First, a single summer was hardly enough to get settled into this job before the fall semester began; and second, he had help. This office would be orderly and organized within two days and he could get down to work, because as the chair of the largest department on campus he had an executive assistant and a secretarial staff. Of course he also had 19 full-and part-time faculty members, 120 undergraduate majors and 20 graduate students—all of whom he wanted to meet with—six unstaffed courses, and a disaster of a schedule to fix. He went out into the reception area.

“Rob?”

The woman behind the desk had teeth of an unnatural pure white, very small and very sharp.

“I’m covering the desk for him, Dr. Grant.”

She fawned; there was no other word for it. It was distracting, and might even fool a man who hadn’t grown up around southern women like her: a cross between Lucrezia Borgia and the Avon Lady. Bone and blood, with sugar on top.

John meant to smile. He wanted to smile, but the urge to retreat was so strong that the best he could produce was a quiver at the corner of his mouth.

He said, “Call me John.” It was easier than explaining, yet again, why he didn’t like being called “doctor.”

“Oh, I couldn’t.” She raised her hands to ward off the suggestion and then leaned forward to whisper. “Not in the office.”

A battle for another day, then. John said, “Where is Rob?”

“He’s out on an errand. But don’t worry, I’m under strict orders to make sure you get to your meeting in time. I saw Lydia Montgomery leaving just a minute ago. In’t it a pity?”

He could walk away, just extricate himself from the conversation, but this was a test of sorts. He said, “I don’t see any cause for pity. She’s here on a full merit scholarship, her writing samples are stellar, she’s got excellent plans for her education. She’s on her way to England to attend an invitation-only seminar for the summer. I’d say she’s got a bright future ahead of her.”

John looked Patty-Cake directly in the eye, daring her to drag out a coded phrase: and her with such a sweet disposition; or, her mama is a big woman, too; or, in’t it lucky she’s got other gifts.

After an uneasy moment while Patty-Cake sat with a frozen half smile on her face, John said, “I better get myself organized. No calls, please.” He stepped backward. “Thank you, Miss Walker.”

She said, “Dr. Grant, you know everybody around here calls me Patty-Cake. Except Caroline, of course, she calls me Aunt Patty-Cake. You could call me Aunt Patty-Cake if you like, seeing as how we’re going to be related and all? Why—”

“Excuse me.”

She stopped in midsentence and blinked at him.