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Chapter 85
"I can't believe you're still here," John said.
"I find it a little difficult to believe, myself," Heather said, reaching for her wineglass. "There's not been much of anything happening."
Their dinner was in the dining room of the Spearfish Lake Inn. Heather wore her swimsuit under her clothes; after dinner, John had arranged for them to use the hot tub. It would be something different to do.
For more than two months, Heather had been having dinner with John, on the average of once a week. He had difficulty getting away more often than that, for in addition to overseeing the preparations for the haunted house with the SADD kids, he coached girl's
basketball, a fall sport in Spearfish Lake. It had gotten so dull for Heather that she had even gone to some of the home games, although she wasn't any kind of a sports fan.
"How was the trip to Minneapolis?" John asked.
"A little more productive than the last time," Heather reported. "Right at the moment, it doesn't look like it's going to go to court. All they'd tell me is that they're `making progress' in negotiations with the EPA, but they won't tell me what's going on. Me, I think
somebody's stalling."
"Probably," John said. "As far as I know, the EPA hasn't modified their deadline to the city any, so that still stands. I talked to Ryan Clark the other day, and the city is still hanging. They're going to have to jump soon, but they don't have any idea of what way to jump."
"If only we knew there were more snakes," Heather said, "This would be easy."
"Well, you're not going to find them now," John replied. "They're holed up for the winter."
"I keep looking in the sewers," Heather replied. "The one last spring was active outside the normal season, so maybe there's a chance they'll be there. Beyond that, I don't know what to do." She shook her head. "I really appreciate your asking me out to dinner, John,"
she said. "It gives me something to look forward to."
"Thanks," he said. "I appreciate that." He hadn't given up hope of action with Heather, but there was something about her that didn't make it an imperative, either. There was something of a kindred spirit he sensed about her, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what
it was. If it eventually came down to a one-night stand, it came down to that. If it didn't, it didn't, and he found himself amazed at being so philosophical about it. "I look forward to these dinners, too," he added. "Have you had any nibbles on your whale project?"
Over the course of the weeks, he had slowly drawn a lot of history out of Heather. She had told him about the demonstrations at Old Brook, and although she didn't mention the exact nature of her pivotal role, he'd had the impression that she'd been right up to her ears
in organizing the protest. She'd told him other things that she'd been involved in over the years, and had told him of her idea to put pressure on the Japanese over their whaling fleet.
"Not really," she said. "A number of people have said that it's a good idea, but it's going to take a big organization with a lot of clout to put together a boycott that's effective enough to make the Japanese hurt a little. It's not something that can be started from scratch."
"Well, I hope it works out for you," John said. "Although, I'll be sorry to see you go."
"I won't be sorry to leave," Heather said. "Except for these dinner with you. I suppose I'm being morbid, but it bothers me to see the trees bare, with the leaves all gone. It means winter is on the way, and I'm not really a winter person. I guess that's why I've put up
with living in Los Angeles all these years."
"Winter is something you have to endure," John said. "I'm not really thrilled with it, myself, but you know how it is when you've got tenure. It makes it hard to leave. I keep thinking that I've got my mininum requirement in for retirement, the end of the semester, and
maybe I'll just chuck it myself, and go find something else to do, someplace where it's warm. Now that my daughter is married, there isn't much keeping me here any more."
"I still refuse to believe that you're old enough to have a married daughter," Heather said. "You can't be that much older than I am."
"I got started early," he laughed. "I was still in college, and I guess I was a bit crazy. I get the requirements for retirement in, although I can't draw on it for a good many years, yet. There's still time for me to do something else with my life. Maybe I should look for
something with some environmental organization."
"There's not a lot out there, right now," Heather said. "At least, that's what I'm finding."
"Well, it's just a dream," John said. "I'll probably teach here for another twenty years, and die when I don't have a classroom in the fall."
"That's no way to talk. That's just slow suicide."
"You're right," he said. "Let's try to find a happy subject. Speaking of which, how'd you like to go to a party next weekend?"
"What kind of party?"
"A Halloween party," John said. "A big one, out at West Turtle Lake. It's an invitation only thing, but I get tickets from a guy whose daughter was on the team the year we won the state championship."
"This is costumes, and the whole bit?"
"Costumes, and the whole bit. This is one of the big things in Spearfish Lake, the last few years. It probably would be good for people to see you with your hair down, so to speak."
"It sounds like fun," Heather said. "I don't know what I'd do for a costume, but it does sound like fun."
"Some people put a lot of work into costumes for this," John said, "But you wouldn't be expected to."
"Come on, help me out on this," she said. "I haven't been to a costume party since grade school."
"You want to get away from the reality of who you are. Something that you probably would never be close to in real life." He smiled. "I do have one idea, and it would probably be pretty easy to do, but I don't want you to think that I'm being sexist when I tell you what
it is."
"I won't," she smiled. "I'm open to suggestions."
"You probably won't like it, but think it through."
"Come on, what is it?"
He told her. A frown crossed her face when she first heard the idea, but in a few seconds, it took hold. "That would work," she said. "It'd take a little time to make the skirt, but I've got nothing but time on my hands right now."
"Actually, I think we could go down to Camden and buy what you need," he said. "There's a couple of other things that go with it that you could get there. I could take you Saturday."
"Let's do it," she said. "I could stand to get out of town for a day, and that'll give me something to look forward to."
