The Panty Raid Read Online Free

well.”
    Dot left the office a few moments later with an admonition from the dean.
    “Think about what you really want and decide the direction of your life.”
    It was a monumental choice. And one that was not easily faced. Dot truly did not want to give up hope of actually pursuing her gifts, her talents. But she was not so immersed in the world of academia that she couldn’t imagine herself with a husband and family. Dot had dated, both in high school and college. There had been a couple of boys she’d liked a lot. But she’d never really been in love.
    Not that she didn’t believe in it.
    Her parents, for all their cares and struggle, obviously loved each other very much. Sometimes, late at night, she’d hear them laughing together, sharing the day. There was no question in Dot’s mind that the joy they had in their marriage, their children, was the most valuable and fulfilling aspect of their lives. But then, smelter work and ironing were not vocations that people went into for the love of the job.
    Dot hoped to do more important work. To discover medicines that would cure diseases or design products that would make life safer, easier. She had the God- given talent and aptitude for such work. Surely it would be wrong not to pursue it.
    Still, the thought of her younger brother gave her pause. When she’d held little Tom as a baby in her arms, she had yearned for motherhood. Did she yearn for science more?
    Dot had much to consider. As she left the building, headed down the bricked lane in front of Chariker Hall, she became vaguely aware that someone was walking next to her. It was nearly half a minute before she realized it wasn’t a coincidence.
    “Don’t want to interrupt your thoughts,” he said as she glanced over at her panty raider, Mr. Brantly.
    “Are you following me?”
    “Escorting you, I hoped,” he said.
    He was cute. There was no getting around that. He was tall and muscular. In the sunlight his wavy brown hair looked almost red. He had bright eyes that crinkled at the comers, as if he were smiling all the time.
    ‘To where are you escorting me?” she asked.
    He considered the question. “Dorm?” he asked. “Library? No wait, Swimms,” he said. “After a conference with the dean, you’ve got to go to Swimms.” He dug down in his pocket. “I even think I’ve got a quarter.”
    He pulled out the shiny coin and held it up for her inspection. “Why don’t we take Lady Liberty here over to Swimms and see if we can bust her up?”
    Dot’s first reaction was to say no. She had things to think about, things to consider. But her head ached from thinking, considering. There was nothing she needed more than vacation from her own worries. This guy had made her laugh in the hallway. Maybe he could do it again.
    “All right, Mr. Brantly,” she said. “Lead on.”
    To Dot’s surprise, he took her hand. “I'm not that kind of guy,” he assured her, smiling. “I never lead on. A girl always knows where she stands with me.”
    “Oh, really,” she said, as she pointedly withdrew from his grasp and folded both arms across her chest, her books held tightly against her heart. “And where is it that I stand?”
    He was smiling, but there was some seriousness in the softness of his tone.
    “On the brink of an amazing romance,” he said.
    Dot laughed in his face.
    “Does that sort of talk work with other girls?” she asked.
    He shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve never tried it with other girls.”
    “Oh, so I’m the guinea pig,” she said. “Hmm. Well, I'll try to think of myself as a scientific subject.”
    They walked toward the edge of campus.
    Swimms Malt Shop was just across Bow Street, an off-campus hangout, close enough to hear the bells from Founder’s Tower, but far enough away that the rules of university life need not apply. The tiled corner doorway led into a huge building lined with booths along two sides, an array of tables in the middle; everything was