The next day, Frank headed to the campus with Joe. He enjoyed the company, but didn’t like the reason for it. He knew it was only for his safety, but he didn’t have to like it.  

Pulling into the student parking lot, Joe found a spot and they climbed out. They started across the campus to their classed. Frank had only one that day while Joe had two, which meant Frank had to hang around until Joe was done.  

“Where do you want to meet when I’m done?” Joe asked.  

“I’ll be in the library,” Frank said. “I can put the finishing touches on my report which is due next week.”  

“All right. I’ll meet you there as soon as I can.”  

“Not a problem.”  

Joe headed off to one building as Frank continued on. He was anxious for the semester to be over. While he enjoyed school and gaining so much knowledge, he was looking forward to actually being out in the world, putting that knowledge to work.  

* * * * *  

Following his class, Frank made his way toward the library. He had just been assigned a three-page paper due at the next class and realized he had the perfect opportunity to get it done instead of doing it at home.  

Frank reached the library and made his way inside. He headed up to the second floor where there were several secluded cubicles people used when they didn’t want to be disturbed. He headed for the one he often used and hoped no one was in there. Walking down the hall, Frank couldn’t see anyone in there and knew he could use it.  

Frank finally reached the cubicle and stopped quickly before stepping inside. He was surprised to see someone seated at the table.  

“Hi,” Caren said softly.  

“Hi,” Frank said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’ll find someplace else.”  

As Frank turned to leave, Caren said, “You don’t have to go.”  

“I’ve got a paper to finish,” Frank explained.  

“Please stay, Frank.”  

Frank let out a breath. While he wanted to stay, another part of him said to walk away. He wasn’t sure what to do. So he decided to do what his little brother always did. Listened to his gut.  

He turned around and moved over to the table, sitting down so he was facing Caren. He quickly pulled out his textbook and notebook and got to work. Or at least tried to.  

“How have you been?” Caren asked.  

“All right. You?”  

“Okay.”  

“That’s good.” Frank flipped through his notebook to the page he had written the assignment down on. He was already beginning to think this was a bad idea.  

“What did you do this weekend?” Caren asked.  

“Not much. Focused on homework and projects due before finals.”  

“I did the same,” Caren said.  

Silence settled on them and Frank hoped he could actually work. But that seemed to be a losing battle.  

“Frank, can we talk?”  

He finally looked up at Caren, and saw the concern in her eyes. “I thought we were talking.”  

“We were shooting the breeze. I mean really talk.”  

Frank held back a sigh. He wasn’t surprised this was happening. “What do you want to talk about?”  

“I was wondering if you had thought about what happened the other night.”  

“I have,” Frank said, but didn’t elaborate.  

“And, are you going to be honest with me?”  

Frank looked Caren in the eye. “I was honest with you.”  

“Oh, really?” Caren asked.  

“Really. We don’t know for certain who the explosion was targeting, or if it was done on purpose or not.”  

“But you did say you didn’t think it was just bad timing.”  

“That was what I thought,” Frank said. “It was my opinion. We didn’t have any real evidence.”  

“But it seemed like you were keeping something from me,” Caren said. “And I thought we had a better relationship than that.”  

“I thought we did too,” Frank admitted. “I guess we don’t.”  

“What does that mean now?” Caren asked.  

“I honestly don’t know.”  

“Are we no longer a couple?”  

“I don’t know,” Frank repeated.  

“Frank, I don’t want to lose you,” Caren said, emotion filling her voice. “You are the best thing that ever happened to me.”  

“You made a significant impact in my life as well, and I would hate to lose you. But our relationship is different from a lot of others.”  

“I know that, Frank. I think that’s why we get along so well together.”  

“I think so too, but…”  

“Why do you keep throwing all these ‘buts’ into this?” Caren asked. “There shouldn’t be any buts.”  

“Caren, you know my life is complicated, especially when it comes to doing detective work. You’ve known that from the moment we met. With the profession I’m in, there are times when I can’t tell you something, and that seems to be a major problem for you, especially recently.”  

“It isn’t a problem for me.”  

“That’s not what it seemed the other night, especially when you stormed out of the house.”  

“I just wanted you to be honest with me.”  

“And I was,” Frank stated.  

Silence hung around them again. Caren broke the silence. “You know, maybe we should take some time apart and figure out where we stand with one another. If we keep going like this, we’re going to get into another argument.”  

“I guess you’re right.” Frank closed his notebook and shoved it into his backpack along with his textbook. “I guess I’ll talk to you later.”  

“All right,” Caren said.  

Frank got to his feet and left the cubicle. He had a strong feeling that would be the last time he would ever see Caren again.

 

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.