“Good morning.” James turned a charming smile on the full room. “The goal of the project was quite simple. By collecting a sample of at least one hundred and twenty-five bee species—”
Rosemary glanced at him. Did he realize he was quoting the blurb in the program? The blurb she’d written.
“Eventually, linking functions to specific genes.” He paused. “So far we’ve collected and begun mapping seventy-six distinct species.”
Eighty-nine species.
“We’ve chosen six priority categories. Mite resistance, productivity, climate susceptibility, pesticide susceptibility, evolution and specialization, and non-native bee impact.” He turned to her. “Would you like to add anything?”
Rosemary nodded. “Mapping will help breed heartier bees, but there’s more to it than that. For example, if we’re able to map an endangered species’ DNA, researchers can go into the field to that specific bee’s known habitat and swab flowers for matching bee DNA. This will prevent unnecessary damage to a specimen or taking it from its natural habitat.”
A murmur of surprise rolled through the audience, encouraging her to go on. She hadn’t meant to get carried away, but she couldn’t stop. This project had been her world for four long years. It had been thrilling to see them discover the slight physiological changes of one species due to the reduction in access to a primary pollen source.
While she talked, she kept her focus on Tansy or Astrid. When they both started to look a little glazed over, she realized she’d carried on too long.
“Thank you for that interesting insight, Dr. Hill.” Jane smiled at her, then turned to James. “What have you found to be the most significant discovery you’ve made during this project, Dr. Voigt?”
Rosemary almost tuned him out when he started talking. He talked in circles, repeating things without expanding on their processes, data, or the implications. She glanced at James, only to find him studying her.
“But as you just heard, having the best of the best on my team is the real reason we’ve accomplished as much as we have.” James nodded at her. “Without Dr. Hill’s tireless determination, attention to detail, and her ability to assess and dissect complicated patterns, I don’t think we’d have made the progress we made over the last three years.”
She blinked, stunned. It was nice that he was publicly acknowledging her efforts, but it didn’t undo how he’d handled things or put her back on the project she’d loved. Maybe that was why she corrected him. “Four years.”
There were a few chuckles in the audience.
“See? Detail oriented.” James grinned at her. “Crossing everyTand dotting everyI.”
Her smile was grudging before she glanced out—searching for her sisters and finding Everett instead.
Hewashere. He was smiling at her and mouthing,good job, while giving her two thumbs-up. That was all it took to have her smiling back at him.
“The bee genome project has been picked up by the National Science Institute—along with some private funding. Are the two of you continuing your work there?” Jane asked.
James nodded. “At least, I’m hoping Dr. Hill will consider joining me for the next phase of research. The project has been fully funded for another five years, and there’s no one I’d rather work with than Dr. Hill. As you can all see, she gets results and those results will benefit us all.”
Rosemary was dumbfounded. First, he was giving her praise, now he was asking her to come work with him again? Or was he trying to come across as magnanimous and powerful? Either way, she felt every eye in the room on her. All she could say was, “I don’t know what to say.”
“After listening to what you’ve had to say here today, I think we can all understand why Dr. Voigt would want you back.” Jane smiled. “Have you been on hiatus while the project was undergoing restructuring?”
She wasn’t flattered, she was suspicious. What was James up to? And while she knew she wasn’t on hiatus and restructuring was an awfully kind way to describe what had happened, she decided nodding was the easiest answer.
“And you’ve written a children’s book?” Jane asked.
“For my nieces and nephews, yes.” She glanced at her family and the smiles on their faces. “It’s an ABC book all about bees.”
“How delightful.” Jane smiled. “Do you have a copy with you?”
“Yes.” Nova’s little voice echoed. Seconds later, she came skipping up the aisle, one of the board books in her hand, causing a chorus of laughter from the audience. Nova held the book up until Rosemary took it. “Aunt Rosemary did all the pictures and words, too.” She grinned, turned, and skipped back to Astrid and Charlie.
“That’s my niece Nova.” Rosemary’s cheeks were burning as she handed over the book.
“You did the illustration?” Jane studied the cover of the book.
“I did.” She shot her two very guilty-looking sisters a narrow-eyed look. Were they enjoying this? Seeing her squirm?
“I’ll open the floor to questions. If you have a question, please use the mic so everyone can hear it.” Jane pointed at the mic in the middle of the aisle.
Rosemary did her best to ignore Jane flipping through her book and resisted snatching the book back when James reached for it. It wasn’t like he could steal her book from her or take credit for the idea.
