“I feel like I should get your mom flowers as a thank you for letting me borrow this dress,” Laura told Calliope a week later as the two of them waited at the dry cleaner’s counter. “But getting flowers for someone who owns a flower shop seems kind of pointless.”

Calliope laughed, her strawberry blonde curls shaking around her and making her look like some sort of sprite. “Mom doesn’t care about gifts and things. She was just so happy to hear that you and Ted are dating.”

“I’m not sure if Ted and I are actually dating,” Laura corrected her, feeling pink heat come to her face.

Calliope rested her weight on one hip and crossed her arms. How many nights have you been out in the last week?”

“Five out of seven,” Laura confessed.

“And how many of those five nights ended in a horizontal position?”

“Five out of five.” Laura blushed even harder, unable to keep the giddy grin off her face.

“And on average, how many times per night have the two of you ended up doing the horizontal Hokey-Pokey?”

Laura blinked. “What?”

Calliope’s lips twitched. “You put it in, you take it out, you put it in and shake it all about.”

Laura nearly choked. She pressed a hand to her mouth until the urge to giggle like an idiot had died down and she’d worked up enough courage to mumble, “Two-to-three.”

Calliope nodded. “There you go. You’re dating.”

Laura shook her head and let out a breath. “I dunno. We’re definitely spending a lot of time together, and we’re definitely sleeping together.” The fact that she was, well, not sore, but highly aware of places that she didn’t usually think about on a daily basis was proof of that, even though she still had a hard time believing it. “We haven’t actually had ‘The Conversation,’ though.”

“You don’t always need to have ‘The Conversation’ to be officially dating someone,” Calliope informed her, uncrossing her arms and running her fingers along the edge of the dry cleaner’s counter. “Sometimes you just know.”

“Well, I don’t know,” Laura said.

Calliope chuckled and shook her head. “You might not, but everyone else in town who has seen the two of you together does. So cut it out with the whole worry thing,” she went on before Laura could protest. “Just appreciate the good thing you’ve got.”

“Oh, I do appreciate it,” Laura assured her. She spotted Betty Plover coming out of the back room with Mrs. Clutterbuck’s clean dress, hung and covered in plastic, and stood straighter. “I just don’t believe it. Why is it that the first part of relationships are such torture?”

“I have no idea,” Calliope said, shaking her head.

“Here you go, ladies.” Betty addressed them with a smile. “That’ll be twelve dollars.”

Laura swung her mini backpack off her shoulder, plopped it on the counter, and searched for her wallet. As she did, Calliope said, “Hey Betty, don’t you think Laura here and Ted Flint make a cute couple.”

“Absolutely,” Betty answered without hesitation. “It’s so great to see Ted with someone who’s actually right for him for a change.”

“What?” Laura snapped her head up. She handed Betty a twenty.

“He always seems to go for the flashy girls,” Betty explained, ringing up the purchase. “But what he’s always needed is a down-to-earth girl. Like Hester was.”

Laura blinked, willing her jaw not to drop. She couldn’t think of a thing to say to that.

“She meant it as a compliment,” Calliope informed her, an amused grin spreading across her face.

“I certainly did,” Betty agreed. She handed over Laura’s change, then said, “I hear the two of you have been digging up a dinosaur on the Flint ranch.”

“Two dinosaurs, actually.” Laura tucked her change away, then swung her mini backpack over her shoulder again. “Two as part of a single fossil. It’s really—” She stopped herself before she could say “valuable.” Instead, she said, “Rare. It’s really rare.”

“I can’t wait to get a look at it,” Betty said. The bell over the shop door rang as she went on to say, “It’s all anyone has been able to talk about all week. Janet Bertran told me that Carlos took her out to see it on Tuesday. She says I have to take a look as soon as possible.”

“Sure, come on out,” Laura said, trying to smile. The truth was that she felt uneasy about all the people who had come out to the Flint ranch in the last week to see the fossil. Ironically, she hadn’t spent nearly as much time digging as she had before The Saturday Night of Amazingness. She’d been too busy, well, banging Ted, if she was being honest with herself.

Now she was beginning to wonder if that was a good idea. On several levels.

Her uneasy thoughts were cut short by, “Oh yes, the Flint fossil. That’s what everyone is talking about.”

Laura and Calliope turned to find Ronny Bonneville standing behind them. The sarcasm in his comment was matched by the disdainful look in his eyes.

“Ronny.” Calliope nodded to him. Laura had never seen her greet anyone so coldly.

“Calliope.” Ronny nodded in return, his gaze dropping straight to the v-neck of Calliope’s blouse.

Laura’s brow shot up. Okay, well, that explains that’s why Calliope was so cold with him.

“What do you want?” Calliope went on.

“My dry cleaning,” Ronny answered, imitating her curt tone. He stepped up to the counter, nudging past Laura. Laura grabbed Mrs. Clutterbuck’s dress from the hook where Betty had hung it, then backed out of the way.

“I’ll get your shirts, Ronny,” Betty said, as diplomatic as could be, and headed to the back room.

“Let’s go return this to your mom,” Laura said, starting for the door.

“Hold on, aren’t you the dinosaur lady that Ted Flint is dating?” Ronny stopped her.

Laura stared at him with narrowed eyes. He knew her name. They’d run into each other enough times at social events for him to remember it. Why he was being so obtuse now was beyond her.

“Yeah.” The sensible part of her wanted to ignore him and go about her business, but she was too curious about what he wanted with her.

“Huh,” he said, and leaned against the counter. He raked her with a look from head to toe. “You’re not Ted’s usual type.”

Cold dread slithered down Laura’s spine. Isn’t that what she’d been telling herself all along? Only in this case, confirmation didn’t make her feel better. Not one bit.

“Put a sock in it, Ronny.” Calliope came to her defense. “Ted and Laura are perfect for each other.”

“I never said they weren’t.” Ronny raised his hands in protest. “I’m just saying that he usually goes out with prettier girls, girls with more class. But good for him for dating someone willing to get her hands dirty.”

Laura’s heart sank to her toes. After all the work she’d put in convincing herself she was doing the right thing by dating Ted after all…this.

“Let’s go,” she managed to squeeze out, though her lungs burned with shame.

They almost made it to the door before Ronny called out, “Wait. Laura. I want to talk to you.”

Laura froze near the door, clenched her jaw, then turned to face him. “About what? We hardly know each other.”

Ronny stepped slowly toward her. He nodded to Calliope. “Give the two of us a moment alone.”

Calliope flushed with anger. “No way. I’m staying right here.”

“I have something confidential to discuss with Laura,” Ronny said, as if that was all the reason he needed to shoo Calliope out the door.

Calliope crossed her arms and met Ronny’s eyes with sassy defiance.

It didn’t take her advanced degrees for Laura to see the confrontation would get them nowhere and Ronny would leave them alone faster if he had his say. She handed the plastic-covered dress to Calliope.

“I’ve got this,” she said with false confidence. “Could you take your mom’s dress back to her? I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Are you sure?” Calliope frowned.

“Yeah.” Laura smiled in a pitiful attempt to reassure both Calliope and herself.

Calliope took the dress and glared at Ronny. “I’ll be waiting right outside.”

She left with a jingle of the bell over the door. Laura took a deep breath before turning to Ronny, arms crossed. “What do you want?”

“Is it true that The Field Museum has offered twelve million dollars for the fossil?”

Laura nearly choked at the abruptness of the question. Heat poured through her so fast, flaring in her cheeks, that she knew there was no way she could play the situation cool or even consider lying.

“An offer has been made, but more offers could come in later,” she said as fast as she could, not quite able to meet Ronny’s eyes.

“Hmm.” Ronny grinned and rubbed his chin like a shark. Not that sharks had chins. But if they did, that’s what they’d look like if they rubbed them. “Interesting.”

“Yeah.” Laura glanced through the shop’s window, wishing she was out on the curb with Calliope—who looked like a cop keeping an eye on delinquent adolescents as she watched the exchange.

“What else can you tell me?” Ronny went on.

“You don’t beat around the bush, do you?”

“Not when there’s no point in it,” he said, then hardly took a breath before going on with, “What else do you know?”

“Lots, but nothing that I’m going to tell you,” Laura managed to say. Funny, but one gutsy comment settled the anxious butterflies in her stomach.

Ronny wasn’t deterred. “I can make it worth your while to tell me what you know.” His gaze drifted southward. Laura was glad she was wearing a t-shirt with a relatively high neckline.

“I doubt it,” she said, uncrossing her arms so he would have less to look at. “Nothing that’s going on out there on the Flint ranch is any of your business.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” His eyes snapped up to meet hers. “It’s definitely my business.”

“How?” she asked, her tone flat and doubtful.

He didn’t answer. He merely grinned. Sharky McSharkface. “I’ll give you one last chance to look out for your best interests. I need someone on the inside to tell me about any offers being made on that fossil.”

“No.” The answer was as simple as that. “I would never do anything to undermine or hurt Ted.”

“Because he’s your boyfriend, right,” Ronny said, dripping with sarcasm. “Well, when he gets tired of you and moves on to someone with nicer legs, let me know if you change your mind.”

He couldn’t possibly know about her scars or how badly his comment stung. “I’m not going to change my mind,” she said, as serious as she ever was. She turned to go, needing to get as far away from Ronny as possible.

At the last minute, hand on the door, she turned back to him.

“Why are you such a bullying asshole?” she asked.

He met her comment with a nonchalant grin. “You gotta do what you gotta do to get what you deserve.”

She shouldn’t have asked. His answer only increased the feeling that she needed a shower. She shook her head and pushed open the door, glad to not have to breathe the same air as him anymore.

If that had been the end of it, everything would have been fine. But the ickiness of Ronny Bonneville hung on her through lunch with the Clutterbucks and all the way out to Ted’s place that afternoon. Ronny was up to something. She’d been in Haskell long enough to learn that the Bonneville family was always up to something. But instinct told her that the stakes were higher than usual. Of course they were when there was a twelve million dollar fossil in the mix.

Her unease only got worse when she pulled her sedan into the Flint driveway to find not just half a dozen other cars and trucks already parked there, but a cluster of people standing on the yard just past the driveway. Ted stood in front of them, holding out his arms and shaking his head. The cluster of people didn’t look happy.

“Oh, crap,” she muttered as she pulled her car to a stop, turned it off, and got out.

She started for the scene, finally able to hear what people were saying.

“You’ve been letting folks come out and get a look at it all week,” a gray-haired man drawled. “Why can’t we see it now?”

“The excavation crew says that people have been interfering with their work,” Ted explained, more than a little exasperation in his voice. “Things have gotten out of hand.”

“I’ll tell you what’s out of hand,” A fairly young woman with three children that looked to be under the age of three growled. “The fact that you won’t let your neighbors, you won’t let children, take five minutes to look at a hole in the ground.”

“Sorry, Marcy,” Ted did his best to apologize. He spotted Laura walking toward him, and relief visibly washed over him. “I know you’d like to show the fossil to your kids,” he focused on the woman again, “but the excavation crew has specifically said that the site is too dangerous for kids right now.”

“He’s right,” Laura added, drawing attention as she came closer. The would-be visitors turned to her…all except the three toddlers, who were much more interested in chasing crickets through the grass. “Fossil digs can get dangerous.”

“Nonsense,” the gray-haired man grumbled. “I’ve been to at least three different fossil sites in Wyoming, and they’re billed as being good family fun.”

“I’m sure they are, but places like that have to undergo all sorts of inspections and regulations and they have to install safety features.” She had no idea if that was the truth for the sites the man was talking about, but it was enough to give Marcy pause. Laura turned up the charm one step further for the gray-haired man. “You’ll have to tell me all about the sites you’ve been to at some point. I’m a nut when it comes to touring different dig sites.”

The man grumbled something under his breath, his cheeks getting a little pink.

“Well, be sure to let us know when you have things set up so that children can visit,” Marcy said, then twisted to figure out where her two older kids had gone. “Bo, Billy, you two get back here.”

That was the beginning of the end as far as the would-be tourists were concerned. Ted said a few goodbyes to the ones who took being chased off the property better. He introduced Laura as he did, but at no point did he specifically state she was his girlfriend. Granted, it didn’t quite come up, but added to the things Ronny had said back at the dry cleaners, it didn’t soothe Laura’s doubts.

“You might want to be careful about who you talk to about the fossil for a while,” she said once all the visitors had gotten in their cars and driven off.

“I didn’t think so many people would be interested,” Ted said as they walked out toward the dig site. He swiped his cowboy hat from his head and ran his fingers through his hair.

Laura caught herself thinking about how nice it felt to run her fingers through his hair, especially when his head was down around her hip level. Was it normal for a guy to like playing around down there so much? She had no idea, but she wasn’t about to complain. She didn’t think he had any reason to complain either, since she’d been reading up on the best way to return the favor down south. Lord help her if the cops checked her browser history this week.

“What’s got you blushing?” Ted asked, his frustrated look melting into mischief.

“Nothing,” she answered in a squeak. “Just thinking about something I looked up on the internet earlier.” It wasn’t a lie. Even if it had nothing to do with the next thing she said. “People are really interested in the fossil.”

“Are they talking about it online somewhere?” he asked, then blew out a breath and put his hat back on. “That’s just what we need. It’s hard enough to keep Haskellians away while Dr. Ashford’s team works, let alone outsiders reading about it online.”

“I think you might have bigger problems on the horizon,” she said, leftover warm-fuzzies quickly vanishing.

“Why?” He glanced at her askance. “What happened?”

Laura let out a breath and rubbed a hand over her face. “I ran into Ronny Bonneville at the dry cleaner. He said…he was acting kind of shady.”

Ted snorted. “Ronny always acts shady.”

“True, but he wanted information about the fossil. About offers that have been made on the fossil.”

Ted sighed. “That’s my fault.” Laura’s brow inched up. He went on. “I may have mentioned the offer from The Field Museum to someone at Bertran’s Feed Store last week.”

“Ouch.” Laura winced.

“And one of Ronny’s chief minions, Tony, might have been standing in line behind me when I did.”

“Double ouch.” She let out a breath, waving to the excavation crew as they approached the fossil hole. “It’s probably a good idea not to say anything to anybody until you have some sort of signed deal in your hands.”

“Tell me about it.” He didn’t sound at all happy about either that or the way things had already gone. “Sometimes I hate living in a small town, where gossip travels like dust on the wind.”

Laura grinned, sliding her arm through his and hugging it. “I didn’t know you were such a poet.”

He stopped and turned to smile at her. “Me neither. I guess something has come over me in the last week that’s changed things.” He leaned in closer and added, “Or maybe it’s the something that’s come under me.”

Laura’s face flushed so hot with embarrassed arousal that she was sure she rivaled the sun for heat. “Stop it,” she said, letting go of his arm and glancing down. She couldn’t wipe the grin off her face, though. At least, not until she remembered the other things Ronny had said. The things Betty had said didn’t feel right either.

But no. She took in a breath, forcing the impending thoughts of gloom and doubt away. Ted didn’t like it when she questioned why the two of them were together, so for the moment she was just going to let it slide.

“Do you think we can keep things under wraps a little better until you decide whether you’re going to take The Field Museum up on their offer?”

Ted shrugged. “We can only try.”

“Good.” She gave herself permission to be bold and gave him a quick hug. “Let’s do that. And let’s dig up some bones too.”

“You know I’m all about the bones these days,” he said, dipping down to kiss the tip of her nose.

Laura didn’t even mind the double entendre. In fact, she kind of liked having someone to joke with about that sort of thing. Even if they hadn’t put a label on their relationship.

She just hoped that once they got that label-maker out, he would call what was going on between them the same thing she would call it.