“How big?” Jake yelled.
“Ten, twelve feet. Eight-inch circumference.”
Jake laughed. “Hey, Ronnie, just like my—”
Ronnie shook her head at Jake as if he were hopeless, but her eyes told a different story. She adored the guy. “You wish!”
He blew her a kiss.
“Me, I have no problem with snakes,” John said. “Now, alligators, thass another story. We got gators the size of Buicks in the bayou. In fact, my brother Remy has a pet alligator called Useless.”
“You are so full of it,” Adam said, jabbing John with an elbow.
John made two slashes across his chest. “Cross my heart.” Then he winked at Claire.
Caleb frowned at John’s wink. Or maybe he was just frowning. He did that a lot.
“We won’t need the climbing ropes and ladders till the next day. That goes for the diving gear, as well. There’s always a risk of carbon monoxide, so watch your meters,” Caleb went on. “I’ll handle the photography. Dr. Cassidy will record data for us and the Park Service. Be on your toes—the good doctor might be telling your secrets.”
She made a tsking sound at his teasing. “The only secrets I’m interested in involve Native Americans who might have occupied the cavern.” And your secrets, too, Mr. Amish Navy SEAL.
Caleb wrapped up his talk, then invited Claire to step forward. “Dr. Cassidy has a few rules to lay down for us.” He took several steps to the side and leaned against the wall.
She shot him a glower, then turned back to the group. “Hi! Despite what Caleb says, I am not here with a whip and chain—”
“Now, there’s a picture,” Caleb murmured for her ears only.
But some of them overheard. John looked at her, then looked at Caleb, and let out a hoot of laughter. “Mon Dieu! Looks lak Tante Lulu’s thunderbolt has hit a bull’s-eye already.”
“It has not. The only bull here is coming out of your mouth,” Caleb said, and made a motion for John to zip it up.
Which, of course, caused John to blather on. “My aunt has so many thunderbolt victims under her belt, she cain’t hardly walk. There were my half brothers Luc and Remy, and my half sister Charmaine, and then Jake and Ronnie here. Sort of lak the scalps yer Indians took, Claire.”
Jake and Ronnie grinned at each other, clearly glad to have been “scalped” by Tante Lulu.
“Why not you?” Claire asked John.
He waggled his eyebrows at her. “I’m too young. Oh, not too young fer that. It’s just not mah time fer marriage.”
“Marriage? No way!” Caleb exclaimed, then regretted having voiced his sentiments when everyone stared at him. Red-faced, he folded his arms over his chest and pulled his usual frowny face.
Claire didn’t want to be hit by any love bolt, either, but she rather resented Caleb’s protests. She favored him one of her “You are such a jerk!” looks and continued with her part of the introductory meeting. “I’m here on behalf of the Park Service, but I’m not here to be a cog in the wheels of this project. You just need to protect any historically significant objects.”
“And how do we do that?” Adam asked. At least he was being polite.
“Be very, very careful. Don’t touch or move anything until we take pictures and record data.”
“How will they know what’s historically significant?” Ronnie asked. “I mean, isn’t that sometimes a subjective call?”
“It could be. But I repeat, I’m not here to . . . ,” she gave Caleb another of her looks, “crack any whips. After all, this is private property. All we’re asking . . . no, demanding . . . is that if there are historical artifacts, we have the opportunity to examine them first.”
“Are there any circumstances under which you would attempt to put a halt on this project?” Caleb inquired.
Yes. “Maybe.”
A communal groan passed over the room.
“Does the government intend to lay a claim on any treasure found in this cavern?” That was Mark cutting to the chase.
“Not unless the treasure has historical significance.”
“Which brings us right back to what is historically significant,” Ronnie pointed out, and the others nodded.
“Why look for trouble? Let’s assume there will be no glitches. You do your work, I’ll do mine.” She passed out some sheets to all of them then, outlining Park Service dos and don’ts for historical preservation. After that, they circled the big library table and studied the maps.
“This is where our activity will be directed. At least initially,” Caleb said, pointing to a spot on the most recent layout of the cavern. “We’ll have to climb roughly fifty feet up to a ledge, bringing with us crowbars and picks. Once on the ledge, we need to remove this enormous boulder that’s blocking an opening. On the other side of that opening, it’s believed that there’s a small, very deep cavern filled with water. It’s at the bottom of that pit that a nest of cave pearls is supposed to be located.”
“How does anyone know what’s on the other side if the cavern opening is inaccessible?” Adam wanted to know.
“It wasn’t always that way. Legend says that Indians saw the pearls a couple centuries back. During Hurricane Agnes, in 1972, there was flooding in this area, which caused the already high water table to oversaturate and break through one of the walls.”
“Why didn’t they take the pearls out when they saw them?” Jake’s brow furrowed with puzzlement.
Mark answered for Caleb. “The nest was at the bottom of a steep drop from the top. Without modern equipment like we have today, they wouldn’t have taken the risk. No one has touched those pearls for more than two hundred years.”
“Who put the boulder there? And why?” Ronnie asked.
“No one knows for sure,” Mark said. “Lots of theories, but nothing certain.”
“That should make this project even more interesting,” Caleb remarked, gazing at Claire as he spoke.
That’s what I need. Something more interesting than what’s looking me in the face.
Chapter 4
I’ve got a secret . . .
Ronnie and Jake made their way, arms around each other’s waists, up to the third floor of the B & B, where they would spend the night before catching a plane for Mexico. Actually, Jake would be stopping off at Las Vegas for a poker tournament before joining her at the excavation site.
Every few steps, Jake kept stopping and backing her up against the wall to kiss her deeply. Despite their four divorces, the man did love her—that had never been in doubt. And vice versa. For more than two years they had been together again, keeping their fingers crossed that this time they could make it work.
Against her lips, he whispered, “I missed you, honey.”
She laughed against his lips. “We haven’t been apart for more than an hour the past three months.”
He nudged her with his hips, and another body part. “I meant this kind of missing.”
“Oh. Well, we made love up here when we first arrived this afternoon.”
“That long ago? See. I’ve been lax in my work.”
She moaned when he did something especially nice with his tongue. “You do good work, honey.”
“Damn straight!”
On another step, between kisses, he asked, “Are you satisfied with Caleb running this project?”
“Yes. He has everything under control. And did you notice the sparks flying between him and that historical archaeologist?”
Jake grinned and nipped at her bottom lip. “One of Tante Lulu’s love thunderbolts, huh?”
“Hey, don’t knock it. It worked on us.”
Finally, they arrived at their room, which was very small, though decorated with a charming antique canopy bed, which she loved, and a claw-footed tub in the adjoining bathroom, which Jake loved. “I have plans,” he had said with a twinkle in his eye on first seeing the tub. Now he went in and turned on the faucets and poured in a huge dollop of bath foam from her cosmetic bag.
Then the
y undressed each other, slowly. When they were naked and Jake was about to lead her to the tub, she dug in her heels and said, “Wait.”
He arched his brows in question.
“I have something to tell you . . . well, show you.”
More arching of eyebrows.
“Come here.” She took his hand and walked over to a full-length, freestanding oval mirror.
Coming up behind her, he kissed the back of her neck, then stared at the two of them in the mirror. “I better go turn off the water if we’re going to have sex here.”
She shook her head. “No. This will only take a second.”
“Hah! I’ve never done the deed in one second in my life.”
“Tsk-tsk-tsk!” She pulled both of his arms around her waist, then very deliberately placed the palm of one hand on her flat belly.
“Happy birthday, baby.”
“Huh? My birthday isn’t till next month.”
“You can call this an early birthday present.”
He still didn’t understand, so she placed both of her hands over his one.
Understanding bloomed on his face with a flash. “A baby? We’re going to have a baby?”
She nodded.
His breath hitched, and he walked over to a ladderback chair, where he sat down and put his face in his hands.
Ronnie’s heart squeezed with anguish. This wasn’t the reaction she’d expected from Jake. She went into the bathroom and turned off the water. Then she walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I thought you’d be happy.”
“I am happy,” he said, raising his head. There were tears in his blue eyes.
“Oh, sweetheart!”
“Do you think I got you pregnant on purpose to keep you with me?”
“You big lug! It takes two to get pregnant. Maybe you think I’m trying to trap you.”
He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her mouth and cheeks and forehead and chin. “Are we going to get married . . . again?”
“I don’t know. Is that a proposal?”
“Do you want it to be?”
“Do you?”
“This is an insane conversation.”
“Isn’t it?”
Their eyes clung, her arms around his neck, his looped round her waist, both of them naked and completely oblivious to the fact, except for something hard prodding her bare behind.
“If we get married again . . . if, we’ll have to think of a new marriage name,” she mused. In the past, they’d given names to their four marriages: the Sappy Marriage, the Cowboy Marriage, the Tequila Marriage, and the Insanity Marriage.
“The Baby Marriage,” he offered tentatively.
“No. If we get married again, I don’t want it to be because of the baby.”
He nodded, then his eyes brightened. “I know. The Forever Marriage.”
It was her eyes that filled with tears then. “Is it any wonder that I love you?”
“Nope.”
And then they christened their unborn baby with, what else? A bubble bath.
Oh, brother! . . .
There were freckles on Claire’s shoulders and arms.
Holy freakin’ hell!
How he’d missed them earlier today in that jogging bra was a miracle. There weren’t a lot of them. But he was having a hard time wondering if they were all over her body and whether she was up for a game of connect-the-dots.
Not!
Caleb gave himself a mental thwap for such errant thoughts. He had a serious case of lust overload. Something had to be done about it, or the Pearl Project would be down the toilet before it even began.
And he didn’t mean jacking off by himself.
“You!” he said, pointing to the object of his half-erection. “Outside. Now.”
Everyone was standing around following the meeting, and Claire’s head shot up with surprise from where she was leaning down to peer at one of the maps. Luckily, she was the only one who heard him. “What? Me?” She turned to look behind her.
“Yeah, you, Tinkerbell.”
“You can’t be serious if you think I would obey that kind of order.”
He inhaled, then exhaled with a whoosh, trying to tamp down his temper, and other things. “Would you please come outside, Claire? I’d like to talk to you in private.”
“No.”
“No?” He could feel the vein in his forehead pop out, just like it did whenever he was about to lose control, which he would not allow. He grabbed her hand and pulled her forcibly through the library door, down the corridor leading to the kitchen, then out the back door. She dragged her feet the entire way, which was no problem for him, being bigger and stronger. If he didn’t know better, he would think she was stifling a laugh.
They passed LeDeux and Famosa on the way.
“You Yankees, ya got no finesse,” he heard LeDeux say to Famosa, and the Cuban responded, “You wouldn’t know finesse if it bit you in your redneck butt.”
“Let’s go into town. See if we can find some action.”
“Hell, no! I’m hitting the sack early.”
“Mon Dieu! It’s only nine o’clock! You forget to bring your Viagra with you, old man?”
“Ronnie and Jake are going to bed, too.”
“Earth to clueless Yankee. Bed is the operative word with them. You need a course in good ol’ Cajun sex education.”
“You’re as funny as jock itch.”
“Good one. Ya cain’t expect to get rode if ya don’t enter the rodeo.”
“I swear, you are as subtle as a shovelful of shit, LeDeux.”
“Well, you ain’t got no couth, and that’s the truth. Hey, I made a rhyme.”
Once Caleb and Claire were out on the patio, which was dark, except for a small kitchen lamp filtering light through the French doors, he let loose her hand.
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Probably.” He ran the fingers of both hands through his hair and would have pulled if it wasn’t so short. Then he looked at her, which was a mistake.
She looked unbelievable in that dress that matched her eyes and left bare her arms up to her freckled shoulders and her legs down her freckled calves. The dress shouldn’t have been sexy, but to him it shouted, “Peel me like a green banana.”
“Listen, I’ve been around the block so many times it would make you dizzy. I never was much of a player, and I definitely don’t want to play games now.”
“Who invited you to play games?”
“You did.”
“I beg your pardon.”
“You don’t call your ticking-clock comment playing games?”
“No.”
“And saying you’re attracted to me?”
“I am.”
“See, that’s what I mean.”
“You’ve lost me here. Speak plainly.”
I’ve got a dick that’s on cruise control, way over the speed limit. “You want plain, you get plain. I’ve got a pocketful of condoms. Let’s go back to your place and see if this chemistry you’ve ignited between us sets off any rockets.” Or out-of-control dicks.
“Talk about overreaction. All I said was that I was attracted to you. Haven’t any women ever said that to you before?”
“Sure. Plenty of times. Usually when they were about to shuck their panties.”
“Jeesh! I’m thirty-five years old and unattached. I have been considering artificial insemination, but when I first saw you, I thought, why bother with test tubes when this stud is carrying the goodies around in his pants.”
Stud? Goodies? “Un-be-friggin’-lievable! Do you realize how insulting that is?” And tempting.
“Obviously you’re not interested. Subject closed.”
More like too interested. “Have I mentioned to you how much I like your freckles?” He used a forefinger to trace several from her shoulder to her elbow.
“Huh?” She shivered at the sensation.
“Have I told you I’ve been fantasizing about connecting the dots? Between all your freckle
s. Everywhere.”
Her jaw literally dropped. After she clicked it shut, she said, “Forget I said anything about ticking clocks or attractions and I’ll forget about rockets and, uh, connecting dots.” Her voice squeaked at that last. “Ahem! End of story.”
“Hah! That egg ain’t goin’ back in the shell, no way.”
She grinned, probably at his egg reference.
He growled.
Luckily, they were interrupted by Tante Lulu coming toward them.
Or not so luckily.
“Yoo-hoo, Caleb. Lookee who I found down at the farmers’ market.” The old lady was leading a man around the house toward them. Tonight her hair was still curly blonde, but she’d covered it with a straw farmer’s hat, and she wore dwarf-size coveralls. This must be her go-to-farmers’-market outfit. “He dint wanna come, but I tol’ him St. Jude dint lak it when folks ignore miracles. And this is fer sure a St. Jude kind of miracle.”
At first Caleb couldn’t see in the dim light.
And then he could.
“Son of a bitch!” he muttered.
The man came right up to Caleb, practically nose to nose. “Our mother is not a bitch, and dontcha be sayin’ so.”
Here stood a mirror image of himself, except for the Amish clothing. Black broadcloth trousers, suspenders, flat-brimmed hat, beard.
It was his twin brother.
“Jonas?” he said tentatively. He knew it was his brother, but he hadn’t seen him in seventeen years. Maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him.
Instead of answering, his brother shoved him in the chest and gritted out, “Whatcha been doin’ all these years, ya dummkopf? Where ya been?”
“Since when do you care?” He shoved him back.
Jonas made a disgusted sound. “You shouldna left thataway, Caleb. Ach, the damitch ya caused!”
“Oh, I have a pretty fair idea. Dat drummed that into me, literally, before I left. And by the way, it’s nice to see you again, Jonas. How’s life treating you? You must be in hog heaven, running the farm. It’s what you always wanted.”
“Ach! You are such a lunkhead. Doppitch, doppitch, doppitch!”
Dumb, dumb, dumb, huh? I could tell you a thing or two about dumb, brother. He wanted to ask about Dat and Mam but couldn’t bring himself to mention such a sore subject. Instead he asked about both sets of their grandparents.