Chapter 3
Paige stumbled up to her office door, her arms full of books and papers that wouldn’t fit in her already stuffed backpack. Today was her last day to prepare for the dig and she was still trying to make sense of the new information from the journal. It would have been much easier if she could have checked the journal out of the library, but that was impossible, so she spent every hour she could at the library pouring over the journal hoping for a breakthrough.
Her heart sank when she saw the note taped to her door knowing that it was from her advisor who refused to use electronic communication, instead sending her assistants running all over campus like messengers of old. It was only one of the many eccentricities she’d had to put up with from the woman, but there was no denying that the woman was brilliant, a recommendation from her would all but make Paige’s career. But a note from her now couldn’t be a good thing.
Afraid that her funding had been cut, she set everything down on the floor and pulled the note off the door. Other than a demand for her presence in the woman’s office as soon as possible, there was no indication as to the nature of the visit, and nothing the least bit friendly about the note. Wishing she could pretend she hadn’t seen the note, she unlocked her office and carried everything inside, dumped it on the desk and left again.
When she got off the elevator she could hear Professor Morgan on the phone, her voice carried down the empty hallway since most people hadn’t arrived for the day yet. When she knocked on the open door, the professor waved her to the chair in front of the desk, then quickly finished her call.
“Good morning, Paige. I had a feeling you’d be here early today.” Professor Morgan said, gesturing to the coffee pot in the corner of the office. “There’s fresh coffee if you’d like some.”
Paige was shocked, so shocked that she almost let her mouth hang open, but quickly shut it. Professor Morgan had never been this nice to her; most of the time she treated her like a child and she’d never offered her coffee no matter how early she’d asked Paige to meet with her.
“Uh, no thank you.” Paige finally managed to stammer.
“Paige, today is your lucky day. Late last night, I got a call from the Sheriff up in Carson County, and it appears that they’d got an Indian burial ground on their hands. The land owners called him and after one look at the bones, he called me.” Professor Morgan announced, clearly feeling like Santa on Christmas morning.
Paige sat stunned for a second, “An Indian burial ground, Carson County.” She said, almost to herself, as she tried to place Carson County on the California map.
“More accurately, Coldwater Canyon.” Professor Morgan said, then got up and got Paige a cup of coffee.
Paige took a grateful sip, then said, “Thanks. I can’t quite place Carson County, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Coldwater Canyon.”
“It’s at the southern end of the Sierras. There’s nothing up there because the water was diverted back in the 1930s when the dam was built.” The Professor said, handing Paige a map.
Paige looked at the map, finally able to remember the area. “I looked at this area, but if I remember right it just didn’t seem like the right place, there was no sign of the tribes anywhere.” She said, wishing she had her computer with her.
“Well, looks like your burial ground has found you. The site is in a pretty bad shape, and it looks like an earthquake caused quite a bit of damage, a major ground shift. From what I understand from the Sherriff, the ground in front of a cave dropped a good fifteen feet exposing the cave and causing a slide above it. He says that there are skulls and bones scattered all over the slide, some are sticking out of the Earth.” Professor Morgan explained.
“Are they sure there’re old bones? I mean I’d hate to go all the way up there to find that it’s something else.” Paige asked, still not able to believe her dream had come true. Then another worry popped into her mind. “Do we even know that they’re Western Mono bones? They could be from another tribe.”
“To answer your first question, the sheriff had the coroner up there go out and verify what he believed. As to your second question, Western Mono or not, this find is yours. I’ll supervise from here, but I want you to be in charge on the site. Paige, just because I didn’t agree with your choice of subject for your thesis doesn’t mean I don’t respect your talents. You have the experience and knowledge to do this; all you have to do is keep an open mind.” Professor Morgan said, smiling at Paige.
Paige smiled back at her, “Thank you, I didn’t know you felt that way. I mean....” Paige trialed off not sure what else to say.
“I’m always hardest on the ones I know have potential, don’t get used to this side of me. I’m going to be even harder on you now.” Professor Morgan said, then added. “We’re going to get you published one way or another. Now get out of here and go find your burial ground; all the information you need is in your inbox.”
Paige was up and out of the room in a flash, calling another thank you over her shoulder as she ran down the hall. Skipping the elevator, she ran down the stairs, remembering a passage she’d been working on from the journal. She’d been sure that it was a description of the location of the burial ground, but there had been so many words she couldn’t make out. Now she knew that one of them was probably cavern, all she’d been able to make out was ‘ern’, which at the time hadn’t been enough, but now that she knew what the word had been, it seemed silly that she hadn’t figured it out before.
Throwing open her office door, she ran over to the desk and dumped her backpack out looking for the copies of the journal. Finally, she found what she was looking for and sure enough cavern fit in perfectly. Rereading the entry with new eyes, she booted up her computer and found the information the Professor had sent her, scrolling through the background information about the location until she found the report from the coroner and the sheriff.
She tried to compare the description from the journal with the sheriff’s description, but soon realized that the earthquake would have done some major damage. The only way she’d know for sure was to go up and see the site for herself, but first she’d have to call the landowner and arrange for a meeting. Scrolling through the email again, she copied down the contact information, then called the phone number provided.
By noon, she had the car packed, arranged for Justin to spend the night at her parents in case she got back late, and was on the road. The drive seemed to take forever, each mile felt like two, her excitement so great, but finally she turned off the highway onto a dirt road. She followed the road for miles until she reached the rundown farmhouse she’d been told to watch for. As she turned off the car, a big man stepped onto the porch, a tool belt slung around his hips.
He was in the shadow of the porch, but she assumed it was Cooper Montgomery, the man she’d been told would be there to take her to the site. She got out of the car and crossed to the house, but stopped when the man stepped into the afternoon sunshine. As he walked toward her, she realized just how big he was, at least six and a half feet tall with the muscles to back up his height. It wasn’t just his size that took her breath away, he was unbelievably handsome and the smile on his face lit up his incredibly blue eyes.
A spark of pure desire rushed through her, momentarily catching her off guard, and leaving her standing motionless in the middle of the front yard. By the time the man had crossed the yard and stuck out his hand and said, “Hi, I’m Cooper Montgomery. You must be Paige Walters. Thanks for coming up, I hope we haven’t brought you all the way up here for nothing, but the sheriff didn’t know who else to call.”
Gathering her thoughts again she said, “Oh that’s alright, if what I hear is true you have a major find on your hands. Is it far from here?”
“It’s only a few miles down that trail.” Cooper said, pointing to the trail that led to the site. “We can take horses if you can ride or we can walk.”
Paige thought about how long it had been since she’d been on a horse and opted for walking. She waited while Cooper went back in the house, surprised when he returned with a boy who looked like he was about ten. Looking at the two of them, it was clear that he was the boy’s father, the resemblance between the two was uncanny.
“This is my son Brandon.” Cooper said, pushing the boy forward, then nodding his head at him.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Brandon said, holding his hand out to shake hers.
“I’m Paige, it’s nice to meet you too.” She said, shaking his hand. “Are you going to come with us?”
“Dad hasn’t let me go down there yet, but he said I could this time if I don’t touch anything. I think it’s going to be spooky, but I’m brave.” He said, straightening his shoulders in a gesture he must have learned from his father.
“Good, I might get scared and it will make me feel better knowing that your there.” She said, “I’ll let you lead the way.” She couldn’t help but laugh a little when Brandon puffed up his chest importantly and headed down the trail, then followed him.
Cooper fell in step beside her; she could sense his eyes on her and had to take a deep breath to slow her heart down, but he was so close to her that she could smell his cologne. It was a wonderful combination of wood smoke, the outdoors, and something she couldn’t quite name. Finally, unable to resist, she turned and met his eyes, which were the same color as the sky above their heads.
“You were good with him.” He finally said, his eyes locked on hers.
“I, uhhh, have one of my own. He’s eight.” She stammered, then cursed herself for blurting out so much personal information.
Cooper studied her for a minute, making her heart go crazy. “You must have been young when you had him.” He said, then added, “Sorry, that was out of line. It’s just that you look awfully young to have an eight-year-old.”
“That’s okay, I was only eighteen when he was born.” She said, figuring that she’d opened the door; it wasn’t a big secret that she had a son, but she barely knew this man.
“That must have been hard.” He said, grabbing her elbow when she stumbled over a root, sending a shot of electricity though her body.
She gasped at the contact, but Cooper didn’t seem to notice her reaction to his touch. Desperate to change the subject, she asked him about how they’d found the skeletons. Cooper glad to be on more solid footing was happy to tell the story one more time; he’d told it so many times already that he didn’t even have to think about it. By the time they reached the cliff, Paige had the complete story, including the fact that no one had disturbed the remains other than the coroner who had done so only briefly.
When they finally managed to climb down, they stood at the base of the cliff looking up at the cave, Paige immediately began scanning the hill side for bones. Her breath coming in quick gasps when she saw the skulls, even from that distance she could see the genetic markers that told her that these were Indian remains. What Indians she had no idea, but she was sure that the answers lie in the cave at the top of the hill, which at this point was unreachable. Surveying the hill, it was clear that before anyone got into that cave all the fallen trees would have to be removed.
That alone would be difficult — half the hill was on top of those trees and there were human remains scattered everywhere. It would be a tricky operation to clear the way to the cave, and already making plans, Paige pulled out her phone and began taking pictures of the hill. She began mentally making a list of everything she would need, including a crew to help her. As attracted as she’d been to Cooper a few minutes ago, he’d ceased to exist the minute she saw the cave and the hill, her entire focus on the find that would save her career.
Cooper watched Paige climbing around the mountain wondering what had just happened when he’d touched her, that blast of desire he’d felt had been so unexpected it had taken him by surprise. Naturally he’d noticed how attractive she was the minute she stepped out of the car. His heart had actually begun to beat a little faster as he’d watched her walk across the front yard. It hadn’t surprised him that he was attracted to her; she was curvy in all the right places, without a single bone poking out in that anorexic way that was all the rage now.
Cooper didn’t like his women boney; he wanted a woman he could wrap his arms around, a woman who was soft in all the right places. His wife had once been a woman like that, but over time she’d starved herself, gone under the knife, and basically done anything she could to achieve that starved look that was so popular. He hadn’t realized what a turn off that was for him until a few months after Amy had left.
He’d gone with his brothers to a party one night, they’d bugged him incessantly for hours until he’d finally given in and gone with them. At the party, he found all the same people he’d been socializing with for years, but now he saw them in a different light. So many of them were just like his wife, after fame and fortune and willing to do just about anything to get it. The women were all artificially thin and young, their bodies artificially shaped by doctors, dermatologists, and spa treatments.
It was as if the blinders he’d been wearing had finally been removed, Amy’s treachery making him see the people he counted as his friends for who they truly were. That was the last party Cooper had attended with any of those people, and he was pretty sure that wouldn’t change. He was beginning to understand why Scott had changed so much, especially now that he’d gotten to know Marissa. She was nothing like the people he used to associate with, she was real.
He sensed the same thing in Paige, especially when she all but forgot he was there when she saw the remains on the hill. By now, most women would have been falling over themselves in an attempt to get his attention, but at the moment he was pretty sure she didn’t even know he was there. Deciding it might be a while before she surfaced, he found a log and sat down to wait, spotting Brandon not far away, he settled back to watch Paige.
Nearly an hour later, she was suddenly standing in front of him, her face covered with the biggest smile he’d ever seen as well as numerous smudges of dirt. “Well, I think you’ve just saved my career.” She said, when he’d managed to get to his feet.
Cooper tried to clear his head, he’d fallen asleep watching Paige and had been having a very provocative dream about her. Embarrassment suddenly flooding him, he turned away from her pretending to look for Brandon, who was only a few feet away, entertaining himself building a fort out of rocks and sticks. Angry at himself for letting a little attraction turn into an embarrassing situation, he took a deep breath and turned back to Paige.
“So how long is this going to take, a couple of months?” He asked, trying to clear the images of the dream from his mind, but having a hard time when she looked up at him with her big brown eyes, her breasts rising and falling with each breath she took.
“Oh, it’s going to take a lot longer than that.” She said, then took a deep breath as if getting ready to jump in the water. “First we have to clear all this, then I’d like to bring in a sonar or radar, oh there are so many options.”
“So how long are we talking here?” He asked again, using his anger to defray the feeling of attraction he was feeling for Paige.
She looked at the hill, then up to the bone sticking out of the ground about the cave. “At least a year, maybe more. I have to get to that cave, I think it’s the whole key to their burial rituals.” She said, launching into a lecture about the Western Mono Indians.
He let her talk for a minute, but soon found that her excitement was only making her more attractive, making him wonder if he could ever get her that excited. Shaking his head, he interrupted her, “Okay I get it. What’s our next step? Do you need to call whoever it is that’s going to be running this show?”
She paused, then said, “I don’t have to call anyone, I’m in charge of this site. I might be young, but I’ll have you know that I’m just about to finish my Master’s.” Her sudden anger surprised him.
“I’m sorry, I just assumed...well you are young.” He stopped trying to explain himself, watching as she began making her way back up the path.
He let her lead for a few minutes, watching as her shoulders began to relax, then caught up to her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything, I just made the wrong assumption.” He said, sounding so sincere she couldn’t help but forgive him.
“That’s okay, people make that assumption all the time. I’m young and a woman, people make assumptions. Sometimes it’s because I’m black too, but I probably overreacted. I’m sorry.” She said, shrugging her shoulders and smiling at him.
When she smiled at him like that, he knew that he was in trouble. It didn’t seem to matter to his body that Amy had only been gone for six months, he wanted Paige. Trying to summon some of his earlier anger, he gritted his teeth and kept his eyes on the path in front of them, not daring to say another word. Happy when Paige seemed content to walk silently beside him lost in her own thoughts.
Paige was acutely aware of Cooper walking next to her, but gritted her teeth as well, promising herself to get control of this attraction and fast. This was her chance to prove herself in her chosen field and there was no way she was going to let her attraction to Cooper ruin her chance. She’d worked too hard and sacrificed too much to blow it on a man; she’d learned that lesson eight years ago and had no plans to repeat it.
Instead, she began a mental list of all the things she’d need to clear the site and get to that cave, which was her first priority. Professor Morgan hadn’t mentioned a budget, but when she heard the news of what had been discovered, she would get some money from somewhere. This was a significant find, potentially worth a great deal to the world of science. By the time they arrived back at Cooper’s house, she had restored her inner equilibrium, her mind refocused on what it should be focused on.
She hadn’t put much thought into where she’d go from here, but Cooper interrupted her thoughts. “Marissa and Scott wanted me to extend an invitation to stay at their house for the night.”
“Oh, that’s nice, but I wouldn’t want to impose.” She said, thinking she could just sleep in her car.
“You can’t sleep in your car, if that’s what you’re thinking, Marissa will have a fit. If you don’t show up, she’ll just come looking for you. Besides, it’s an experience you don’t want to miss; it might give you a better idea of what we’re trying to achieve here.” Cooper said, walking with her to her car. “I’d invite you to stay here, but the house is barely livable right now.”
“Well, if you don’t think it would be a problem, it would be nice not to sleep in my car.” She said. “Can you give me directions?”
“You can’t miss it. There’s a big sign that says Honey Hills, just turn there and follow the road. I’ll call them and let them know you’re on your way.” He said, helping her into the car.