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David’s eyes widened, so I leaned over and placed a kiss on his mouth, lingering for a couple of seconds before brushing my mouth against his ear. “Go. I’ll be fine.”
He pulled back, worry in his eyes.
A smile spread across my face. “Make my steak medium-well.”
The guys in the group cast nervous looks between me and Allison and hopped up, following David to the grill. The four other women who’d been left behind looked as though they wished they could join them. Instead, we all settled in our chairs on the patio. I turned my attention to a woman who had been talking to David. “So, Trina, how long have you known David?”
She and the other women all told me how they’d met him. Trina was a professor of Native American studies, and the other three were married to professors David knew from the university.
After a while, there was a pause in the conversation and Allison leaned forward. “Don’t you want to know how I met David?”
I offered her my sweetest smile. “Of course.”
Sipping from her wine glass, she leaned to the side of her chair. “We met in the library. Penelope, the archivist there, was sure to introduce us.”
“I met Penelope this morning at the Wilson Library,” I said. “She seems very sweet.”
She gave me a conspiratorial grin. “She can be quite the matchmaker. She hooked up Trina and Phil too.”
Trina glanced over at the men and grinned. “She sure did.”
“David had been at Chapel Hill for over a year and Penelope thought he needed a girlfriend. He doesn’t cook very much, so she suggested I invite him over for a home-cooked meal. He protested that he didn’t want to be a bother, but he came over and then the next thing you know, we were dating.”
Trina narrowed her eyes. “I thought it was several months after you cooked for him before you two started dating.”
Allison shot Trina a glare, then turned her attention to me. “In any case, he moved in and helped me with this old house. He’s really quite handy.” She took a drink of her wine, watching me over the rim. “Like I said, he landscaped this entire backyard.”
“It’s very beautiful,” I said. “You’re lucky he shared his talent with you.” She wanted me to act like a jealous lover, but I wasn’t going to fall into her trap. For one thing, I wasn’t jealous. David had left her, not the other way around. If he wanted to be with her, he would. If anything, I felt sorry for her. David was a wonderful man, and I knew it had to be hard for her to see him with me. I didn’t appreciate her bitchiness, but I understood it.
I crossed my legs and smiled. “David tells me that you’re a history professor. My parents and stepmother were all history majors. My father was the park ranger at the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site for many years until he became ill. My mother died when I was a girl, but she was an archaeologist at the site and specialized in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century artifacts. Their names were John and Amanda Lancaster.” I tilted my head to the side. “Perhaps you’ve heard of them?”
“Your father was John Lancaster?” Trina asked in awe.
I nodded. “He was very passionate about the early colonies.”
“He’s a legend, but he had stopped lecturing by the time I started my undergraduate work. Do you know why?”
I pushed down my sorrow. “My mother’s death was hard on him, and he found it difficult to leave me after that. I had no idea how respected he was in academia until I spoke with Steven while visiting the colony site.”
“You visited the site?” Trina asked.
“I did.” I told her my impressions of the reemerged colony and how hard it was seeing tiny baby Virginia’s skeleton in her cradle.
Allison shifted in her seat and I could tell she didn’t like that the conversation was steering away from her. “Allison, David said you specialize in weaponry from the Middle Ages. I’m curious about what prompted that interest.”
The color left her face. “David’s mentioned me?”
I took a sip of my lemonade. “Yes, very fondly.”
She eased back in her chair. “My parents and my older brother were participants in our local Renaissance festival. We spent every weekend in October there, and I became fascinated with it. But once I went to school, my passion turned to the Middle Ages. So much has been lost over the years, and I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of discovering lost things.”
“What happened with that exhibit you were invited to preview?” Trina asked, crossing her legs. “You were so excited to see it.”
Allison took a sip of her wine, then frowned. “I signed a nondisclosure agreement when I went to Charlotte. You know that.”
Trina leaned forward. “Come on. It’sus. Who are we going to tell? Did you see any Native American artifacts? I’m dying to know.”
Sucking in a deep breath, Allison’s mouth puckered as her gaze rotated to David before returning to her friend. “Yes, there were several.”
