Page 68 of Winning Back His Wife
At this point he had nothing to lose except...everything.
* * *
Sitting at her desk at MBVI, Sarah studied the seismographic signals. Around her, the atmosphere crackled with energy, phones rang at an almost frenetic rate and people carried equipment out of the building in order to set up additional monitoring stations a safe distance away from the volcano.
Seismic activity from inside Mount Baker’s crater had quadrupled in frequency since yesterday’s steam blast. Whatever was going on could fizzle out, but until that happened she had work to do. Anticipation over the possibilities ahead buzzed through her, but something kept her feet firmly planted on the ground.
Not something. Someone. Cullen.
She leaned back in her chair, not wanting thoughts of him to swamp her.
The new and exciting seismic signals should be her only concern, but Sarah kept thinking about Hood Hamlet. She missed the town, the people, Cullen. She’d left with so many unknowns.
Had he and the rest of the rescue team made it off the mountain safely? Had he arrived home, read her note? Did he hate her?
Sarah rubbed her tired eyes, then refocused on the data.
Tucker placed a steaming cup of coffee and a chocolate bar on the left side of her desk. “You’ve been working hard.”
The candy reminded her of the chocolate-tasting with Cullen, of his hot kiss. He would never be kissing her again. A knife twisted inside her.
Maybe caffeine would help her concentrate. She took a sip of coffee. “That’s why you hired me.”
“I hired you because you’re qualified and smart.” Tucker sat on the right edge of her desk. Her boss was in his late thirties, wore jeans and a T-shirt. He looked more like a rugged cowboy than a nerdy, calculator-toting scientist. “You’re also still recovering. Don’t overdo it.”
“There’s lots of data to review.”
“And more coming,” he admitted. “But you don’t have to get through it all right now. Think of it as job security.”
She looked up at him. “My funding runs out soon.”
“I always have an ace or two up my sleeve. And I have a feeling I’m going to need you around.” Tucker had built MBVI from the ground up with lots of sweat and begging and a generous donation from a mysterious anonymous benefactor. He glanced in the direction of Mount Baker. “I’m just relieved you’re back. I half expected to receive a call from the Cascades Volcano Observatory asking for a reference so they could hire you.”
She flinched. “Why would you think that?”
“Cullen. He was very worried about you at the hospital.”
Memories stirred beneath her breastbone. Of him, of her, of them. No, she couldn’t go there. “He’s a doctor. Concerned is his middle name.”
“He was more than concerned.”
How would Tucker know anything about that? “It doesn’t matter. The divorce petition has been filed. I’m not challenging anything. It’s over.”
“I’m sorry for both of you, but that’s one less thing to take you away from here.” Tucker stood. “You have one more hour to work. Then go home and sleep.”
Her muscles tightened. Steam was still rising from the crater. “I’ll sleep when Baker sleeps.”
“Now that you’re back, I can’t afford to lose you.”
Her boss’s words made Sarah straighten, but they didn’t fill the emptiness inside her. Once she’d found total fulfillment in her work. Now she realized she’d been masking the loneliness, the hurt, the ache left by the failure of her marriage. The loss of Cullen.
“We have to figure out when something else might happen up there,” Tucker continued. “You need to be in top form. Rested. Ready for anything. Got it?”
Sarah knew that tone. No worries. She could work remotely from home. “Got it.”
“And no working from home, either.”
Darn. “Yes, sir.”
She returned to the data. Thirty minutes later her forehead throbbed. Eyestrain, tiredness or...a broken heart? Most likely a combination of all three. She massaged her temples.
Maybe Tucker was right about going home. She closed her laptop and slid it into her bag. She said goodbye to her coworkers, then exited the institute.
Outside, she glanced up at Mount Baker. The plume of steam contrasted against the blue sky. A gray, overcast day would have matched her mood and the volcano’s much better.
“Sarah.”
The sound of Cullen’s voice sent chills through her. She turned. He leaned against the building. The sight of him in a pair of faded jeans and short-sleeved T-shirt made her mouth go dry. She had to be way more tired than she realized if she was imagining him here.
