Ninety Degrees Out
Chapter Eleven

Looking at the list of emails, four of them had urgent markers. Alicia figured she’d deal with those and leave the rest for the morning.

The first one was from her mother, and she reassured her she was fine. New Mexico was four time zones away now, and the world time organization was in chaos. Trying to figure out when in the day your sunrise and sunset were, was one of the topics her team was discussing. She wasn’t even sure how far from the equator they were now. Definitely close enough to have next to no shadow when the sun was at its zenith.

Finished with her urgent communications, she took a moment to go over her planned research and began making notes on what she needed to observe with their new reality. Would the big white bears of the north survive in the heat? And what about the cold-water seals and walruses? The cetaceans would probably have some confusion as the magnetic fields changed, but their ability to send the voices for long distances under water would give them an edge at avoiding the worst of the consequences.

Her big concern, the big bears. Especially the polar bears with their dependence on the ice for a way to hunt for food. Would they adapt to land hunting, and fishing the way the Kodiak, did it? Would they interbreed with the Kodiaks? They might be one of the many casualties of this shift.

She needed to get Jett in on her team. Her brother with his camera and video equipment were exactly what she needed. She was going to need recording sites on the wilderness trails. Another necessity, a bush pilot to get out onto the remote islands that used to be north of Alaska and were now west along the equator.

She fired off an email to her brother asking about his schedule and if he had anything else in the works and then locked her laptop. Closing the lid, she eased herself up to her feet, carefully keeping her head steady as she did so. Not bad, the painkillers had done their job.

Treading carefully, she walked down the hall to Arimina’s room and eased the door open. Smiling she noticed Jazz’s eyes glowing as he lifted his head. The dog was alert even though he was stretched from the foot of the bed almost to the pillow where her daughter’s curly head rested. She was on her stomach with one arm over the Malawolf’s neck, her fingers buried in his ruff.

She tip toed over to put the sheet back over Arimina’s bare legs, and gave Jazz a quick pat, scratching behind his ears. She was rewarded with a quick swipe of his tongue, before he laid his head down and closed his blue eyes.

There was no way anyone was going to get into that room and hurt her daughter. The wolf cross was on guard. She stopped in the bathroom and pulled a brush through her own curls and brushed her teeth. It was good to get rid of the fuzzy feeling in her mouth. She grabbed the sheer robe off the hook on the back of the door, slipping it over her shoulders and tying the belt below her breasts.

Touching the back of her head, the bruise was much better, and she made her way down to the kitchen. As she approached the island her stomach let out a loud rumble. The soup smelled amazing.

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Chay heard the growl of Alicia’s hunger pangs as she came through from the hallway.

“Sit, I’m just serving up. I’m pretty hungry too.” He ladled chicken gumbo into two large bowls and put them on the granite island top.

“That smells delicious. Thank you for taking care of us.” Alicia took the spoon he handed her.

“It has been a pleasure. I have to admit I’m falling in love with your daughter. She’s a champ.”

“I wouldn’t trade her for the world. She’s the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

“I’m curious, and stop me if I overstep, what happened to her father?”

“That’s a bit of a story,” Alicia replied between bites of the multigrain roll she buttered.

“Tell me about it.”

“Arimina’s father is the Dean of Sciences at the University of New Mexico. And she was conceived on a one-night stand. I was tipsy on champagne, and the department was celebrating their youngest Ph.D. graduate in the history of the department.”

“Wait a minute, I remember hearing something about that. You were the one? Not even twenty-five and a double Ph.D. at that. You defended two different completed dissertations on the same day to be presented with your degree.”

“I still don’t see what was so special about it. The two of them fit together so well. Animal behavior and evolutionary theory go together like tea and honey.”

“So why the mistake, not that Arimina is a mistake,” Chay prodded.

“Like I said, the Dean had been my mentor since I first started university. I was only fourteen at the time, and I did double degrees the whole way through. My master’s was a triple. What can I say? I love to learn and the sciences, especially zoology, are my passion. I’d just come off a bad break up and one thing led to another, and he reminded me that I was an attractive woman. Both of us had been drinking, and we should have known better, but it happened, and it was good for my psyche.”

“Except you got a bonus,” Chay commented wryly.

“I would say so!” Alicia agreed. “Once I got over the shock, and the oh my God what am I going to do part of it, and I told the Dean the consequences of our little fling, it was fine. We agreed to keep his name out of it unless Ari needs something due to health reasons. She knows her daddy loves her, and he does send me a generous monthly child maintenance allowance. He is married, and although his wife forgave him, the university board probably wouldn’t.

“I moved to the desert to study the peccaries, which are an interesting species, and my parents and brother have been there for me ever since. They’re kind of peeved with me for moving up here, because they all miss Ari so much.”

“Wow.” Chay realized she was more intelligent than he first thought. Brains and a body that gave him glimpses of heaven through the shear fuchsia robe she wore. Dark gold skin, muscles and a neat waist, show cased in a skimpy set of baby dolls.

He reached across to touch her hand, where she rested it beside the empty soup bowl, and she turned it up, so her fingers curled and interlocked with his. Her other hand clasped over the back of his and she squeezed hard. He could feel her tremble.

“I’ve never been this up front about Arimina with anyone. It’s always MYOB when someone asks about her. What is it about you?” Alicia’s voice was husky with her question.