Picnic in Someday Valley (Honey Creek #2)(82)
Dinner on Primrose Hill
The next Honey Creek novel from New York Times
bestselling author Jodi Thomas
On sale in the spring of 2021
When unlikely friends come together in Clifton Bend,
a small college town outside of Honey Creek, Texas,
they embark on a project that will change the direction of their
lives and make them believe in love all over again.
Read on for a special preview . . .
Chapter 1
“Dr. Monroe?” A nervous, high-pitched voice shook Harrison from his self-absorption. “May I speak to you about something? It’s important.”
Only a head poked through the lecture room door but he had no doubt who it was. Red hair, glasses too big for her face, and huge blue eyes.
Harrison plowed his long fingers through his unruly brown hair. If teachers were allowed a nemesis, Miss Clark, the biology instructor, would be his.
He thought of saying, “No, you can’t speak to me,” but that would be unprofessional.
Miss Virginia Clark was bubbly on a down day. Her voice was too high, her manner of dress in no way appropriate, and her legs were too short. On a good day she was exuberant and mistakenly thought they were not only colleagues, but friends.
Harrison Monroe had always hated bubbly people; they made him nervous. But she taught two doors down in the biology lab and officed next to him. Some days he swore he could hear her laughing or running around her tiny office like a squirrel in a box.
Right now she was charging toward his podium like Grant taking Richmond. Too late to say no or run, so he just watched.
Another observation he noticed, professors should never bounce.
Miss Clark bounced. She was a bit on the chubby side, a head shorter than him, and the white lab coat did not conceal her curves. Her corkscrew hair seemed to be dancing to hard rock, and her breasts.... Well, never mind those. Unprofessional, he thought as he watched her coming down the steps row by row, breasts moving to their own beat.
“I need your help, Dr. Monroe.” She stopped one foot too close to him but he fought down the urge to step back.
“Of course, Miss Clark, I’m at your service,” he offered. Maybe she needed a ride or she may have locked herself out of her office, again. Harrison told himself he had time to be kind. After all, they were colleagues. “I’d be happy to help in any way I can.”
“Good. I was afraid you’d say no. It’s a great opportunity and we can split the work and the money.”
Harrison raised an eyebrow. “What work?”
“The research paper entry for the Westwin Research Journal. The winner’s findings will be published in the journal as well as winning the ten thousand dollar prize.” She smiled. “Just think—we’ll be famous. Last year’s subject was “How Aging Relates to Location.” The winner was interviewed on the Today Show. He also went on to write articles for popular magazines and be the keynote speaker at several big conferences.”
She was bouncing again. This time with excitement. “I might finally get to go to New York City. I’ve always dreamed of seeing plays and walking through Central Park. They say you can hear the heartbeat of the whole world in the streets of New York.”
Harrison fell into her dream for a second. “If I had the money, I’d go to Paris and see Marie Curie’s office and lab. I’ve read every book about her dedication, her work, her life. Imagine walking the streets she walked.”
Miss Clark frowned at him as if measuring his sanity, then shrugged. “We could split the research and the writing. I’ve already got the college president’s approval for a survey. All we have to do is the work in the next month and we’ve got spring break to kick off our start with a bang.”
He nodded slowly, not willing to jump in, but willing to listen. “What is our topic of research?”
She blushed. “Redefining Sexual Attractions in Today’s World.”
Harrison straightened slightly.
She giggled. “We could call it, ‘the Chemistry of Mating.’ ”
He swallowed hard as she turned and bounced out of the room.
“What have I agreed to?” he whispered to the empty room.