In the course of a few months, the Flint ranch had gone from a quiet stretch of high prairie, dotted with cattle, to a bustling center of activity. At first, it was all about the fossil. Even after the main dinosaur pair had been fully excavated and removed for safekeeping and study before sale—or rather, the bidding war that generated so much excitement it merited an article in Scientific American and a fourteen-million-dollar check from The Field Institute—smaller skeletons and plant fossils were dug up. The excavation crews were respectful, both of the Flints and the cattle. So much so that they ended up invited to the ranch’s event of the summer, Casey Flint and Scott Martin’s wedding.

“That was beautiful,” Laura sighed as she stood at one corner of the tent that had been erected close to Scott’s hand-built house. Night had fallen, and the entire tent was illuminated with white Christmas lights and hanging lanterns, all powered by Scott’s green technology. A small, live band played a slow dance, and the crowd of guests edged the dance floor, watching a beaming, weepy Casey in her svelte, white wedding dress and cowboy boots dancing her first dance with Scott.

“Yeah.” Ted beamed with contentment, watching his sister. He’d spent his whole life wanting her to be happy, but that was nothing to the warm, blissful contentment he saw as she swayed to the music in the arms of her new husband. Casey would always be his sister, but it was weird to think that she was someone else’s first priority now. Her life had moved on, and in such a great way with such a great guy.

He turned to smile at Laura, who stood with her arm looped through his, her head tilted toward him as she watched the happy couple. Casey and Scott weren’t the only happy couple in the room. After a rocky start, things were going well between him and Laura. Really well. She’d been spending so many nights out at the ranch that last week, Roscoe had gone and told her she should just move in. His dad. Telling, not asking, his girlfriend to move in. Laura hadn’t made any decisions about it yet, but the fact that Roscoe wanted her there was as glowing a recommendation as anyone could get.

Plus, Laura looked amazing in her bridesmaid’s dress. And here Ted had thought that brides usually made their bridesmaids wear something horrible so that they looked good. He had to give his sister credit for dressing Laura and the others in styles and colors that suited them. Although the blue dress that Laura wore couldn’t hold a candle to the borrowed dress she’d worn for their first date. He’d been meaning to ask Luna Clutterbuck if Laura could borrow that dress again.

“Those two make such a great couple,” Laura said, blinking rapidly and clapping as the bride and groom’s first dance ended. “I’m so happy for them.”

“They’re not the only two who make a great couple.” Howie Haskell approached from Laura’s other side.

“Don’t get any ideas, Howie.” Laura playfully swatted Howie’s arm.

Ted swallowed a laugh, wondering how many glasses of punch Laura had enjoyed so far. “Sorry, sir,” he apologized on her behalf.

Laura made a face at him as Howie snorted with laughter. “Howie. Call me Howie. Or Four. Do you know how long it took me to get this one to call me Howie?” he asked.

“Uh….” Ted had no idea what to say. He knew Howie liked to keep things informal, but it never ceased to surprise him.

He was spared from having to make odd conversation as the band struck up a fast dance.

“Oh! This is a great song,” Laura exclaimed. “Come on, let’s dance!”

Ted laughed. “You go on ahead. I’ll catch up.”

“Okay.” Laura lifted up on her toes and kissed him before dashing off into the melee of guests dancing in the center of the tent.

Ted’s heart felt light. He was, hands down, the luckiest man in the world to be able to call a woman like Laura his girlfriend. Part of him—a big part—hoped to call her something else before too long. And if he took his time, if he didn’t rush things, he was pretty sure Laura wouldn’t say no.

“They look like they’re having fun out there,” Howie said, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Ted as he watched the dancers. “Although I can’t say I’m all that crazy about this new kind of dancing.”

“What do you mean?” Ted was rather enjoying the sight of Laura and her friends as they jumped and shimmied to the loud tune of one of those required wedding reception songs. She’d been joined not only by Melody and Calliope, but Sandy and Rita too. It was a stunning relief to see Laura laughing and dancing with Sandy without a hint of reserve or suspicion. The fact that the two women had stayed friends in spite of everything was huge, as far as he was concerned.

“All this jiggling,” Howie said, waving his hand at the dancers. “There’s no finesse to it.”

Ted laughed, half at Howie’s comment and half because Jogi the IT guy from PSF was trying to include himself in the ladies’ dancing. He wasn’t all that smooth in his attempts to get near Sandy—and if what Laura had told him was true, Jogi was smack in the middle of a long process of trying to work up the nerve to ask Sandy out—but the man certainly had the moves. Or maybe it was just the brightly-colored, traditional Indian outfit that he’d worn to the wedding. Either way, the ladies were laughing along with him. Rita even drew him into their dancing circle.

“You know—” Howie began, but paused.

Ted turned to find Howie staring intently at the group of dancers, tapping a finger against his pursed lips. “What?” Ted asked.

Howie continued to study the dancers for a few more seconds before saying, “PSF hasn’t had a mixer in a while.”

“Not since the Fourth of July picnic.” Ted nodded. The picnic had been a hoot, complete with competitive games, catering, and a massive fireworks display.

“Seems to me like there are some people out there who need mixing,” Howie went on.

Ted had to pretend to cough to hide his laughter. It was well known that Howie tended to plan his mixers so that he could maneuver specific couples together. In fact, word on the street was that the entire orienteering event had been designed to get Melody Clutterbuck and Will Darling—along with a few other couples that Ted didn’t know very well—together. That had worked. Which meant that Howie had probably heard about the interest between Sandy and Jogi, and was about to intervene.

“When I was young,” Howie went on, “we danced like people are supposed to dance.”

“And how’s that?”

“You know. Ballroom dancing.”

Ted’s brow flew up. He knew Howie. He knew how the man’s brain worked. Visions of all those popular dance competition shows flashed to his mind. “Should we start investing in ostrich-plume headdresses?” he asked.

“Yes.” Howie thumped him on the shoulder. “Yes, that’s it exactly. I wonder where I could find a ballroom dance instructor to come out to Haskell and give lessons.”

Still muttering to himself about Arthur Murray and sequins, Howie wandered off toward the refreshment table. Ted laughed and shook his head. Haskell was in for a wild time if he had his way.

Laura signaled to him from the dance floor, and with a slight shrug and an even bigger shake of his head, Ted marched out to join her.

“You and Howie have a little talk?” she asked as Ted shifted into the groove of the dance.

“Yep,” he answered, sweeping Laura into his arms to dance with her. “I have a bad feeling he’s planning a dance competition.”

“Dance competition?” Jogi asked, overhearing him. “Excellent.” He executed a few moves worthy of a Bollywood movie.

Ted grinned and slipped his arms all the way around Laura. “He can dance all he wants,” he said so that only Laura could hear him. “But I’ve got the best partner right here.”

“Oh, Ted.” Laura giggled and shifted so that her arms rested over his shoulders and her fingers played with his hair. “You’re such a sweetheart.”

“I’m your sweetheart,” he said, stealing a kiss. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

* * *

I hope you’ve enjoyed Carbon Dating! The idea for this book came to me as I was driving through Wyoming in the spring of 2016 and kept seeing signs for fossil sites. Turns out there are a ton of dinosaurs in the state! But the specific inspiration for the story of the Flint fossil was taken from a real live court case involving a fossil found in Montana. I had Laura mention that real story at one point, but in a nutshell, there was a fossil found in 2002 in Malta, Montana by a fossil hunter. That fossil hunter came to an agreement with who he thought were the owners of the land where the fossil was discovered, but it turned out that the property was only leased. The lease-holder was the real owner, and after a court case, the fossil hunter was forced to plead guilty to theft of property. That whole story was so juicy that I just had to borrow elements of it!

And after that tense showdown between Sandy and the Bonneville contingent, I bet you’re wondering if Richard Bonneville will act on the threats he made to take over the Templesmiths’ bank. What about Sandy and Jogi? What’s going on there? And what’s this about a dance competition? You’ll find out soon in Nerds of Paradise, Book 5, Thermal Dynamics!