"Dr. Pemberton—"
"You'll return tomorrow with the documents
“I can upload the photos I took of them.”
“That’s a start. But I need to send a team to see what else is out there.”
“I’m handling this.” I took a deep breath. “This is my project and I’m going to see it through. By myself.” And Neil, of course. But Pemberton didn’t have to know that.
His laugh was cold. "Any discoveries made during company time belong to the university."
"This was done on my own time,” I protested.
“Be back here tomorrow or your fired."
“Fired?”I nearly choked.
Neil made a grumbling noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl.
"Wait. The property owner has already decided to work with the Vermont Historical Society with me as the lead." I looked over at Neil who nodded, confirming what I hoped he would.
"Without authentication from real historians? Good luck with that."
The line went dead.
I stared at the phone. "He’s going to fire me."
Neil's arms wrapped around me, pulling me against his chest. "He has no claim on anything found on my land. This is your project. You don’t need him."
"He'll blacklist me. No university will hire me without his recommendation. My student loans, my apartment..." The reality crashed over me in waves.
“You don’t need the apartment anymore. You’re staying with me. And you can apply for grants," Neil said.
"But without Pemberton’s references, who's going to take a chance on me?"
“We don’t have to figure it all out tonight. And we don’t have to do this alone. Give me a minute.”
Neil walked outside and left the door open. The fresh air was nice, and I caught bits and pieces of his conversation as I took deep breaths and tried not to hyperventilate. I had a suspicion that the conversation with Pemberton was going to be difficult. But I didn’t think he’d fire me. Maybe he was bluffing.
When Neil came back in, I couldn’t stop myself from throwing myself into his arms. I needed to feel his solid presence to ground me.
“We’re going to Sam and Jess’s house.”
“Who?” I didn’t even know he had neighbors that were close enough to visit.
“My brother and his wife.”
Another brother? “How many brothers do you have?”
“Three and you’re going to meet all of them tonight.”
I pulled back to look at him. "I'm not ready to meet your family. I’m a wreck right now."
"You’ll be fine." He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Besides, Jess is a lawyer. She'll know exactly how to handle Pemberton."
"A lawyer?" Hope flickered for the first time since the call ended.
“Pemberton’s not going to know what hit him.”
