Seeing the anguish in her father’s eyes almost did her in. But she blinked away the tears and pasted on a smile. “I’m fine. It was good to see him.” Time to change the subject. “Zachariah and Luke pitched the tents at the site. Tom is working on all the gear and supplies.”
“Good.”
As she fed her father lunch, they discussed the next steps to be taken for the dig. It was slow going understanding him, but she waited as he gasped between words. The biggest problem was the use of his limbs. Dad stated they felt like anvils and lifting them made his chest ache with the pressure from his heart. That concerned the doctor. Anna too.
It was hard to watch because her father had always been a strong man.
Doc said to give it time. It might be a long recovery, but that was the goal—recovery. It was much better than the alternative.
Patience had never been Anna’s greatest virtue. For Dad though, she’d travel to the moon and back if she had to.
“When ... is ... lawyer?”
“This evening. He said he would be by with the paperwork after six.”
Another dip of Dad’s head. “Good.”
Stubborn man. Yesterday, while the doc had still been with them, Dad demanded that Anna set up everything with the lawyer to draw up all the papers for the dig. She’d have to take them to Julian to sign and have every man on the dig sign them as well.
She’d argued that his recovery and health should come first, they could handle the dig later. But that had put him into such a frenzy that Doc Walsh threatened to give him laudanum to calm him down. Finally, Dad cooperated, but made Anna promise that she would continue with the dig without him. The men were there to help and knew what to do. She could be in charge, handle all the sketches, and write the papers on her father’s behalf.
There’d been such fear in his eyes. Fear that if he didn’t make sure this was done now, he might die and someone else could swoop in.
He might die....
Something she couldn’t even bear to think about.
Doc Walsh had taken her to the side and told her to do her best to appease him. Since Louise was willing to be there around the clock, Anna would have the freedom to supervise the dig and Dad could experience it vicariously through her.
At this point, the doctor was sure that the dig was the best thing for her father. Dad needed something to look forward to each day, needed some kind of motivation to rest, recover, and get better.
Well, if making sure that the dig happened helped her dad to heal, she was willing to do whatever it took.
The men certainly wouldn’t stand for her to do any of the physical labor, but she was determined to be there every single day and supervise. She would sketch the tiniest of details. And each night, she’d sit with her father, and he could teach her how to write the papers with the correct wording. Evenif she had to drag every book from his study into this room, she would do it.
The daunting task before her frightened her and thrilled her at the same time.
Word of Charles Marsh and Edward Cope, two wealthy men bound and determined to win the Great Dinosaur Rush, had spread through paleontological circles. It was information like this that fueled her father’s determination.
For one thing, he liked to do the digging himself. He wasn’t out for fame or fortune. He simply loved fossils. And the horror stories they’d heard about the lengths to which Cope and Marsh would go to sabotage one another were scandalous.
Well. She’d just have to keep the news of their dig as quiet as possible. To keep the vultures away. Especially with her dad incapacitated.
The more she thought about it, the more the whole thing unnerved her. Was she ready for this? Her father was relying on her. She had to do it. No matter what it took.
When Dad finished his stew, she wiped his face and then held up a glass of water for him to drink. He lifted his right hand a few inches. “Done. Thank ... you.”
Anna cleared away the dishes. “I’ll be right back.”
But when she made it to the kitchen, she heard a knock on the front door. Her heart jolted into high gear.
Louise answered it before Anna could collect her thoughts. Wasn’t it enough to have to think about managing a paleontological dig for her father? Having Joshua here was just too much.
A glance down at her hands showed them trembling. Heavens, she needed to calm down.
Slow footsteps approached.
When she turned around, Joshua stood there, his hat in his hands. “Anna.” His timid smile did nothing to calm the butterflies stirring up trouble in her stomach.
