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“Show me.” She crouched near the hole he’d dug, one of her arms draping over Blaze who was sniffing around the perimeter of the test area. When she stood and looked at Jackson, true interest sparked in her eyes.
“You really want to see?” He was accustomed to being around other people involved in archaeology at dig sites. Of course those folks were supercharged with curiosity about everything pulled out of the ground on location. Having someone like Isabel show interest, however, heightened his own enthusiasm.
“Of course I do. This is exciting. You’re finding things that have been buried and kept intact by Mother Nature for centuries. That’s amazing, Jackson.”
Not wasting another second, he rushed to his backpack and pulled out the box full of finds. He took out each one and shared his opinions and speculations about every piece. Isabel never appeared bored. In fact, she asked him many questions, causing him to be more animated and detailed in his answers. He loved archaeology, but he never figured it could become foreplay when talking about it with a woman like Isabel.
But he was so turned on right now.
When he had all the artifacts boxed again, he took Isabel’s hands in his. Hers were a little dirty now too so he didn’t feel bad about touching her. “Tell me we can have dinner together tonight.” Because he had to spend more time with her.
Her eyes widened. “Do you mean can I bring a pizza over so you can eat quickly and dive into researching and writing about what you’ve found?”
He shook his head, his brows lowering. “No. I’m not asking you to be the takeout delivery person, Whisabel. I’m asking you on another date. A dinner date. At Albero’s. What do you say?”
“Albero’s?” Her voice rose as if she couldn’t believe he’d suggested Maplehaven’s more upscale dining option. “And you’re going to let all this stuff sit in that box?”
He checked the time on his phone. “I’d say give me an hour to cogitate on all this.” He circled his arm to include the test area and his backpack with the artifacts in it. “Then it’s date time. What do you say?”
“I say yes, please.” She beamed him a smile then dropped a kiss on his nose. “I’d love a date at Albero’s tonight.”
“Fantastic.”
“What can I help you carry back?”
Jackson chewed on his bottom lip as he considered the site. “Do you think your grandfather will be okay with me leaving that hole there? I can string some caution tape around it so no guests will stumble into it by accident.”
“I’m sure that’s fine. I think he has caution tape in the main office.”
“No need.” Jackson dropped to his knees by this pack and pulled out a roll of the yellow and black tape.
“Of course you have your own caution tape.” Isabel rolled her eyes.
“This pack is like a magician’s hat.” He patted the bag that Blaze nosed. “You never know what I’ll pull out of it.”
“You’d better not have any rabbits in there because that’s cruel.”
“No rabbits. No doves. No live critters of any kind.”
They made quick work of finding four sticks and outlining the test area with the tape. Isabel grabbed the shovel while he carefully hefted his pack onto his back, not wanting to jostle the box of artifacts too much. As they emerged from the woods, they found Isabel’s grandfather watering some flowers at the back of his cottage.
“Hey, you two,” he said as they came over to him, Blaze jumping between the hose and the flowers to get himself a drink directly from the spray. “How did it go in there?” He motioned to the woods with his chin and looked at Jackson.
“Excellent,” Jackson said. “I found more items.”
Eugene put down the hose. “Show me,” he said in the same tone Isabel had.
Jackson proceeded to lay out the artifacts on a picnic table and Eugene gave each piece a good study without touching them.
“Who knew this stuff was buried in there?” He shrugged.
“I certainly didn’t,” Jackson said, absently rubbing Blaze’s furry head as the dog stood beside him. “Do you mind if I keep poking around back there?”
“No, but I do have some loggers scheduled to do some forest managing for the property,” Eugene said. “I’ll give them a call and see if I can get them to hold off for a bit.”
“I’d appreciate that, Eugene.”
“No problem, son. I don’t want to stand in the way of archaeology.” He clapped Jackson on the back then glanced to Isabel. “Or anything else that might be happening here.”
