“We’re lucky to be here,” Yasmin says. “When we heard about this site, about the potential temple complex… Dr. Halford, this could be extremely significant.”
“Let’s hope so.” I move to the table where preliminary surveys and photographs are spread out. “What do we know so far?”
For the next twenty minutes, I’m lost in the work. Omar walks me through the initial findings. There are pottery shards dating to the second millennium BCE, architectural fragments suggesting a large structure, symbols carved into stone that match patterns found at other temple sites in the region.
It’s everything Henry theorized. Everything I hoped for.
My hands are trembling as I examine a photograph of one particular carving. It’s two figures, intertwined, surrounded by symbols of fertility and devotion. The words of the vendor who gave me the charm return. He said this place was rumored to house a lovers’ temple.
It also means Henry was right.
“Dr. Halford?”
I look up to find Omar watching me with curiosity.
“My mentor… he spent years researching this area. He believed there was a temple dedicated to lovers here, a place where couples would come to receive blessings for their marriages.Everyone thought he was reading too much into fragmentary evidence. But this…” I gesture to the photographs. “This proves he wasn’t.”
“Then we’ll honor his memory by doing this right,” Omar says firmly.
The words settle something in my chest. Yes. That’s exactly what I’m here to do.
We discuss the excavation plan: where to start, how to proceed, what protocols to follow. I’m so absorbed that I don’t notice how much time has passed until I hear Ella’s wail from across the camp.
“I have to go.” I gesture apologetically.
“Go,” Yasmin says with a smile. “We’ll keep organizing here.”
I hurry back to find Lois walking a screaming Ella around the camp perimeter.
“She woke up confused,” Lois explains over the noise. “New place, strange sounds. She’s overwhelmed.”
“Here, let me.” I take Ella, who immediately clings to me like a koala. “Shh. I know. It’s weird here, isn’t it? But Mama’s here. You’re safe. We’re gonna have fun here. We’re camping for six whole months!”
Six whole months. That’s nearly half of her lifetime so far. Campingone nightwith a toddler is hard enough, and the doubt I felt earlier starts creeping back in. This place is amazing, but my mind keeps racing towards all the things that could go wrong with having Ella here.
It takes fifteen minutes to calm her down, walking circuits around the camp, pointing out interesting things. Look at the tent, look at the sand, look at the pretty sky. Eventually, she settles, hiccuping against my shoulder.
“Better?” I ask.
“Mama,” she whimpers.
“That’s right. Mama’s got you.”
I glance toward the center of camp and see Calvin watching us from outside the main tent. His expression is unreadable, but he’s definitely staring.
The guilt surges back. I need to apologize. Properly. Even if he’s cold about it, and he probably will be, I owe him that much.
Once Ella is settled in our tent with Lois reading to her, I steel myself and walk across the camp.
Calvin’s tent is identical to the others from the outside, but when I knock on the support pole and he calls me in, I find it’s slightly larger. Probably the second biggest after mine. He’s sitting at a small folding desk, laptop open, satellite phone beside him.
He looks up, and his expression doesn’t change. Professional. Neutral. Cold. “Dr. Halford. What can I do for you?”
It’s not the formality of my name, but rather the way he says it that stings. But I deserve it.
“I wanted to apologize,” I say, staying near the entrance. “For earlier. In the car. The way I spoke to you was inappropriate.”
He leans back in his chair, studying me. “You think so?”
