“What can I say? Nobody in casting remembered seeing me in Hollywood either. Maybe it’s why I teach.” He took the book back, brought out two more items, a glass pipe and a metal tin. “Now, I know you have to run, but you mentioned a penchant for the forbidden plant. I was gonna smoke a bowl before I went to the Monster. Care to join me?”

He unscrewed the tin’s lid, and the smell of dank pot wafted her way. “Sounds like a good way to burn a pizza.”

“Oh no,” he said, pinching a bud from the tin. “It’s a gentle sativa, mellow, but not mind-numbing. I’ve performed Hamlet on this strain.”

Again, she thought about her upcoming visit to the old mill. For the first time since she’d been in Bloomington, she wasn’t worried about walking the spot sober. “No thanks, I’d better get going.”

She dug for the rental car’s key fob in her pocket, started walking.

“Are you sure,” he asked, trailing behind her. “It’s really good stuff.”

“I’ve got a lot of work to do.” Still fifty feet away, she hit the fob, unlocked the car with a beep. “That’s my ride.”

He sped up and stepped in front of her, planting his body between her and the car. “I’m super-bummed. What are the odds I’ll ever get a chance to chat with an award-winning author at my own house?”

His mouth offered a perfect toothpaste-commercial smile, but his eyes gave off something else, something dark and intense. For the briefest of seconds, Caitlin was reminded of Troy Woods. Although way under Woods’s towering six and a half feet, Branford still had a few inches on her. Caitlin moved her tongue against her cheek, her mouth suddenly dry.

“Gotta go, Chad,” she said, not challenging, but firm.

His eyes opened wide, and the dark intensity she’d seen disappeared. “Of course. Sorry if that sounded creepy.” He moved aside. “It was really great sharing a moment with you, Caitlin.”

“You too,” she said, continuing her walk to the car.

Woods is on your mind. Of course he is, but Branford’s just a teacher.

Her tension dissipated with each step.

Lakshmi’s favorite teacher, she reminded herself, and a fan of your writing. Who could blame him for wanting to get to know you?

Now only ten feet from the car, Caitlin smiled, remembering Lakshmi sitting at the signing. The girl had waited politely for her turn to talk about a body buried in a field; a safe, noninvasive distance away, maybe twenty feet at the most. About the distance Branford was behind her now, standing back near the patio chair.

Caitlin’s smile disappeared.

But if Branford had a copy signed, how the hell did Lakshmi not see her favorite teacher at the table?