An hour and a thick syllabus later, Luke and I headed toward the coffee shop.
“How’s it going, Red?” he asked, nudging me with his shoulder.
“Good,” I answered as we walked. “Josh and I moved in together, and it’s pretty perfect so far.”
“Ah, the hockey star returns.” He held the door open for me, and the welcoming smell of espresso filled my lungs.
“The hockey star never left,” I elbowed him. “How is David?”
Luke snorted. “Still leaving his boxers on the floor, but I love him, so what can I do?”
“It’s a pretty small problem in the scheme of things, right?”
“There are worse problems to have,” he answered. “Hopefully the line isn’t too long. Our spot is open.”
Once our coffee was in hand, we took up seats on the small loveseat in the corner that we’d claimed during study sessions my junior year. “What are your plans after graduation?” Luke asked, brushing an errant piece of blond hair out of his eyes. He was still trying for the surfer look, but it was growing on me.
“Well, Josh is stationed at Fort Campbell now, so I’m throwing around the idea of getting my masters…maybe my doctorate?”
“Ooh.” He leaned forward with an indecent grin. “Talk academia to me.”
I laughed and shook my head. “I…I have…”
“Spit it out.”
“I kind of want to start focusing more on the writing aspect, really dig in historically, maybe publish something? It’s probably stupid. I should teach. That’s the practical answer.”
Luke raised his eyebrows. “You kept a long-distance relationship thriving, and you want to talk about practical? You’re a romantic at heart, honey—you can’t fool me. You also do whatever you set your mind to, so if you’d like to be the next David McCullough, I think the world is ready.”
“What about the next Howard Zinn?” I suggested. “Revolutionize what everyone thinks they know. Look at history from another side and not just the victor’s?”
He tapped his fingers on his paper cup and tilted his head. “You need to apply for the Ephesus dig.”
I sputtered, nearly spewing coffee all over his cream sweater. “What? That’s in Turkey.”
“Well, I don’t think we can move the location, so yes, you’d have to come to Turkey.”
“You’re going?” That was definitely an incentive.
“Seeing as my dad funded it, I kind of have to.”
“Did he get tired of buying hockey teams?” I joked.
“Hey, it’s just the one, and technically since it’s an expansion team, he didn’t buy it, he started it. Stop changing the subject and think of all the opportunities. Putting your hands on arguably the most untouched Roman ruins in the world… You’re still emphasizing in European History, right?”
I nodded slowly, trying to process his suggestion. “I just moved in with Josh. I can’t up and leave.”
“Red, it’s like two months, which is a blip on the radar to you guys, and you’d earn mad street cred with Dr. Trimble toward getting into whatever program you want.”
“Okay, you don’t get to say ‘street cred’ again without me laughing.”
“Fine, but you need to apply. You’ll get accepted. Your grades still stellar?”
“Yeah.”
Could you really spend two months away from him when you’ve been apart for so long?
“Then I think this is something you really need to consider.” He rummaged though his messenger bag and brought out a stapled packet. “This is the application. It’s not due until spring break. You’d really be an asset, Ember. Plus, if you’re just now thinking about your doctorate, you’re behind the power curve. The dig would let you into the spring program. Without it, you’re behind a year. Plus, it’s not like you didn’t love the one we did last year, and that was a baby dig compared to this.”
Ephesus. A real dig. A chance to discover something—a new theory, a new fact, something I could sink my teeth into and maybe even publish. A real-life use for all the work I’d put into my college career. But not seeing Josh? Voluntarily being long distance again? Madness. I pushed the application away. “I just can’t.”
He shook his head and stuffed it into my bag. “Yes, you can. You’re a brilliant woman, Ember, and if he loves you the way you say he does, he’d never dim your light. Don’t become one of those women who forget who they are just because they’re in a relationship. At least think about it.”
“I will,” I promised.
He filled me in on his relationship, and I gave him the short version of how the move had gone, until it was time to head to another class. I’d loaded my schedule last semester, so all I needed were three this go-round, thank God.
I called Josh from the car on my way home. Home! I’d never been so excited to see what a normal evening could hold. “Hey!”
“Hey, babe.” His tired voice came through the car speakers.
“How was your first day at the unit?”
“Mixed, I guess. You headed home?”
“It’s never easy being the new guy, and yeah I’m on my way. GPS has me fifty-five minutes out. Are you in the same company as Will?”
“Yeah, Carter and I are both in Charlie. Jagger’s in Bravo with the other attack guys. You concentrate on the road, and I’ll work on getting us some dinner, how does that sound?”