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them. “Good morning, Skye, Mrs. Metis.” He thrust out his hand to the man behind Mary. “We haven’t met, but I’m Jake Baxter.”
    â€œPeter Metis.” The other man took his hand in a vigorous grip. His dark eyes looked Jake over and seemed to find him worthy. His smile warmed Jake the same way his own father’s had done. “You’re going to put us on the map, I hear. I was initially opposed to your dig, but it looks like I was wrong.”
    â€œThis site will be famous,” Jake agreed. He turned to Skye’s mother. “Thanks for letting me dig, Mrs. Metis. You’ve done science a great service. This discovery will rock the world.”
    Mrs. Metis smiled. “I hope so, Jake,” she said softly.
    Skye stood quietly behind her mother. The two women looked much alike, and Jake could see Skye would age well. Mrs. Metis looked more like an older sister than her mother.
    â€œI haven’t seen any media around yet,” Skye said. “Thank you for that.”
    â€œIt won’t last,” he warned. “They’ll get wind of it pretty soon.”
    â€œI know.” She sounded resigned. “We might have to shut down the mine.”
    â€œIt’s for the best,” Peter said, his expression soft. He patted her shoulder.
    Skye bit her lip. She didn’t look happy about it, and Jake told himself it wasn’t his fault. He thrust his hands in his pockets and moved uneasily. “Would you all care to come out to the site and see what I’ve found?”
    â€œI’m eager to see it,” Peter said, his hand on his wife’s back. “But we’ve got lunch plans today. We’ll stop out and look it over soon.”
    â€œAre you calling the discovery anything special?” Skye asked.
    â€œI hadn’t thought that far ahead,” Jake told her. “Maybe the Turtle Mountain site?”
    Her dark eyes met his. “I was thinking maybe the Blackbird site, named after my father.”
    Mrs. Metis clapped her hands. “That’s a wonderful idea, Skye.” She turned to Jake with an eager look. “Would that be all right?”
    â€œSure.” He watched Skye’s face light up. She must have really loved her father. Wonder what made a man tick that he could leave a beautiful wife and daughter? Another woman, maybe? Or wanderlust of some sort, though he should have kept in touch.
    Jake bid the Metis family goodbye and followed his grandmother outside.
    â€œDinner should be ready,” Gram said, taking Jake’s arm.
    His tension eased at his grandmother’s touch. She’d been a rock for him and his sisters since the loss of their parents.
    He patted her wrinkled hand. “I think I’ll just grab something here in town and head out to the site,” Jake said, ignoring the cries of disappointment from his sisters.
    He saw a familiar blue truck drive past. Cameron Reynolds. Luckily, the other paleontologist hadn’t come back to Jake’s site, but it was only a matter of time before Cameron stumbled on what Jake was doing.
    He kissed his sisters and grandmother goodbyeand went to his SUV. He stopped for a burger at the local greasy spoon, then drove along the dirt road out to the mine.
    He found his thoughts drifting to Skye Blackbird. She intrigued him, and he wasn’t sure he liked it. He made it a point to steer clear of women. A new dig rarely left time for dating, and he hated the way other men put a rush on a woman for a few months then walked away with hurt in their wake. Better to be lonely than to hurt someone.
    He parked and walked up to the site. As he rounded the curve in the trail to the site, he thought he heard something. A sliding noise off to his left. He paused then continued. The path sheared away to his right, a steep drop that made him dizzy to look over.
    Something caught at his ankles, and he stumbled. Throwing out a hand to catch himself, he encountered