“You’re smiling,” Georgia observes one night. We’re in my tent, her head on my shoulder; she’s drawing invisible patterns on my chest with her fingertips.
“I smile sometimes.”
“Not like this. This is a new smile. Soft. Almost… dreamy.”
“I don’t do dreamy.”
“You’re doing it right now.” She props herself up on one elbow to look at me. “What are you thinking about?”
I should deflect. Change the subject. But I’ve been learning to be honest with her. “The future,” I admit. “After this project ends.”
Her expression becomes guarded. “What about it?”
“I was thinking… maybe I don’t go back to New York right away. Maybe I visit Maine. See your cottage for real this time. Spend some time with you and Ella away from work.”
Georgia is quiet for a long moment. “You’d do that?”
“If you wanted me to.”
“Calvin.” She leans down and kisses me softly. “I’d really like that.”
Relief floods through me. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Ella would too. She talks about you even when you’re not around. You’ve become one of her favorite people.”
The words make my chest tight. “She’s pretty great herself.”
“She is.” Georgia settles back against my shoulder. “I never thought… when I agreed to this project, I never imagined this. Us.”
“Neither did I.”
“Are you glad? That it happened?”
I pull her closer. “Happier than I’ve been in years. Maybe ever.”
She makes a contented sound. “Me too.”
We fall asleep tangled together, and I dream of a cottage by the sea.
CHAPTER 19
CALVIN
“Dr. Halford! You need to see this!” Omar’s shout cuts through the morning calm.
The urgency in his voice makes everyone drop what they’re doing. Georgia emerges from the documentation tent and rushes towards the excavation site. Scooping Ella up, I follow.
The team has gathered around section D7, the area Georgia’s mapping system predicted would be significant. Yasmin is carefully brushing away sand from something, and even from a distance, I can see the shape emerging.
It’s the top of a wall.
“Oh, my God,” Georgia breathes, dropping to her knees beside the excavation. “This is it. This is what we’ve been looking for.”
Over the rest of the day, the team works with painstaking care to reveal the structure. It’s the top of a stone chamber, with carved walls and a sealed entrance. The craftsmanship is extraordinary, with detailed reliefs showing two figures intertwined, surrounded by symbols.
“It’s a tomb,” Yasmin says, her voice awed. “An intact tomb.”
“Not justanytomb.” Georgia traces the carved figures with her finger, not quite touching. “Look at the positioning. The symbols. This is a lovers’ tomb. Two people buried together.”
