by Merry Farmer
She had to admit, Ted was a really good kisser. The way he used his lips and tongue to elicit sensation and emotion from her was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. It baffled her that he wanted her, as hopeless as she was, but in the moment, she wasn’t about to resist or explain all the reasons why he was wrong to like her so much.
“See,” he said after he’d kissed her into breathlessness. “Those earrings weren’t too much. In fact, I’m not sure they were enough.”
“They were absolutely too much,” she laughed.
“No, I think you need something more.”
“What more could I—oh!”
He flipped her to her back before she was ready, pushing her legs farther apart. His hands roved over her body for a moment before he bent over her, kissing her breasts, her stomach, and then lower. She threaded her fingers through his hair as he put every bit of his skill to amazing use where it counted. The last logical thought Laura had before pleasure took over was that this was better than earrings any day.
Twelve million dollars. Ted still couldn’t believe it. All for a hunk of rock in his back yard. He laughed and shook his head as he hauled a bag of feed from the shelf in Bertran’s Feed Store onto his cart. He would have spent the next decade or so making jokes about what he’d thought was an old cow bone sticking out of the ground if Laura hadn’t come along to see it for what it was.
He tugged another bag off the shelf, tossing it on the pile in his cart, and smiled. Twelve million dollars was nothing to the joy of spending a night in Laura’s bed. Just the thought of her naked body with just the right amount of curves was enough to make his jeans tight. There was something about the way they’d made love the night before that was special. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it. It hadn’t just been sex. Not like the good times he’d had with women in the past. No, with Laura it had gone deeper, affected him more. He had the feeling it had been a really big deal for her, but he didn’t know why exactly.
A satisfied smirk spread across his face as he hoisted the last couple of bags of feed he needed onto the cart. He’d bought a deluxe-size box of condoms at the drug store on the way to Bertran’s, and he intended to put them all to good use in the coming days and weeks. Just the thought of Laura begging him to fuck her made him break out in a cold sweat. Then again, the word “fuck” was way too vulgar for what she had been asking from him. She’d begged him to be inside of her, to meld with her in the most intimate way two people could be together. That did more than make him sweat. It made his heart feel too big for his chest. It made him want to hold her for the rest of their lives.
“Need help with that?”
Carlos’s question jolted Ted out of his thoughts. He’d been standing there like a moon-faced schoolboy, grinning over thoughts of Laura.
“I think I’ve got everything I need,” he said, moving to the handle of the huge, flat-bed cart and its full load.
Carlos’s grin widened. “Yeah, I hear you do have everything you need.” He slapped Ted’s shoulder like he’d hit a home run. And euphemistically, he had. “And what’s this I hear about that fossil on your ranch?”
Ted started pushing his cart toward the front of the store, Carlos walking by his side. Carlos ran the store for his family, and slipped behind the register to ring up the order when they reached the front.
The same rush of excitement that Dr. Ashford’s call had raised in him struck again. “It’s pretty big,” he told Carlos. The man was a friend, after all.
“You mean the size of the thing or its value?” Carlos asked, counting the number of feed bags Ted had.
“Both. Well, size-wise, the fossil isn’t as huge as some of the massive skeletons that the big museums have. It’s pretty sizable, though. But it’s all about how unique it is.”
“Are you talking about your fossil?” Brian Pickering walked up to the register with a salt block in his arms. By the eager look in his eyes, Ted had the feeling he wasn’t there to pay for his purchase so much as to get the skinny on what was going on with the discovery.
“Ted here was just telling me what a big deal it is,” Carlos said, more likely than not fanning the flames of rumor.
“How big of a deal?” Brian asked.
Ted tried to play it cool, but the whole thing was way too exciting for him to form much of a poker face. “Turns out that old bone sticking out of the ground was just the tip of the iceberg. Laura’s been working to uncover the rest of it for several weeks now.”
“Laura Kincade, who works over at PSF, right?” Brian asked. “She’s friends with the Clutterbucks?”
“That’s her.” Ted couldn’t help but grin from ear-to-ear.
“You ever get her to go out with you?” Carlos asked. The look in his eyes said he guessed the answer.
“Yes, I did.” Ted humored him anyhow. There was no way Carlos and Brian wouldn’t get the full implication of what was going on, thanks to the cocky expression he couldn’t wipe off his face. “We’re dating,” he added, so they wouldn’t get the wrong idea about his intentions.
“After the way she found that fossil, you’d be an idiot not to date her,” Carlos went on. He finished ringing up the order, told Ted the total, then launched straight into, “So it’s a valuable fossil too?”
“Yep.” Ted slid his credit card through the reader. “It’s really rare. Two dinosaurs locked in combat.”
“Cool,” Brian said. “How much of them is there?”
“Two almost complete skeletons,” Ted explained. “We haven’t been able to dig the whole thing out yet, but Laura knows a bunch of people in the paleontology world, and they’ve come in and taken pictures and scans and things to assess what’s there.”
“It’s amazing what they can do with modern technology these days,” Carlos said, setting Ted’s receipt on the table so he could sign it.
Ted laughed as he signed. “What’s amazing is that The Field Museum in Chicago is offering twelve million dollars for it, sight unseen.”
Carlos and Brian whistled and gasped in surprise. “That’s one hell of a lot of horse feed,” Brian said.
“Tell me about it.” Ted straightened and handed the receipt and pen to Carlos. “And all for a hunk of rock.”
“Is this about your fossil?” Another man joined the conversation, Tony Abernathy.
“Yeah,” Ted said, suddenly more reserved. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Tony, it’s was just that he never quite knew the man’s motives for everything he did. And it didn’t help that he was friends with Ronny Bonneville.
“Twelve million dollars, huh?” Tony’s eyes shone with greed.
Ted regretted opening his mouth. But it was too late now. “Nothing is set in stone yet.”
“Ha! Funny,” Brian said. “Considering it’s a fossil and all.”
Carlos chuckled too, but a growing sense of uneasiness spilled down Ted’s back. “We won’t really know what’s going on until the fossil is completely excavated.”
“Hey, would you mind if I came by and took a look one evening?” Carlos asked.
As much as Ted wanted to say no, Carlos had been a friend for ages. He was the captain of his baseball team, for gosh sakes. “Sure,” he said, hoping he didn’t sound too unfriendly.
“Mind if I come too?” Brian asked.
“We can all come,” Tony said before Ted could answer. He barked a laugh. “You could charge admission for people to see it, like some of the other places around here that have fossils.”
“I don’t know about that.” Ted made a show of putting his receipt in his wallet and moving his cart of feed toward the door. “It’s a working fossil excavation. There’s a lot of sensitive equipment out there. I’m sure it’s okay if some people come and see it, but not too many.”
“It won’t be too many,” Tony said. “Haskell’s not that big.”
“I’ll call first to make sure it’s a good time,” Carlos said with a knowing nod.
“Wait ’til Ronny hears about this,” T
ony said.
No words could have gone further to unsettle Ted than those. “Isn’t Ronny awfully busy with his car dealership and being on the town council and all?” he asked.
“Probably,” Tony shrugged, dumping his purchases onto the counter, even though Brian was still juggling the huge salt block in his arms. “But Ronny always loves a good get-rich-quick scheme. And that’s what this fossil is, right?”
Hot offence raced along Ted’s nerves. He thought of what Laura would say if she heard a comment like that. He had a feeling he’d have to break up a fight.
“It’s an important paleontological find,” he corrected Tony. “We’re not in it for the money.”
“But I’m sure the money’s nice,” Tony laughed.
Ted grabbed the handle of his cart and started pushing it toward the door. “Give me a call when you want to come out and see it,” he said, making a quick exit.
He left a little too fast for the way he liked to part company with friends, but a knot had formed in the pit of his stomach, a knot with Tony Abernathy written all over it. No, it was a knot with Ronny Bonneville written all over it. That family didn’t know when to keep their nose out of other people’s business. Especially when it came to money. No good could come of the Bonnevilles catching wind of how valuable Laura’s fossil was.
Chapter Twelve
“I feel like I should get your mom flowers as a thank you for letting me borrow this dress,” Laura told Calliope a week later as the two of them waited at the dry cleaner’s counter. “But getting flowers for someone who owns a flower shop seems kind of pointless.”
Calliope laughed, her strawberry blonde curls shaking around her and making her look like some sort of sprite. “Mom doesn’t care about gifts and things. She was just so happy to hear that you and Ted are dating.”
“I’m not sure if Ted and I are actually dating,” Laura corrected her, feeling pink heat come to her face.
Calliope rested her weight on one hip and crossed her arms. How many nights have you been out in the last week?”
“Five out of seven,” Laura confessed.
“And how many of those five nights ended in a horizontal position?”
“Five out of five.” Laura blushed even harder, unable to keep the giddy grin off her face.
“And on average, how many times per night have the two of you ended up doing the horizontal Hokey-Pokey?”
Laura blinked. “What?”
Calliope’s lips twitched. “You put it in, you take it out, you put it in and shake it all about.”
Laura nearly choked. She pressed a hand to her mouth until the urge to giggle like an idiot had died down and she’d worked up enough courage to mumble, “Two-to-three.”
Calliope nodded. “There you go. You’re dating.”
Laura shook her head and let out a breath. “I dunno. We’re definitely spending a lot of time together, and we’re definitely sleeping together.” The fact that she was, well, not sore, but highly aware of places that she didn’t usually think about on a daily basis was proof of that, even though she still had a hard time believing it. “We haven’t actually had ‘The Conversation,’ though.”
“You don’t always need to have ‘The Conversation’ to be officially dating someone,” Calliope informed her, uncrossing her arms and running her fingers along the edge of the dry cleaner’s counter. “Sometimes you just know.”
“Well, I don’t know,” Laura said.
Calliope chuckled and shook her head. “You might not, but everyone else in town who has seen the two of you together does. So cut it out with the whole worry thing,” she went on before Laura could protest. “Just appreciate the good thing you’ve got.”
“Oh, I do appreciate it,” Laura assured her. She spotted Betty Plover coming out of the back room with Mrs. Clutterbuck’s clean dress, hung and covered in plastic, and stood straighter. “I just don’t believe it. Why is it that the first part of relationships are such torture?”
“I have no idea,” Calliope said, shaking her head.
“Here you go, ladies.” Betty addressed them with a smile. “That’ll be twelve dollars.”
Laura swung her mini backpack off her shoulder, plopped it on the counter, and searched for her wallet. As she did, Calliope said, “Hey Betty, don’t you think Laura here and Ted Flint make a cute couple.”
“Absolutely,” Betty answered without hesitation. “It’s so great to see Ted with someone who’s actually right for him for a change.”
“What?” Laura snapped her head up. She handed Betty a twenty.
“He always seems to go for the flashy girls,” Betty explained, ringing up the purchase. “But what he’s always needed is a down-to-earth girl. Like Hester was.”
Laura blinked, willing her jaw not to drop. She couldn’t think of a thing to say to that.
“She meant it as a compliment,” Calliope informed her, an amused grin spreading across her face.
“I certainly did,” Betty agreed. She handed over Laura’s change, then said, “I hear the two of you have been digging up a dinosaur on the Flint ranch.”
“Two dinosaurs, actually.” Laura tucked her change away, then swung her mini backpack over her shoulder again. “Two as part of a single fossil. It’s really—” She stopped herself before she could say “valuable.” Instead, she said, “Rare. It’s really rare.”
“I can’t wait to get a look at it,” Betty said. The bell over the shop door rang as she went on to say, “It’s all anyone has been able to talk about all week. Janet Bertran told me that Carlos took her out to see it on Tuesday. She says I have to take a look as soon as possible.”
“Sure, come on out,” Laura said, trying to smile. The truth was that she felt uneasy about all the people who had come out to the Flint ranch in the last week to see the fossil. Ironically, she hadn’t spent nearly as much time digging as she had before The Saturday Night of Amazingness. She’d been too busy, well, banging Ted, if she was being honest with herself.
Now she was beginning to wonder if that was a good idea. On several levels.
Her uneasy thoughts were cut short by, “Oh yes, the Flint fossil. That’s what everyone is talking about.”
Laura and Calliope turned to find Ronny Bonneville standing behind them. The sarcasm in his comment was matched by the disdainful look in his eyes.
“Ronny.” Calliope nodded to him. Laura had never seen her greet anyone so coldly.
“Calliope.” Ronny nodded in return, his gaze dropping straight to the v-neck of Calliope’s blouse.
Laura’s brow shot up. Okay, well, that explains that’s why Calliope was so cold with him.
“What do you want?” Calliope went on.
“My dry cleaning,” Ronny answered, imitating her curt tone. He stepped up to the counter, nudging past Laura. Laura grabbed Mrs. Clutterbuck’s dress from the hook where Betty had hung it, then backed out of the way.
“I’ll get your shirts, Ronny,” Betty said, as diplomatic as could be, and headed to the back room.
“Let’s go return this to your mom,” Laura said, starting for the door.
“Hold on, aren’t you the dinosaur lady that Ted Flint is dating?” Ronny stopped her.
Laura stared at him with narrowed eyes. He knew her name. They’d run into each other enough times at social events for him to remember it. Why he was being so obtuse now was beyond her.
“Yeah.” The sensible part of her wanted to ignore him and go about her business, but she was too curious about what he wanted with her.
“Huh,” he said, and leaned against the counter. He raked her with a look from head to toe. “You’re not Ted’s usual type.”
Cold dread slithered down Laura’s spine. Isn’t that what she’d been telling herself all along? Only in this case, confirmation didn’t make her feel better. Not one bit.
“Put a sock in it, Ronny.” Calliope came to her defense. “Ted and Laura are perfect for each other.”
“I never said they weren’
t.” Ronny raised his hands in protest. “I’m just saying that he usually goes out with prettier girls, girls with more class. But good for him for dating someone willing to get her hands dirty.”
Laura’s heart sank to her toes. After all the work she’d put in convincing herself she was doing the right thing by dating Ted after all…this.
“Let’s go,” she managed to squeeze out, though her lungs burned with shame.
They almost made it to the door before Ronny called out, “Wait. Laura. I want to talk to you.”
Laura froze near the door, clenched her jaw, then turned to face him. “About what? We hardly know each other.”
Ronny stepped slowly toward her. He nodded to Calliope. “Give the two of us a moment alone.”
Calliope flushed with anger. “No way. I’m staying right here.”
“I have something confidential to discuss with Laura,” Ronny said, as if that was all the reason he needed to shoo Calliope out the door.
Calliope crossed her arms and met Ronny’s eyes with sassy defiance.
It didn’t take her advanced degrees for Laura to see the confrontation would get them nowhere and Ronny would leave them alone faster if he had his say. She handed the plastic-covered dress to Calliope.
“I’ve got this,” she said with false confidence. “Could you take your mom’s dress back to her? I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Are you sure?” Calliope frowned.
“Yeah.” Laura smiled in a pitiful attempt to reassure both Calliope and herself.
Calliope took the dress and glared at Ronny. “I’ll be waiting right outside.”
She left with a jingle of the bell over the door. Laura took a deep breath before turning to Ronny, arms crossed. “What do you want?”
“Is it true that The Field Museum has offered twelve million dollars for the fossil?”
Laura nearly choked at the abruptness of the question. Heat poured through her so fast, flaring in her cheeks, that she knew there was no way she could play the situation cool or even consider lying.
