Dani cried out, “What is this? An intervention on guilt?! You know nothing! Nothing, so don’t come here and tell me what I’m messed on, who I’m fighting, or that it’s my fault I should’ve been here when she died. It’s not my fault! I left, remember? I left because Erica took my boyfriend. My boyfriend. He was mine and she took him and it wasn’t my fault that she up and died.” Her voice cracked and it took a moment for her to regain it. “Erica was supposed to be here and she is supposed to be apologizing to me! I’m not in the wrong. It’s not me that should be apologizing to her!”
“She apologized, Dani. It took about two years, but she did. She came and talked to me. She changed, Dani. She changed because of you. Erica realized what she’d done and she knew she had lost you.”
“I don’t want to hear this.” Dani darted inside the cabin. She grabbed her keys and was shooting down the road within a second.
Dust skirted underneath her tires, salting the gravel behind her. She drove without thinking and when she parked, she found herself on a cliff that overlooked Falls River. She closed her eyes and drew in a painful breath. Another memory. Two trails led down to an earthen pool of water underneath the cliff. A small cave opened up onto the water.
It was where she and Jake had first made love.
Taking a deep breath, Dani climbed from her car and moved to a trail. It looked the same, but the brush had grown over it, nearly erasing the trail. It was years of remembrance that highlighted the trail as she made her way downwards. It seemed a bit steeper, flooded topsoil may have had a hand. As she came to the bottom, Dani realized the cave hadn’t remained a secret. Two buckets were placed near the bank with one containing different mussels and shells.
A moment later, she saw a large bubble pop the surface and a dark shape quickly followed. Two heads broke the surface, complete in diving suits and snorkeling equipment.
“Hey!” A smile broke out over one as he peeled off his goggles and his mouth dropped the snorkel mouthpiece. Still attached around his head, it fell to his neck and Dani found herself meeting Jonah’s sky-blue eyes. “What are you doing here?”
Dani saw his colleague peel off another pair of goggles and saw the same Trenton Galloway that had steered his boat to her dock, while Jonah escaped with her coffee cup as stolen booty.
Trenton waved before he ducked back underneath his water. Jonah hoisted himself up and sat on the bank.
“What are you guys doing here?”
“We found this cave a little while ago. It’s a beauty.” Jonah sifted through the bucket.
“What’s with the…?” Dani gestured to the mussel he produced in his hand.
“It’s a freshwater mussel we found. This was supposed to be extinct, but Trent thinks of himself as a biologist now. He thinks we’ve found the next greatest discovery since the Red River ran north.”
“What?”
Jonah studied the mussel and replied, distracted, “It’s a river on the Minnesota and North Dakota border. It goes up where all the others go down.”
Not what she meant. “Why are you here? How’d you find this place?”
“Oh, Jake told us about it. He said he used to come here all the time as a kid—oh…” Understanding dawned in his shoulders as he suddenly glanced up, wide-eyed. “This was…”
“I found this place. Not Jake,” Dani corrected, irritated, as she sat beside him. Rolling up her pants, she slipped her feet into the water and felt its warmth against the cold air. This was a day when one shivered as they came up for air. The water served as a warming blanket.
Jonah continued to watch her and murmured, “Any consolation, but this mussel’s going to be on the cover of Rivers and Streams. It really is a find. There’s a research team coming to town in a month just for this sucker.”
“And they’re going to violate my cave.”
“Sorry.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I’m not, you’re right. But, I understand, if that’s worth anything.”
“This was my spot with Jake.” It went without saying. Jonah was quick on the draw, but she felt the need to say it. Not just a soundless thought in her head.
Trenton decided to reappear that moment and grinned stupidly at them. “This is awesome, Jonah. Another load and we’ll have a good enough find to get some grant money for this river.”
Jonah shot a cautious look in her direction, but he couldn’t contain the eagerness.
Trenton misunderstood and drawled, “Ah, its Dani. She won’t say anything. Besides, it’ll go public in two months. Plenty of time to solidify our ownership before any freshwater pirates join up.”
“Freshwater pirates?”
Trenton hoisted himself on the other side of Jonah and explained, “When a lot’s been found like this and it has some serious scientific finding, there’s always going to be someone else trying to cash in.”
“Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing in the scientific world,” Jonah corrected.
Trenton shrugged, “Yeah, but we want to make sure all the new grant funds are going to come through our department. We’ll need at least another month and a second month for the research team to ensure our claim. When Fields and Streams comes out, the word will be officially out. Research teams are going to pop up around Craigstown like ticks in the summer months.”
Dani cringed and started itching.
“Thanks for that thought,” she griped.
Jonah chuckled, “Thinking of ticks don’t mean they’re on you.”
“Yeah, but you feel it. It’s like how yawns are contagious,” she pointed out.
Trenton laughed and rifled through the bucket, still in Jonah’s hand.
“What are you doing here, by the way?” Jonah asked again, glancing up from the mussel.
Dani shrugged. “Felt like a drive down memory lane.”
Jonah’s eyes sharpened and Dani knew he hadn’t bought it.
Trenton looked up, confused, “Huh?”
“This used to be Jake and Dani’s spot.”
“Oh.” Trenton grimaced. “Sorry, Dani. This spot’s going public from now on.”
No doubt.
“So what’s so special about these mussels?” If she was going to lose her secret spot, she might as well know what the sacrifice was for. If it was worth it.
Trenton flashed another blinding grin and Dani remembered why he’d been their prom king, but he remained silent, letting Jonah do the explanation.
“There’s a few different benefits from this find,” Jonah started out and Dani realized how truly excited he was. He really did love this river. “The first is that this mussel was thought to be extinct. That, in itself, is huge! Some of the others is that this bed is possibly the largest bed of mussels I’ve ever heard of. That’s huge for Falls River because it means it’s pretty damn healthy considering the dam blocks up the water’s travel. The more mussels, the healthier the water system is. Plus, they have a black pearl inside. Financially, the market’s going to go crazy over the black pearl. This was the only mussel to produce a black pearl. The only other clam that makes them are the giant black lipped oysters. This is good. Very very good.”
“Don’t forget the cancer part.”
Jonah could barely contain himself. “Mussels are cancer-free. We can study mussels to help with cancer research, but it was thought that this mussel might’ve had cancer-fighting glochidia. Now we can find out if it really did or if the theories were wrong.”
“Glo-what?”
“Glochidia. It’s what attaches to the fish so the muscle can eat them.” He waved it off. “It’s not really important, but this can save Falls River from becoming a conglomerate and businesses will need to go through extra red tape to build here. That means I don’t have to fight tooth and nail to keep their toxins from being dumped in this river.”
It was a bit astounding how one piece of shell could ensure a river’s safety. Dani lifted one of the mussels out of the bucket and held it up.
“It lo
oks disgusting.” Its shell was slimy, black, and repulsive. A dead fish hung off the side of it.
Jonah and Trenton laughed.
Trenton piped up, “That’s its decoy for fish. Fish bite onto it, thinking they’re about to have a meal. The glochidia is released inside and voila, the mussel just landed itself a plane ride for its little babies. The female mussel has her eggs transported into this glochidia stuff. When a fish comes along and bites down onto the decoy, the mussel shoots out the glochidia and it attaches to the fins or gills. The fish carries it downstream until they drop and form little baby mussels.”
“Smart little buggars.”
“Nah—they’re just another part of nature.” Jonah stood up and kicked off his diving fins. “Nature’s pretty damn miraculous if we wouldn’t stop killing it.”
Dani glanced up, a little startled at the vehemence in his tone. Jonah had always been charming. A good ol’ boy who drew the ladies in like mosquitoes to sap. She’d heard of his ruthlessness in business dealings, but she’d never seen him angered. She heard the anger now, lying just underneath the bitterness.
“I never would’ve thought the two of you would become nature lovers,” Dani noted.
“It’s pretty easy once you start realizing how everything works. Can you imagine the possible cure for cancer is in these ugly-ass little shells, just at the bottom of lakes, rivers, creeks? Three hundred species inhabitant the U.S. Every state, except Alaska, has these mollusks. They’re the oldest species around and they might have the answer to cancer.”
“They’re more wanted because of the damn pearls.”
Trenton rolled his eyes. “Humans are idiots.”
Dani had never known. She’d been one of the uneducated and she realized if she was going to lose her cave, the price was well worth it. “What do you need to help this research study go faster?”
“What?” Trenton asked as Jonah glanced back. Both were confused.
“You said you only had two months. What do you need? Volunteers? Money?”
“This needs to be as quiet as possible,” Jonah started. “We don’t even know if this is the mussel we’re thinking of. The research team is going to identify it, no matter what species it is.”
“Why wait a month? Why can’t they be here before then?”
“That’s as soon as we can get the funding for their travel arrangements. They’re coming out on our request, but getting the okay for their travel and hotel accommodation takes a while. Red tape can be a bitch.”
“How much money?”
“I don’t know. Probably twenty thousand, at least. More like fifty thousand.”
“I’ll pay.” Dani wanted to help. In that moment, she needed to do this more than ever. Forget all the damn tragedies that had happened in her past, this was her way of helping. This project could potentially mean more than their whole town. She wanted onboard.
“No, Dani. We can’t take your money.”
“I have almost a million dollars. Money I got because of another natural disaster. I want to help. Consider this an investment.”
Jonah studied her, gauging her commitment. Dani knew what he was doing. He wanted to make sure this was a clear-headed decision, not one made on emotion. There was emotion underlying, but Dani clamped down and let her professionalism shine through. Boone always said there was no room for emotion in the boardroom.
“A million could be used for your own enjoyment, Dani.”
It was a test. A second feeler for her commitment. Dani shrugged. “I’m single, young, and I’ve already got a home. I got plenty of time to invest my money how I choose. This is one of them and this is a good investment.”
“This might not be a profitable investment.”
“Nonprofit grants are great tax write-offs.”
Jonah hid a smile, but Dani saw it. She’d won and she held her hand out.
Another second pause, but Jonah reached out and shook on it.
“I’m going to be swimming with you too. Part of the deal.”
“Fine by me,” Trenton added, standing behind Jonah. “We need all the hands we can get.”
Jonah nodded. “We need a bigger tank to study the mussels.”
“I can probably buy one of those too.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
Trenton laughed. “I’m going to swim these out to the boat. It’s almost quitting time anyway.”
After he left, Dani asked, “So this is what you do on the weekdays.”
“Yeah, well, my job description is flexible. Bottom line, I’m supposed to protect the river. Science is slower than business deals. Weekends are an easy sacrifice if it means what I think it’ll mean.” Jonah checked his watch and murmured, “Aiden informed me to inform you, that you have to be somewhere tonight. They’re emceeing a talent show and your presence is required.”
“Oh really?” She grinned.
His eyes traced her face and slowly slid downwards. Dani’s mouth was suddenly parched.
“I’ll see you there and maybe you can tell me why you really came out here.”
She’d been right. He hadn’t bought the lie.
Kate and Aiden were dancing a jig on the stage. Dani skimmed the crowd and saw Robbie waving his arms, seated at a round table with porch loungers circling. As she neared, Dani saw Jonah sitting at a nearby table with Hawk, his arm around a buxom blonde with pigtails, and another two guys that Dani recognized from high school.
“Hey, Dani! We saved you a seat.” Robbie kicked out the empty chair on his left. To her left was Stilts with his arm around another girl. Lori sat on Robbie’s right with both their chairs turned towards the center stage. Between Stilt’s date and Lori was Trenton Galloway, who gave her a nod in greeting.
Dani raised her eyebrows, but saw he wasn’t waiting for a nod back. Trenton had already turned back to the stage.
Kate was saying, “…we were given an announcement to make from the Baking Committee. They wanted to let you know that due to the sale on lemon pie-filling at our wonderful sponsors, Deano’s Supermarket, there has been an influx of lemon meringue pies for the pie contest.” As the crowd started to laugh, Kate proceeded, “So they’re going to divide the contest into two sections. One section will be just the lemon meringue pies while the other will be the general pie contest. They will award two winners because of this event.”
Aiden laughed. “Please still bring lemon meringue pies next year.”
Kate commented as she tried to muffle her microphone, but the crowd still heard, “My pie’s one of those. I’m so embarrassed.”
The crowd went wild.
Kate blushed while Aiden patted her friend on the back. “Don’t worry, Kate. There were twenty lemon meringue pies this year. We hit a record, folks!”
Another scream filled the air and as Kate started to announce the next act, Aiden’s microphone caught her, “Bryant, you will drop your sister’s hair now!”
Kate started laughing in the middle of pronouncing the act’s name.
Aiden flushed this time and murmured to the crowd, “Sorry.” As she left the stage, they could all hear, “Amalia, you leave him alone now! Stop or no pizza tonight, I mean it!”
Kate shook her head, still grinning, as she departed on the opposite side.
Dani sat back and listened to their fantastic attempts at a high E, but her eyes skimmed the crowd. She saw Jake and Julia on the opposite side, surrounding a similar table to their own. Kelley Lynn and the rest filled the other seats.
Jake had been watching her and nodded. Dani waved and saw Julia frown at her.
Dani made her decision and walked around the crowd. Julia had been watching the whole time. Her eyes widened when she realized Dani was walking her way. Stopping at their table, hearing the sudden hushed conversations, Dani asked, “Can I talk to you? Just you and me?”
“No crowd to cheer you on?”
Dani flinched. “Please? You and me?”