Janie continued on to the faculty offices. Patricia wasn’t in her office, which was very unusual. It was also too bad because Janie figured, next to Rafe, Patricia was the only one who she could share her ideas and fears with.
Suddenly the hamburger, fries and chocolate shake didn’t seem such a good idea.
With no outlet, Janie decided to focus on her duties. She spent her night helping students develop different hues out of just twenty colors. The professor, Estelle Wagner, was a new hire who kept a tight grip on the class and hadn’t been too willing to share responsibilities so far. Janie ended the evening covered mostly in green and red and very glad that this class didn’t require art books.
When class ended, Janie found Rafe leaning against the wall across from the art room, just as he’d promised. He was watching students leave, studying them, possibly searching for one of the students she’d identified as Derek’s acquaintances.
Not in this particular class. Which just showed how much of a loner he was, as most of the students knew each other and considered the class more of a social venue.
A couple of the students recognized Rafe. One or two asked him about Brittney. Most just seemed impressed that they were meeting him. Janie hadn’t realized just how prominent a figure he was. Rafe shook their hands whether they agreed with his politics or not.
“Class go all right?” he asked when the last student exited the main door.
“Yes. I was a little jumpy, but I don’t think they noticed.”
“Smart people get jumpy. Foolish people get lax.”
He walked her to her car, bent down to check under it and then waited while she unlocked it. “I’ll be behind you. And, yes, that means you should go the speed limit.”
Now she was certain he’d looked up her record. Aware that he was watching her every move, she settled behind the wheel, strapped her seat belt, and wished again that she’d agreed to just let him drive. Even with him behind her, she felt alone, traveling in a darkness that had nothing to do with how late in the evening it was.
Finally, she pulled in front of her cottage and exited her car. It took him just a few minutes to open her door, check inside, and wait for her while she gathered what she’d need to stay in the main house with Katie and Luke.
But even after he’d left her in Katie’s capable hands, something of him lingered, some remnant of his strong personality that refused to be ignored.
She wished she were that strong.
Maybe then she’d have gotten some sleep that night. In the morning, when Yolanda Sanchez, the college student who kept everything running at Katie and Luke’s house, knocked on the door, Janie was still counting sheep.
To be exact, Janie had counted one thousand, two hundred and fifty-six sheep in her head between the hours of eleven and seven. That made two nights without sleep.
Sluggish, Janie changed into her khaki shorts and royal-blue BAA shirt and frowned at the mirror. Even after a shower, her hair was thin and lank. Her skin, normally flush, was pale and splotchy. She felt thirteen again, with pimples and a self-image the size of a postage stamp. Yup, she’d be scaring the customers today. Too bad, Fridays were fairly busy.
Breakfast wasn’t even a possibility, so she made her way to the barn. As a rule, she didn’t work very closely with animals, but the few that were here at the house were cared for by all. Luckily, Yoda, the hybrid wolf dog, had taken a shine to her.