A wagon was headed their direction with several people.
One of them was obviously a woman. Her frilly parasol gave that away.
Joshua looked to Anna.
“I wonder who that could be?” Then her shoulders drooped. “Oh no.”
“What?”
“I completely forgot that Father’s investor said he was coming out for a visit.” She rubbed her forehead. “If that’s them, I don’t know what to say.”
Joshua rested a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll do fine. You know this dig upside down and backward. You’re in charge, remember? Just give them the facts. You know rich people, they don’t have any idea what manual labor is all about. They want to hear that their money is being used to make them famous or add to their wealth.”
She grimaced. “That’s awfully cynical. But I guess it’s true.” Straightening her shoulders, she lifted her chin. “You’re right. I can do this.”
“We’ll get back to work.” He glanced at the others. “But I’ll be right here if you need anything. Anything at all. The others have your back as well.”
“That’s right, Anna.” Zach placed his hat back on his head.
“Me too.” Tom nodded.
“Thank you.” With a straightening of her shoulders, she strode back over to her table where she kept the day’s lists, sketches, and fossils they’d recovered from the rock.
Joshua watched her for several seconds. She smoothed her hair and studied her papers. What he wouldn’t give to give her the boost of confidence that she needed to be able to deal with whatever came.
He went back to work. The other guys lifted their gaze to the coming wagon here and there, but they all kept at it.
When the wagon reached them, Joshua kept his head down. He wasn’t going to encroach on Anna’s leadership. If she needed him, he’d be at the ready.
Anna welcomed the visitors.
“Why, Joshua Ziegler.”
That voice.
Ugh. He closed his eyes for a moment to gather his thoughts and control his expression before he slid down from his spot again. Why, oh why, did the frilly parasol have to belong to that Rosemary Oppenheim. Her father was the investor? “Miss Oppenheim.” He tipped his hat to her.
With a dip of her chin, she batted her lashes. “When my father said he was coming out to see his newest investment, and I heard where it was, I knew I had to tag along. Wyoming Territory is such a rugged place. I had to see it for myself.”
“That’s nice.” No it wasn’t. It was horrid. But he couldn’t ruin this for Anna.
“Wouldn’t you know, I was so surprised to see you here. What a coincidence.” Her tone was smooth and musical. Albeit fake.
Coincidence? Not hardly.
“Well, it’s nice to see you, miss.” He shimmied his way back up to his spot.
She didn’t take the hint. “This work is so fascinating. You simply must tell me all about it. As soon as my father said that he was investing in dinosaur hunters, I had to see this. You know, I’ve always had an eye for the sciences.”
“Uh-huh.” Maybe if he kept hammering, she would go away. He pulled a larger chisel out of his belt and started pounding on rock that wasn’t anywhere near a fossil so he could smash it as hard as he could.
“What are you working on right now?”
He hammered again, hoping she would think he didn’t hear her.
“Mr. Ziegler?”
“Yeah?” This whole time he’d been praying for God to help Anna with the new visitors. Now his prayers turned tohispatience and sanity.
