As always, he was the gentleman and carried her bag. While it didn’t contain an anvil, it did have some tools and their picnic. She couldn’t help but smile and cover a laugh.
“Where are you taking me today?” But instead of the whiningyoung kid’s voice from their childhood, his masculine tone held a hint of amusement.
“You know where we’re going. Don’t you want to see what they’re doing here? It’s amazing. They’ve already dug tons of fossils out of the ground and shipped them back to Pittsburgh.”
For the next couple hours, they hiked together through the quarry. As she showed him the bones visible in the rock, he seemed eager to see more.
He’d always been supportive of her desires and this work that she loved. But today seemed ... different. It gave her heart a little thrill.
She pointed to several more that had been marked just in the past couple days. “I can’t wait to see what they pull out of this quadrant. It looks to be a wealth of fossils.”
Devin stepped back and studied the wall. “You know...” He paused and looked back to her and then the wall. “I’ve always been interested in this because you love it. But it’s never been overly exciting to me. But this”—he shook his head and brushed his fingers over the rock—“thisis truly remarkable. I can see why you fell in love with this science. It makes so much sense to me now.”
She wanted to spin around, but she refrained. “You mean, after all these years, you finally understand my weird fascination?”
With a laugh he turned to her. “Yes, I think I finally do.” His face turned serious. “Now, if I could just get you to see the importance of great works of literature. Perhaps we could readMoby Dick, The Odyssey,and evenHamletwhile I’m here, and we could dis—”
“Don’t say it.” She made a face as if she might vomit. “That would be torture for me and you know it.”
Devin pressed his lips together, but she could see the smile he was attempting to suppress. “Which would also make ittortuous to me. You arenota good sport when it comes to studying subjects you don’t like.”
She stomped her foot. “That’s not fair. Your father made me study everything, and I made it through.” Oof. Now she sounded like a whiny debutant. But shewouldmake her point.
“Eliza”—he laughed harder—“have you forgotten that I was there for all of your schooling? You came up with excuses on a daily basis for why grammar, literature, and even the higher maths weren’t necessary for what you wanted to do with your life.”
“But all those subjects werebooooring. And I’ll have you know, I haven’t used one bit of any of that in the last ten years. So there.”
They burst into laughter. Oh, it was good for her soul to have him here. No one understood her like Devin.
As she led him back to the top, they reminisced over stories from their childhood. All the projects his father made them do together... all the ways she tried to convince her tutor to switch subjects.
“For a science person, you sure did find a lot of creative ways to challenge his methods.”
She grabbed her large sack from him and pulled out a checkered cloth. “Here, help me spread this out. And then you can catch me up on how he’s doing.”
They laid out the picnic and sat down on the ground. Ham sandwiches, apples, cheese, pickles, and lemonade. Her stomach growled.
They filled their plates.
“Allow me to say the blessing?” He lifted his eyebrows at her.
“Please.”
After a quick prayer, they both dove into their food. Hiking around in the fresh air always made her ravenous.
Devin swallowed down a big bite of sandwich. “Dad’s still as sharp as ever—most of the time. But I can tell he’s wearing out a bit. The stroke a couple years ago, while mild, slowed him down. I’m sure you’ve seen it.”
She nodded. “I meant how is he doing the last few weeks since I’ve been gone?”
“Oh.” His ears turned pink. “He’s tutoring a bit this summer to help those kids who are a trifle behind in their studies. You know, after he completed your schooling, he floundered a bit and taught here and there. He never wanted me to say anything to you, but he struggled to find his place. He kept doing whatever he could to support us, especially through all my collegiate education. And thanks to your grandfather’s generosity, we made it.” He made an odd face that she couldn’t decipher. Opened his mouth. Shut it. “There’s something...” He looked away.
“Go on. What is it? About your dad?” Now he had her worried. “You said he struggled to find his place?”
Devin blinked several times. “Um, yes. He did. But once I was hired at the University, his doctor suggested he slow down a bit. He didn’t, and that was when he had his stroke.”
She hadn’t really considered what Mr. Schmitt had gone through once she was off to college and he no longer worked at Mills Manor. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize—”
“You have nothing to apologize for. Dad wanted it kept private, and I respected his wishes. But now he’s accepted the fact that he’s not as young as he once was, and he keeps telling me that he’d like to be around to see his grandchildren.”
