I flexed my arm, and opened and closed my hand, trying to force some blood back into my fingers as I reached for my phone; I’d been so intent on my notes I hadn’t moved from my office chair in half an hour or more. My little faculty office was piled high with books and unread papers—I should either get on that, or recycle them into papier-mâché—and my desk was jammed up against the wall. Not that I spent much time here, anyway; when I got home from Cable Bay last night, I dumped my bags and went straight to bed. This morning, I grabbed everything I could and was in my office by seven to work on my presentation to the Heritage Committee.

“Hi Mom. Everything okay?”

“Fine, sweetheart.” There was a pause. “What happened with Cat?”

Uhh. I still really didn’t want to think about this. “You talked to Antoinette, didn’t you?”

“Yes, I did. Family members talk to each other, about other family members. That is a thing which happens in families who love each other.”

“Alright, alright. It—it didn’t work out, that’s all.”

“Are you going to tell me what happened?”

I shook my head, frustrated. “Look, I’ve got this presentation in thirty minutes. This isn’t something I really want to dwell on right now. But, since I know you won’t give up until I do, here’s what happened. The bar belongs to Cat, she found my notes, thought that I’d been deceiving her about the demolition, and now she doesn’t want to know me. Says she wants to forget the whole thing.”

“And had you? Been deceiving her?”

“Yeah. Pretty much. It wasn’t intentional, but I thought it would mean the end of…what we had, and I didn’t want it to end.”

“I see.”

Before she could say anything else, I carried on. “Look, I know what you’re going to say, okay? You keep telling me to make this work, to find a solution. Believe me, Mom, I would have loved to do that.” My voice was harder than I’d wanted it to be, but I was sick and tired of dwelling on this. “Cat was wonderful, she honestly was. I’ve never met anyone like her. But there aren’t any solutions, not any more. I made a mistake; she made a decision. That’s the end of our story.”

“Ryan, I know this is hard.” Her voice was gentle, and I immediately felt guilty. “But when I visit the home, and your father’s having a bad day, do you know what I think about? Do you know what keeps me going? The thought of you having the same experiences, the same joy, that we did.“ Her voice caught. “Even if—sometimes your father doesn’t remember them, that doesn’t mean they didn’t happen. We had so many wonderful times together, so much joy, more than anyone could ever have hoped for.”

“I know, Mom. I’m really glad you did. You and Dad deserved it.”

“So, that’s all I’m going to say, then. That you deserve it too. That I want you to have that kind of joy, and however you find it, your father and I will always love you.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I sighed, my frustration subsiding. “If I could do half of what you guys have done together, I’d be a happy man.”

“You will, sweetheart, you will. Now get out there, and tell those dried-up old men to make with the cash. Did you know John Watson asked me out on a date once, many years ago?”

I snorted. “Did he? I won’t mention that at the committee meeting.”

“No, don’t. Especially since I turned him down for your Dad.”

* * *

“Dr. Sanders?”

I looked up from my notes on the lectern and blinked. “Right. Sorry, I was—sorry.” Reaching for the laser pointer, I indicated a spot on the presentation behind me.

“As you can see here, the original foundations of the building are still completely intact. In fact it’s been preserved in quite a miraculous state, despite heavy use for the better part of a century, up until a few years ago. It’s quite a testament to the quality of the original construction.”

Closest to me on the table, John Watson stroked his graying beard and nodded. “Dr Sanders, you’re right. It certainly is an important construction, and we’re fortunate that you were able to identify it, despite it being outside your original brief. But it does present us with a problem, doesn’t it?”

I nodded. “Yes, I’m afraid it does. May I summarize for the rest of the committee?”

“Please do.”

I explained, hands moving quickly in the air. “During the investigation of the proposed dig site, we’ve discovered that the building on top of the site is itself historically significant. It was originally a clearing-house and trading post, and in fact a lot of artifacts from that period are still present in the building.” Paging back a few slides, I indicated with the pointer again. “You can see here that the frame of the building is completely original; no significant alterations have been made for the last hundred years.”

Stepping away from the lectern, I came and sat at the head of the table. Eight pairs of eyes watched me closely. “So, on the face of it, it would seem like we have a dilemma; either we demolish a significant piece of recent history, or we allow a significant piece of prehistory to deteriorate underneath it. Neither is very appealing, ladies and gentlemen.”

Around the table, heads shook slowly. I smiled. “However, there is a third option, and it’s described in my submissions to the committee, here.” I patted a ring-bound document. “You each have a copy in front of you, and I’d like to ask the committee to adjourn and consider it. I concede that it won’t be cheap, but it will allow us to meet all of our goals in a single project.”

Writing something on a pad in front of him, John inclined his head. “Politically, that would be a win funding-wise. I think we could justify it given what you’ve presented here today.”

Across the table, a lady with a carefully-coiffed bob and a conservatively-cut jacket flicked through the pages in front of her. “Dr. Sanders, surely this would be a very long and drawn-out process. Would you propose to supervise it yourself?”

John shook his head vigorously. “Erica, this wouldn’t be a good use of Dr. Sanders’ time. He’s—how shall I put this—one of the department’s stars? I’m sure he wouldn’t want to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere in Cable Bay for any longer than necessary.”

I smiled. “Thanks, John, that’s very kind of you.” He looked across the table. “To answer your question, Erica, this would be a fascinating job, and under normal circumstances I would be delighted to do it.” I shook my head, a little sadly. “But, given the…circumstances…I think it’s best if someone else takes over from me at this point.”

Even if I can’t have Cat, I can give her what she wanted.