Chapter Five
Andrea resisted the urge to return to her main floor powder room one last time to check her hair and the light makeup she’d applied.
Seth was due to arrive any minute, and she didn’t know what to do to stay occupied, other than chastise herself for the butterflies that had set up shop in her stomach.
So he was handsome. And smart. And projected a confidence that was assertive without being abrasive.
The problem was her mind kept slipping into daydream mode.
And those daydreams involved Seth Taylor riding up to her ranch on horseback, dismounting with ease, then picking her up with those strong arms. Carrying her into her room, and kicking the door shut on the way.
And taking her places that made her praise the wide-open sky above.
So that quick pass with her hair straightener and swipe of mascara?
She could fool herself and say it was all in the name of professionalism.
But Andrea had seen a glimmer of wanting in Seth Taylor’s eyes the other day in her kitchen.
And despite everything that told her that his perfectly cut leather jacket and expensive sports car spelled trouble, she wanted to see that look again.
“Get a grip,” she muttered, just as Seth’s car appeared at the end of the driveway.
Andrea shrugged on her navy-blue Canada goose down jacket, pulled on her brown hiking boots and, ughhhh, finger-combed her hair quickly in front of the powder room mirror before exiting onto the porch.
Seth had gotten out of his car and was opening the passenger side door for her. “Hi, Andrea,” he said.
“Hey,” said Andrea. “Thank you.” She slipped into the passenger seat of Seth’s car and was immediately enveloped by that intoxicating scent she’d noticed yesterday—woodsy, clean, with a hint of spice.
When Seth slid into the driver’s seat, Andrea noted the worn denim of his faded jeans, the sleek black bomber jacket hugging his shoulders and the dark sunglasses that obscured his eyes but couldn’t hide the teasing curve of his lips.
The skin of his face was freshly shaven and so soft-looking she could feel it against her cheek as she imagined him kissing the sensitive part of her neck.
“All set?” he said, and Andrea could barely utter a reply. Get a grip indeed.
Seth typed something into the screen on the console of the car, which was as high-tech as the rest of the car was luxurious. Camel leather seats, gleaming mahogany trim and an engine with a low rumble that like the light vibration in Andrea’s core threatened to roar to life at the lightest touch.
“It’s only a short drive,” he said, moving the car into Drive and navigating toward the main road, one hand on the steering wheel, his other arm resting on the console separating their two seats.
His hand was relaxed, while Andrea found herself twisting her fingers together.
It was ridiculous. Why should she be nervous?
She was the one with the PhD, and all the experience that would allow him to know whether or not to move forward with this pie-in-the-sky idea of his.
She slipped her hands into the pockets of her jacket. “What kind of development are you in?” she asked. Clearly something lucrative, judging by the car.
“Ranch real estate, sort of,” Seth said. “I work with my brother Daniel. We look for land that has potential to be put to better use than just sitting idle.”
“A family business,” said Andrea. “Nice.”
“Well,” said Seth. She detected a hint of hesitation in his voice. “It’s kind of the thing I do to get away from the actual family business.”
“Okay,” said Andrea. The way he said it made it seem like he was from a house of mobsters or something. “And what’s that?”
“My family owns a ranch as well as a company called Taylor Beef. Not sure if you’ve ever heard of it.”
Andrea resisted the instinct to gape, keeping her expression carefully composed.
Taylor Beef? The name was stamped on every cellophane-wrapped striploin and box of burgers at every grocery store in the country.
As a member of the Taylor family, Seth wasn’t just wealthy.
He was mega rich. “I’ve heard of it,” she said, as casually as possible. “So you’ve defected?”
Seth grinned. “Nah. I still work at the ranch. The Triple T, in Bronco. But I do this as well.”
Andrea let that sink in. “So it’s a family business—how many of you are there?”
“We’re a pretty big brood,” Seth said with a grin. “My dad and his three brothers, plus their collection of wives over the years. I’ve lost track of how many cousins I have. And then there’s my five siblings.”
Five siblings? As an only child of parents who’d died long ago, Andrea found the concept of such a big family almost incomprehensible, like trying to decipher a foreign language without so much as a dictionary.
But before she could ask more, Seth slowed the car and pulled onto a gravel shoulder beside a blue pickup truck.
As they slowed to a stop, a man emerged from the truck and waved at them. “That’s Luca Sanchez,” said Seth. “He’s the one who found the bones.”
With his Stetson perched at a confident angle, worn boots and well-fitted blue jeans, Luca was every inch the quintessential rancher.
His dark hair curled slightly at the edges, complementing his equally dark eyes, which held a sharp, assessing glint.
A hint of stubble along his strong jawline added a rugged charm as natural as the wide Montana skies.
“Luca Sanchez. Nice to meet you,” Luca said, extending his hand to her as she exited the car, then nodding at Seth.
Andrea shook his hand, then he motioned toward the field. “I’ll show you where it all went down.”
They passed through the unlocked gate into a wide, grassy space. “And there was a—what kind of contest going on here?” Andrea asked. “Pumpkin chuckin?”
“Chunkin. With an ‘n.’ You’ve never seen a pumpkin chunkin contest?” said Luca, grinning. Andrea could see the resemblance between him and his sister. “It’s equal parts high-energy spectacle and engineering marvel. You’re in for a treat next fall.”
“Sounds like it,” she said. Between whatever a “chunkin” contest was, never mind a “hoedown,” Andrea was increasingly confident that by this time next year, she’d be well-versed in the art of small-town living.
“It was right here, beside this rock,” said Luca, indicating a patch of cleared-out earth.
Andrea crouched down and inspected the ground.
The reddish-brown dirt was dusty and powdery, with small stones and pebbles scattered throughout.
She picked up a handful and let it sieve through her fingers.
“How’d you figure out they were dinosaur bones and not something else?
” she said, looking up at Luca. “And where are they now?”
“Luca’s got them back at his ranch,” Seth said.
“I was telling Seth I wasn’t sure at first, but they were unlike anything I’d ever found in these fields.
The shape was too strange to be a rock. Once I picked it up and really looked at it, held it in my hands, I was pretty sure I knew what I was hanging on to, and when I did a Google search, I was certain.
I’ll keep them as long as you need,” said Luca, as his phone chirped from his pocket.
He slid it out and glanced at the screen.
“Listen, I’d better run. But I’ll be interested in hearing how this all pans out.
” He tipped his hat to Andrea. “Nice to meet you. See you around.”
“Thanks again, Luca,” Seth said.
As Luca strode off, his boots crunching over the dry grass, silence settled over the field. Andrea turned to Seth, suddenly aware of how the quiet amplified the tension between them, the wide-open space feeling a little smaller now that it was just the two of them.
“What do you think?” said Seth. “What are the chances those mean there could be more?” Andrea noted the anticipation in his voice.
For all his ruggedness and even-keeled nature, Seth seemed like a kid on Christmas morning, with all the hope in the world that Santa had brought him item number one on his list.
“Well, I wouldn’t count it out,” said Andrea.
“You’d want to start with some prospecting.
That would involve a really careful and purposeful survey of the area to see if you can find any other bones.
If they’re like the ones Luca has, you have a clue where to start digging.
You might also find other fossils already uncovered and visible at the surface. ”
“And what do we do then?”
“If it’s set in the ground? Next step’s quarrying. Chipping away at the area around the fossil with chisels and rock hammers. Then you dig a trench around it. There’s a process of casting plaster and then the whole thing needs to be lifted out and sent to a museum to be properly excavated.”
“What about ground-penetrating radar?” Seth said. “Is that something we can arrange?”
Andrea grinned. “Someone’s been watching Jurassic Park.”
“Guilty,” Seth admitted, his smile broad and undeniably charming. “I think I can recite every line of dialogue.”
“I mean, yeah, it can be helpful, but it’s not like you can just wheel a machine around and aim it at the ground and boom, locate bones. It doesn’t really work like that.”
“Okay, so what would you recommend?”
Andrea surveyed the area, considering. “Plan for the prospecting, and at the same time, start to quarry this spot. Dig down and you might find the rest of that dinosaur.”
Seth nodded, satisfied. “Do you have any contacts you can put me in touch with?”