I need Your help, Lord.I’m grateful for the work, but You know my heart. How do I help Martha? How can I bea good ... I don’t even know what, Lord. Please ...help.
A shout went up from the quadrant over. Jacob stood up and saw a group of men shouting, dust swirling up betweenthem. He carefully put his tools together and covered them before heading over.
He nudged a shorter man on the fringe of the scuffle. “What’s going on?”
The weather-beaten man scratched his face, leaving streaks where dirt had been. “Can’t rightly say.”
Jacob resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. A bad or antagonistic attitude wouldn’t get him anywhere with these men. He hesitated. He wasn’t an assistant to the foreman anymore. It wasn’t his job to monitor the men. But a fight like this would only put them even further behind.
He threaded into the group and looked at the men now being held separate by three others. “What’s happened?”
The men turned and looked at him. One of the fighters sneered at him, his nose dripping in blood. “Why do you want to know? Gonna run off and tell your friends at the other dig?”
Jacob ignored the barb. “We’re on a deadline. Fighting and scrapping won’t do Miss Jankowski or us any good. We need to be focused on our work.”
“Get back to your own side, Duncan, and leave us be,” another man spat. “We’ve got this handled.”
“I—” He stopped and looked around, then paled. Martha was approaching the edge of the group, her face a blaze of fury.
“What is the meaning of this?” She strode into the middle of the men. Lily Rose was right behind her, parasol up, eyes hard as flint.
Bloody Nose spoke up first. “Well, miss, you see Jasper over here was working and Miller stole his tools and—”
She held up her hand. “And so you decided that fists were the way to settle this?” She glared at each man in the group, including Jacob. “Our deadline is six weeks away. Six. Weeks. If we cannot complete this dig, then all bonuses for you are off the table. The prize money is gone! And our chance to showthis beautiful specimen to the scientific world is up in smoke.” Martha pulled herself up to her full height.
Jacob fought the smile attempting to break through. She was beautiful all fired up. But behind the façade, he could see the exhaustion in her eyes.
“Beyond that, I hired you all because you were honest men with good reputations who refused to make this dig underhanded. You’ve all been respectable to this point. Consider this a warning. If there is one more fight, you will be fired immediately. But I know all of you want this dinosaur out of the ground as much as I do, so I suspect this will be the last of it.”
“Yes, miss.”
The group grumbled and slowly broke apart.
Jacob started back up the hill toward his dig but Martha’s voice stopped him. “Mr. Duncan, a word.”
Ice shivered down his spine despite the heat. He turned back to her. “Yes, Miss Jankowski?”
Cold blue eyes bored into his own brown ones. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Jacob rocked back on his heels. “Doing?”
Martha fisted her hands on her hips. “You are not the foreman, Mr. Duncan. It is not your place to step in and direct the men.”
“I understand. I was trying to defuse the fight and help you—”
“The only help you can possibly give me right now is getting those dinosaur vertebrae out of the ground. Now!” She marched past him up the hill.
Jacob watched her disappear around the bend. Hurt and frustration coursed through him. Was being on this dig worth it if things were so strained between the two of them? Jacob rubbed his mouth with a hand then grimaced as dirt covered his lips. He took out his handkerchief and wiped at it haphazardly.
“I tried to tell you, Mr. Duncan.”
Lily Rose’s voice startled him out of his thoughts. He glanced to his left and saw her standing there, staring at him.
“She doesn’t want you here. She doesn’t need you here. You’re nothing but trouble and always have been.”
The parasol fluttered in the summer breeze. The older woman took a step toward him, her eyes never leaving his. “I’m watching you.” Her words hissed out on a low whisper. “You are here to help with the dig because you are under contract. It’s plain to see you are good at what you do. But one misstep toward Martha and I will make sure you never see her again.” Turning on her heeled boot, she left.
Jacob felt rooted to the ground. Had Lily Rose just ...threatenedhim? He shoved his handkerchief back in his pocket and followed the path back to his spot.
