Thing was though, he wasn’t sure he wanted to leave Little Willow Farm. The site really was very promising. Regardless of what he had told Laurel, he was sure that there was more under the earth. There was an unaccounted for human femur, so there must be something. There had to be.
Anwar, now hangover free, could deal with the site with minimal supervision, so he didn’t have to be there. But he had gold and dirt in his eyes, just like the students.
‘Dr Daley, have you thought anymore about moving me to trench one?’ Nate’s thoughts were interrupted by the same girl who had asked him this exact question on Friday. She was furiously batting her spidery eyelashes, her top low enough to show the lace of her bra.
‘Yes,’ he lied. ‘No moving at the moment. I’ll revisit it in two weeks.’
She pouted and gave him what he could only imagine were doe eyes. Whilst he wasn’t quite old enough to be her father, he wasn’t far off from a legal, but teenaged, father, and seriously? Just no.
‘Okay, Dr Daley, remember me when you do.’ She sauntered off, shaking her ass.
‘Nope,’ he muttered, staring at his laptop screen.
Nate breathed a sigh of relief as the sun went in and the screen came fully into focus. Ten more minutes of work on this budget sheet and he should be done and able to spend the rest of the day in the earth.
‘Nate.’
Well, it would be ten minutes if he wasn’t interrupted all the time.
‘Oh, hey Jack, you alright?’ Nate hit ctrl+s.
Jack leaned against the makeshift table. He was always leaning against something. ‘You want to go for a drink tonight?’
‘I can’t, I’ve got my friend Alex coming to visit the site tomorrow and everything has to be ready.’ Nate launched into a whole explanation as to why he was hosting the British Archaeological Society liaison. ‘Why don’t you meet us tomorrow in the pub before closing?’
The other man shook his head.
‘Nah, I can’t be that late. I’ve got milking in the morning,’ his shoulders slumped. Jack was completely defeated.
‘Are you alright, mate?’ Nate asked gently. ‘Has something happened with Rebecca?’
Jack turned his shrewd eyes onto Nate. ‘Rebecca? Why do you say that?’
Nate’s stomach dropped.
‘Oh, no reason, just that I saw her and Laurel when I was out running on Saturday and it looked like Rebecca had been crying?’
Had he just thrust himself into some kind of family drama that he had no business, and no desire, to be in the middle of?
‘She was with Laurel?’ Jack asked, eyes flinty hard and jaw clenched.
‘Yeah,’ Nate said slowly. ‘I feel like I’ve done something wrong here, Jack. Is everything okay?’
Jack sighed and pinned his gaze on Nate. ‘Yeah, just a little disagreement with my wife that I didn’t really want my little sister weighing in on.’
Nate took pity on him. ‘Listen, I can be done with this paperwork and all prepared for Alex by six, seven at the latest. I can have one beer.’
Jack’s face lit up like a child who got extra dessert.
‘Do you mind? Won’t be long, just want to get out of the house,’ he said.
‘’Course not.’ Nate nodded. Jack was a good guy and was turning into a good friend. He sauntered away after extracting a promise from Nate to text him when he was ready.
Watching Jack go, he had a sinking feeling that he had just put his size ten feet into a massive pile of family shit. He texted Laurel.
Nate watched the three dots fade in and out across the WhatsApp message showing she was typing.
That was a short message after such a long interval.
