henry nodded and turned to the window. "Interesting."
"What about you?" I asked. "Are you going to clue me in about why you moved?"
He seemed confused, as if my question caught him off guard. Did he think I hadn't noticed that he was suddenly gone?
"It was short notice," he said while running a finger along the rubber at the base of the window. "The opportunity had always been there, but it didn't present itself until the end of the year."
I was aware that he was speaking English words, but the cryptic-ness of their meaning was lost on me. "You never told me there was a possibility of you moving."
"No." He dropped his hand and turned to me. "I didn't."
I glanced at the front seat. Mel and Tyler were arguing over control of the stereo. "You took Dart, too," I said, my voice dropping a notch. "And to Switzerland?" I could hear the accusatory tone in my voice.
"I didn't take him," he argued. "An opportunity presented itself for him, as well."
I folded my arms. "That's quite a coincidence."
"And not to Switzerland," he muttered like it was the most ridiculous thing in the world.
"Then why is that what Lilah's telling everybody?"
"I have no idea," he said. "I haven't spoken to her in months. I was there for a few days over the break, but-"
"In Switzerland," I confirmed, giving him flat eyes.
He nodded but did not elaborate. "I'm living across the Bay now. Oakland."
"In a castle?" I asked, again with the flat eyes.
"No, it's a HUD apartment." He adjusted his glasses. "Furthest thing from a castle." Before I could ask what the devil he was doing living in the projects, he explained. "We bought a complex that was about to foreclose. Dart and me. Two hundred families would be displaced if we didn't take care of some major renovation. It was easier just to move in for a while."
"You"-I couldn't help saying, deadpan-"are living in public housing and doing construction."
"Well, Dart did most of it, since he has more time on his hands and needed a project."
My mind couldn't frame the picture, so I rewound, snagging on something he'd said. "Dart's been at school all this time, too?"
"No," Henry said, looking out the window. "He left California a few weeks ago."
"Why?"
"Another project," he said vaguely.
"Where?"
Henry flicked a piece of fuzz off his jeans, then his gaze rolled back out the window. "Uninteresting topic," he said.
I groaned loudly, wanting him to hear it. It felt like pre-Thanksgiving all over again. One step forward, two steps back. Still, I couldn't keep my eyes from drifting over to his side of the car. His face was emotionless. Giving nothing away. Typical Knightly.
"So," he said a moment later, "are you seeing anyone?"
"Ha!" My eyebrows were probably somewhere up in my hairline.
"What?"
"You can ask personal questions but I can't?"
He raised a tiny smile.
"No," I said. "Nothing new or exciting to report there. And yourself?"
"Much too busy."
And that was that.
Not even my loyalty to Julia or my own morbid curiosity could compel me to keep chipping away at the proverbial man of marble. In front of us, Mel and Tyler were discussing, rather loudly, whether to listen to talk radio or music. I leaned back and shut my eyes. Their conversation was more entertaining than ours.
We arrived around ten in the morning. Our overnight spot was beautiful. To the east lay foothills, the gateway to the Cascades, with the Columbia River cutting a pass through the mountains like a blue-green snake. Beacon Rock, the core of an ancient volcano, was quite a sight, parked on the banks of the river, sporadic pines peppering its otherwise bald head.
Once outside the car, I took a deep breath and spun in a slow circle. Surrounding us on all sides were green and fragrant Douglas firs, pines, and maples. Spongy ferns filled in the lower landscape, dotted with blood red rhododendrons and a rainbow of spring wild flowers. The wind blew through the tops of the trees, and its accompanying harmony was the chatter of geese, the flutter of hummingbirds and a woodpecker hammering away on a tree above. Somewhere out there, I could hear the rippling of the Columbia ribboning its way between the trees.
Closing my eyes for a moment, I allowed a tranquil smile to spread across my face. When I stopped my spin and opened my eyes, Henry was watching me, a tent pole in one hand.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Reminds me of home," I explained. "I'm from Oregon."
"I know that." He gave me a sideways look and walked off. Jeesh, what was his problem?
I turned back toward the eastern horizon. Last year, I'd read an article about this very spot of forest. Pictures from several decades earlier depicted an enormous bare patch from clearcutting. I'd been furious at the time, but as I stood there, gazing up at that same spot in person, I would've never known any logging had taken place all those years ago. The forest was completely grown in with tall, healthy trees as far as the eye could see. Sure, Henry had preached to me about new growth afforesting, but I'd never seen its results.
To my personal vexation, it was surprisingly impressive.
I left the dusty white Durango and wandered toward the campground. The guys were setting up the tent. Henry was down on his knees, jacket off, pounding tent pegs in the ground with a mallet. No directions were used, and in a matter of minutes, the tall orange structure was assembled.
Staring up at the finished product, something occurred to me. "Uh, Mel?" I muttered, as I handed her a sleeping bag from the back of the Durango. "I realize it's very roomy, but there's only one tent."
When she grinned, I cringed. Of course this was part of her plan.
Sensing my alarm, she relaxed her devilish smile. "Don't worry," she said in a sotta voce whisper, as we dragged a heavy cooler toward the center of camp. "There will be no hanky panky inside the tent." She nodded toward the guys. "Tyler knows that."
"Good, thanks," I said, letting go of my held breath.
"What goes on outside the tent … " She lifted one eyebrow. "Just don't try to find us if we wander off the trail for a while."