“Fine, but you need to find some nice boy to have fun with. The last one was so boring.”

Beatrice walked out the door. “I’ll see what I can do,” she called out. “Bye!”

She sped out the door and down the steps of the small house near Rice University where she had grown up with her grandparents. Passing the oak tree that shaded the driveway, her eyes caught the dark, twisted grooves cut into the trunk close to forty years before.

S.D.

Stephen De Novo. She climbed into her small car. Despite what she had claimed to the curious Dr. Vecchio, the hollow pang of his loss still marked her life. Despite his busy schedule, she and her father had been very close. With the passing of her grandfather, Beatrice and Isadora were all that was left of the tight-knit De Novo family.

She pulled into the university parking lot and grabbed the first spot she found, running to her first class as soon as her feet hit the ground.

In fact, Beatrice felt like she ran all day, and by the time she got to the library at four o’clock, she was ready to collapse. She took the cantankerous elevator up to the fifth floor and put her books in the small office she shared with her supervisor.

“B?” she heard Charlotte call from the copy and photography room.

“Yeah, Char, I’m here. I’m sorry I’m late, it’s seems like-”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Charlotte Martin said as she walked toward the reference desk. The young woman switched on the computer at the desk and logged into the library’s system. “It’s Wednesday today,” Charlotte said with a grin.

“Yes, it is.”

“Wednesday means night hours for you.”

“No!” Beatrice gasped. “I’d totally forgotten about that.”

“Liar.” Charlotte paused for effect. “So, have you had any luck with the mysterious Dr. Vecchio?”