Needing to relieve himself, he pulled on the reins. “Whoa.”
Climbing down, he walked over to a tree, but something caught his eye.
What on earth? He walked back over in front of his horse. A bunch of branches and leaves were in a pile. Had someone wanted to start a fire and then gave up? It was a mess. Why would anyone leave a pile of debris like this?
He kicked one of the branches with the toe of his boot.
The whole pile collapsed and fell.
Peering down into the hole, Joshua’s stomach sank.
A trap.
Was it for him?
A blast in the distance made him drop down to the ground and he scrambled behind a fat tree.
Another shot rang out and bark flew around him.
Guess that answered his question.
Lowering himself into the brush as quietly as he could, he put his hands over his head and held his breath.
Someone moved closer. A twig snapped. Then the rustle of branches.
A rock lay under his face, so Joshua picked it up and threw it as far as he could. Maybe whoever it was would head in that direction.
Another shot.
Then footsteps.
But instead of going away, they came closer.
Walking back down to the dig, Anna fanned herself. The heat was oppressive. Julian’s flowers were beautiful, but she’d worked up quite a sweat to come see them.
The walk had calmed her, which was good because Joshua’s words had gotten to her. Julian was different. And yes, he was a bit infatuated with her. But it wasn’t any different from that horrid Miss Oppenheim who couldn’t seem to go two seconds without being right next to Joshua.
Anna was in debt to Julian for his quick thinking. Now if only she could keep the Oppenheims away with this excuse forever. But that wasn’t fair. Albert Oppenheim had to be given the opportunity to draw the same fossil that she drew.
But it was nice to be rid of them for a little bit. She would revel in the reprieve for a few days. At least.
The thought made her smile.
She hated seeing how that rich woman flaunted time withherfiancé by tossing a look Anna’s direction every so often. What did she hope to prove?
She’d made it very clear that Anna shouldn’t have Joshua. There were times she’d begun to believe it. Even though she loved him more each day. But she didn’t have peace about anything right now. Nothing in her life was on solid ground.
If she wanted grace, she had to extend grace.
She should probably apologize to Joshua. He had to get home this evening to help out with some things at home, but tomorrow night they could have a long chat.
She’d work on how she handled Julian. And would do her best to respect Joshua’s feelings.
And she’d ask her fiancé if Miss Rosemary Oppenheim had ever been anything more than a friend to him.
Julian stood outside the Lakemans’ front door. Mr. Lakeman had invited him, but he’d never had an invitation before.
It was awkward. He wanted to see the man again. To see if there really were fathers that cared about their children.
