“Neither am I.” She tapped the book in her lap. “We’ll come up with something. Short and sweet is probably best.”
They continued on in silence for several moments. The tension increased until Anna could hear her heart thrumming in her ears. She closed her eyes and took several calming breaths. No need to be so nervous. It was just Julian.
As Dad drove up to the Walker ranch house, the wind whipped around them and brought the scent of freshly turned dirt and manure to Anna’s nose. “Looks like Julian is cleaning up the place. At least the garden. It was all overgrown the other day.” She pointed to the large plot of dark earth.
“It always amazed me what that boy was able to grow here. Definitely has a gift from God and a green thumb.” Dad slowed the horses. “I don’t think many people ever visit, so perhaps I should call out to make our presence known. I wouldn’t want to scare the man.”
“All right.” Something about this place always made her nervous. Probably because Julian’s father yelled at the whole school of kids when they’d come to see Julian’s garden one day.
One deep breath in, one long exhale out.
As soon as Dad was down from the wagon, Julian exited the house.
He shoved his hands into his overall pockets and walked toward them.
Dad greeted him with a smile. “Afternoon, Julian.”
“Afternoon.”
He looked more nervous than she felt. Perhaps because he wasn’t used to visitors?
“Son, I’m sorry about the loss of your father, and I’m sure you’re probably anxious to get back to your life, but I have a request to make.” Her father charged ahead. “When that big ol’ storm came through and washed out this gulley”—he pointed across the wide swath of earth the flood had torn through—“it uncovered a scientific discovery of massive proportions. I believe my daughter and I have discovered fossilized dinosaur bones and we would like your permission to dig them out.”
The lines in Julian’s forehead deepened as he stared across the washout.
Anna’s eyes followed his gaze. It had been a rolling prairie area, but now the Walker home and Julian’s garden sat on the edge of a bluff above a wide trench. An even higher bluff rose on the opposite side.
A good hundred yards from where they stood was the wall of rock that the waters had exposed. From here, it was impossible to see the outline of the bones. Anna held out her sketch pad. “This is what we saw.”
The big man leaned toward her and glanced at it. “I was wondering what you were looking at the other day.”
“The digging will displace more of the gulley, but I can promise you that my crew will take the utmost care. These fossils are fragile and need to be handled delicately so that we can preserve them for the future. They will need to be studied and placed in a museum. I can’t tell you how important a find like this will be to scientific education across the world.” Father raised his eyebrows.
Julian simply stared across the gulley.
Silence stretched and Dad’s eyes pleaded with her to help.
Anna glanced around them and saw the garden. A picture of what it once was sprang to her mind. Riotous color everywhere. Maybe a different subject would give him a few minutes to think about it and feel more at ease with them and their request. She took slow steps toward it. “I see you’ve plowed up your garden.”
Julian shifted his face to her and followed. An eager expression in his gaze. “Yes. I’m getting ready to bring it back to life.”
“It was always the most beautiful thing around.” She continued around the space, and quite shockingly, he stayed beside her. “I’ve been a bit jealous that you could grow such gorgeous things here in our dry area.” She tripped over a rockand bumped into his large frame. She touched his forearm. “I’m so sorry. I wasn’t watching where I stepped.”
His head snapped up. Wide eyes studied hers. Then the tiniest of smiles tipped the corners of his lips. Something in his gaze ... warmed. “Takes good soil and lots of water.”
“You watered it every day?”
“Yep.”
She crouched down and pointed. “This soil is so much richer looking than the rest. Where did you get it?”
“Used a wheelbarrow to haul up river-bottom mud.”
Her eyebrows felt like they could touch her hairline. “That’s a lot of dirt to haul that far.”
“Yep.” He shrugged. “Took me weeks. Six to seven loads a day after I finished my chores. But gardening is what I do best.”
“You do.” Anna was overcome with a memory. “Mary loved it too. She could grow fabulous vegetables with her mother.” Clearing her throat, she stood back up. “Me? Well, let’s say I have the opposite of a green thumb.” She sent him a grin and laughed at her own joke, hoping that he would relax and give them a favorable answer. Mary had a gift for knowing how to get Julian out of his shell.
